1
The island of eternal spring with its year-round mild climate and a whole network of man-made irrigation channels is a blooming garden with green mountains, lovely valleys, wild coastlines and breathtaking views of the sea. Lush hydrangeas form flowering hedges along the streets and every balcony in the capital Funchal is covered in colourful flowers. The houses and palaces, churches and monasteries nestle in steep, winding alleyways on the towering mountain slopes. The picturesque Monte, once the home of the nobility and the rich, sits enthroned in the hills and from here sends its famous basket sledges down the steep Caminho to Funchal.