Madeira

[neoboy]

As a keen hiker this always been my dream destination being the "Hawaii of Europe" and all, with combination of needing to take holidays before new allowance in Jan and cheap deals next month, I booked myself in for 7 days the week before Christmas.

Hotel is pretty central (500m walk to Funchal Cathedral) and weather wise I never liked the heat so average of 20C is great for me, seeing how I'm not one to lounge around the pool or beaches on holidays.

I'm guessing public transport isn't going to be the best option if I want to do a lot of hiking with more limited daylight hours although happy to be proven wrong, Mallorca turned out to be quite decent in that respect.

Car hire looks cheap this time of year but guessing there might be some reasonable tour operators too?

Of course open to other suggestions, I enjoy my history and food too so I'm sure there will be plenty to do in and around Funchal for me as well.

 

[neoboy]

I've just got back from Madeira.
We drove to the summit of Pico do Arieiro.
It is a few degrees lower up in the mountains. I hired a car from a small local company.
https://carrentmadeira.com/ no nonsense all insured and a decent car. It was a little underpowered for the hills but ok . Some really good seafood restaurants. And good value. The Madeiran people are really warm and friendly, we really enjoyed it.
Take some tropical level bug spray and some antihistamines. Still a few mossies.

Good to know on mosquitos, I'll bring my Smidge along! Done Scotland, Wales, Lake District in a middle of winter etc so will bring appropriate hiking clothing for temperature drops at the top, waterproofs, boots and so on.

I did book a hotel with just breakfast as not sure what times I'll be back in the evenings, plus always enjoyed the flexibility of trying new places when abroad. Imagine that being an island surrounded by Atlantic ocean seafood there is great which is good for me, being pescetarian and all.

This video is right up your alley.

This is the guide that accompany it.

Followed him for a fair few years now, will rematch his stuff to start putting some sort of itinerary together. Also will be bring my DJI Mini 2 with me, drone laws look similar there to rest of Europe for sub 250g.