Trying to cope with the British weather? Why bother. Just leave already.

That was our approach over half term. Why stick it out when you can leave for sunnier climes. I believe the upper classes refer to it as “over-wintering”, but five days away hardly a season makes.

Geography lesson. You may think that Madeira is just off the coast of mainland Portugal as we had assumed. This is very much not the case. It is as far off the coast of Portugal as it is from Morocco. A bit like saying Scotland is off the coast of Norway. Code for quite far away. Strictly speaking Madeira is the Madeira Archipelago made up of four islands, the most important being Madeira and Porto Santo. This is an autonomous region of Portugal, having been claimed in 1419 and settled in 1420.

Madeira’s position in the Atlantic in relation to the Gulf Stream and Canary Current ensure year round mild to warm temperatures (think 16 degrees Celsius up to 26 or thereabouts) which is perfect for growing many different crops including tropical fruit. For this reason it spent about 200 years as Europe’s major producer of sugarcane prior to the New World plantations. Into this story sails Christopher Columbus who was trading out of Genoa, and ended up marrying the daughter of the Governor of Porto Santo. His son was born on the island, too. That explains why there is a replica of his flagship, the Santa Maria, in the port of Funchal.

We knew next to nothing about the archipelago before travelling there and came away fascinated. This tiny dot in the middle of nowhere became a prosperous port and later opened up as a luxurious travel destination. Much development has happened on the island in the last few decades, but thankfully a lot of the traditional colonial architecture remains. Funchal is the main port city and a great place to explore. The city would not be out of place plonked anywhere in Southern Europe.

There is a lot to be said for lazily wandering the streets of Funchal and getting lunch and an ice cream while you watch the world go by. There are still plenty of quiet areas away from the busiest streets. Even the presence of two cruiseships was not sufficient to overwhelm the businesses and infrastructure.

We opted to spend much of our time enjoying the food and drink of the region. You cannot go to any region of Portugal (mainland or otherwise) and not have pastel de nata. These are the signature egg custard tarts that pair perfectly with an espresso, and can be had from Nata 7 for €1.80 together with a coffee as of writing.

The signature drink of the region is Poncha, made of a combination of sugarcane rum, orange and lemon juice, and honey. There are many varieties including a passionfruit one that is excellent. It’s easy to drink, but be careful as it packs a punch (perhaps part of the etymology?).

The typical bread of the region is bolo de caco, which would be familiar to any Northern Irish/Irish person as it looks remarkably like soda bread. What it is, in fact, is almost a soda bread-potato bread hybrid. It is made with mashed sweet potato and a yeast risen dough, then cooked on a hot stone traditionally (similar to griddle made soda farls). The result is something that resembles sodabread but is a tad lighter, and perfect for sandwiches.

We got a sightseeing bus ticket but to be perfectly honest you don’t need it. Provided you use a taxi app (Uber, Bolt), taxis are cheap and abundant. I have read horror stories of the yellow cabs you can hail on the street, so if you are going down that route then make sure to find out the fare up front. A ten minute drive could be anywhere from €4 to €6 which isn’t at all bad.

There are plenty of opportunites for water-based excursions to visit other islands in the archipelago, and to search for dolphins and whales. We managed to see a number of dolphins during our trip on the Santa Maria.

We spent most of our time in and around Funchal with excursions out to Monte and Câmara de Lobos nearby. There is much more to explore including endless walking trails in the island interior. Travelling with a five year old child limited the degree of adventuring we could do, but Madeira proved to be an excellent choice for some low key exploration. The weather was perfect for the entire trip. Sunny skies and mid to high teen temperatures.

Hopefully this gives you an overall flavour of Madeira and the wonders that lie within. It is a fantastic place that we will be exploring more of in future.