In my last blog I wrote about my experience on the inaugural flight from Newark to Madeira, so now I want to recap my time in Madeira because it was truly one-of-a-kind.

Once we got off the plane, we were greeted by our lovely guide for the trip who was going to take us to our hotel to drop off our luggage before setting out on our first adventure of the day.

We were staying at The Reid’s Palace; and when we pulled up to the hotel, I was in awe. The outside was stunning, and we were right on the edge of the cliff, so we had stunning views of the sea from the lobby. We weren’t able to get into our rooms yet, so we left our stuff at the front desk and headed out on our Jeep Tour of the East Coast of Madeira with Adventure Land Madeira.

Our tour took us all around the town, so we got to see almost everything. We even had time to get out of the Jeep and walk around to see stunning seacliff views, look at native plant life and even get to walk on a glass walkway over the water at Miradouro do Guindaste, which had some of the most stunning views of the water. Throughout our drive, our local tour guide shared facts about the land, the island itself and much more. I highly recommend the tour if you are visiting Madeira.

In the middle of our tour, we stopped for lunch at Quinta do Furão. The restaurant features a menu that highlights the local flavor and traditional dishes. Our meal was delicious. After that, we got to walk around the hotel, of the same name that the restaurant is located in. The hotel property was stunning and had beautiful views and vineyards on site.

After the hotel tour, we got back in our Jeeps to continue our tour of the island. Our next stop was the iconic triangle houses of Santana … they were so cute and colorful. Once we were back in the car, our driver gave us the option to make another stop where we could do some rum tasting or stay in the car and do some off-roading in the high-up forests of the island; we all decided to pick the off-roading.

We made the trek up the island; and before we knew it, we were in the forest. I’m so glad we decided to do the off-roading because it was a one-of-a-kind experience and so cool to see the island from that side.

Once we made it back down the mountain, we headed back to our hotel to check in our rooms and get ready for our dinner.

That night we had dinner at the marina at Nini Design Centre. The food was great, and the views were even better.

Overall, it was a great first day. Stay tuned for Day Two.

— Mary Melnick, social media & editorial manager