Why I choose this jet lag–free holiday island for my honeymoon

As I’m jerked by the tug and tighten of the harness straps around my shoulders, a voice shouts into the back of my helmet, “When I say run, run!” Above are blue skies and ahead is a cliff-edge and an 1,000-feet fall.

“Run!” I start running, my feet and heart pounding. And then we’re in the air, laughing, gently circling and swooping. My legs are dangling above the lush green valleys, winding roads and terracotta rooftops that I’ve become so fond of during my honeymoon in Madeira.

When my husband, Colm, and I first told our friends and family where we’d booked for our our 10-day, early-October honeymoon, there were generally three responses: “Where is that again?”; “Oh, my [insert older relative] loves it there”; or, “Have you seen the YouTube videos of flights landing at that airport?”

Madeira island has a network of hiking trails (Photo: Getty)

The archipelago of Madeira, which includes its main island, Madeira, Porto Santo and the uninhabited Desertas Islands, has a population of around a quarter of a million. It has traditionally been popular with retirees (as well as newlyweds) – there were 300 cruise ship calls at the capital of Funchal in 2019 (the average age of the cruise tourist is 47.6, according to research by the Cruise Lines International Association).

Ironically, global travel restrictions resulting from the pandemic helped to highlight Madeira’s charms to UK travellers. It was one of the first places to reopen to international tourists and was among a small clutch of destinations on the UK Government’s original green list that launched in May 2020 (the whole of Portugal was eventually included in the initial group. but the mainland wasn’t added until the last minute).

This focus on Madeira has been followed by an uptick in visitor numbers, from 1.3 million in January–October 2019 to 1.7 million in January–October 2022, while many tourist hotspots are building back up to their pre-Covid tourist figures.

Recent launches on Madeira island have sought to lure younger travellers. NEXT Hotel, which overlooks the sea, appeals to millennials and Gen Z, for example. It has a dedicated app and a co-working space for digital nomads. Then there’s the Digital Nomad Village, which also opened in 2021.

Reid’s Palace has been visited by royals, as well as Winston Churchill (Photo: Getty)

That being said, plenty of traditional touches remain in Madeira, such as the afternoon tea at Reid’s Palace, a hotel that sits above Funchal harbour and at which Winston Churchill stayed in 1949 as he recovered from a minor stroke.

With a sub-tropical climate in October, hikes, water sports and paragliding, my husband and I decided Madeira had everything we’d wanted for our honeymoon. We’d swap the scones and Early Grey for Maderia’s steak sandwich and poncha, a punch typically made from sugar cane brandy, sugar and lemon juice. Plus, it was just a short-haul flight from the UK, and on the same timezone.

We arrived in Madeira late at night wrecked from our wedding whirlwind. Staff at the Pestana Royal hotel greeted us with a free upgrade and platter of tapas. After a few restful days of drinking mojitos poolside and munching on pastel de nata, we moved to a less spendy hotel, where we were gifted with a bowl of fruit and a bottle of fizz.

Madeira’s toboggans are a tourist trap, but well worth a try (Photo: Getty)

Travelling around the island by yellow taxi or foot, we marvelled at the panoramic views of bays and valleys from the vantage point of a cable-car, waited in a surprisingly speedy queue for the toboggan tourist-trap (for the uninitiated, this is an attraction at which drivers push tourists down some of Madeira’s steep inclines in wicker cars) and navigated the narrow-cobbled streets and art of the lively Old Town.

All the while, we sampled “snack bars” that served beer and bolo do caco, a circular Madeiran flatbread smothered in garlic, for around €5/£4.42.

There were plenty of bus tours available for trips beyond Funchal. Sensing these were geared towards the cruise crowd, we rented a car (€30–€50/£26–£44 per day) and drove the winding, hilly roads, past waterfalls, ravines and jungle with our windows down and music up.

Hannah top a tip in the Atlantic from Porto Moniz Lava Pools (Photo: Getty)

Driving allowed us the freedom to stop where we fancied for walks along the many levadas (irrigation channels) running through Madeira’s mountains, or park up and watch surf-school students catch waves. We visited the Porto Moniz Lava Pools (€3/£2.65 entry), where I spent about 30 minutes talking myself into jumping off a diving board into the Atlantic. Then, swapping swimming gear for hiking boots, we tackled the 12km (7.5-mile) Highest Peaks trek, which crosses lunar-like rock formations.

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We worked up appetites for each evening’s meal, usually featuring grilled meat and fish. Our best find of the honeymoon was Mad Cuba, which was tucked down one of Funchal’s oldest streets. Here, we had two main courses, one dessert, and no less than eight cocktails, for a bargain €51 (£45). While there were undoubtedly plenty of older tourists in Madeira, from our alfresco dining spot, we watched a giddy group of 20-somethings on a hostel pub crawl and a young, newly engaged couple (they ordered a bottle of prosecco, and she kept admiring her ring).

Having been enticed by the buzz of Old Town, where we’d seen DJ sets and locals spill out onto the streets, we decided to spend our last few nights in an art-deco inspired apartment in the centre of Funchal.

After running off a cliff and soaring above Madeira, we spent our last evening revisiting our new favourite nighttime haunts: Mad Cuba, the Flair Spot cocktail bar, and the lively Venda Velha club where we ordered €1.50 ponchas.

Maderia’s dramatic coastline was among the attractions (Photo: Getty)

Two friendly lads, fresh off a flight from England, sat down at the next table. One was celebrating a birthday, the other commiserating a break-up. We congratulated them on their holiday choice and shared a list of things we enjoyed and things we’d like to try when we returned to the island.

For our honeymoon, Madeira had proved to be the perfect marriage of European city break and adventure holiday – by day, we could be up in the clouds, then spend our nights pushing our way through club crowds.

Travel essentials

Getting there

Jet2, EasyJet, Ryanair and British Airways all fly direct from the UK to Madeira.

Staying there

Pestana Royal offers all-inclusive stays from €164 (£145) per night, pestana.com/uk/hotel/pestana-royal

Madeira Panoramico Hotel offers rooms from €92 (£81) per night, madeira-panoramico.com/EN/

Funchal Design Hotel apartments from €65 (£57) per night, funchaldesignhotel.pt/

Further information

visitmadeira.com