The Japanese wing
Red gates and koi under Atlantic mist.
Phil Webber from St Albans, UK — CC BY 2.0 · Allie_Caulfield — CC BY 2.0 · Jan Helebrant — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jan Helebrant — CC BY-SA 2.0
Monte Palace is Madeira's most imaginative garden: seventy thousand metres terracing a valley around the old palace lake — assembled by the millionaire Berardo as an encyclopaedia: a complete Japanese wing with red gates and koi, the world's largest cycad collection (the dinosaur age's plants), tree ferns and orchids under the mountain's standing mist. Its second secret is azulejo: the greatest private collection of historic Portuguese tile (15th-20th century) strewn as walls and panels along the paths — the garden an open tile museum the size of a valley — while its stone museum (Mother Earth's Secrets) startles children with giant minerals and crystals. It directly neighbours the cable car's upper station — so the Monte trilogy (cable car, garden, toboggan) is Funchal's first golden day uncontested. The paths drop seriously: start at the top gate and descend — the lake as finale.
Red gates and koi under Atlantic mist.
Five azulejo centuries along the valley.
Caminho do Monte 174, 9050-288 Funchal
The Madeira Botanical GardenThe Botanical is Madeira's official green encyclopaedia: two and a half thousand5 minutes walk4.4
Henrique and Francisco Franco MuseumA museum devoted to two Madeiran brothers, the painter Henrique Franco and the s17 minutes walk4.3
Jardim de Santa LuziaA public garden in Funchal laid out on the site of an old sugar factory, part of18 minutes walk4.3
Funchal Old Town & the Painted DoorsFunchal's old town is Madeira's beating heart: the Zona Velha fishermen's quarte20 minutes walk4.5
The Monte Cable Car & Wicker ToboggansMonte is Funchal's complete rite: the cable car lifts you from the old town 560 21 minutes walk4.6Two temperaments: Monte Palace is the imagination — Japan, tile, mist — the Botanical the science, with its geometric terraces and view. The first threads the cable car trilogy naturally, so it wins on tight time — the Botanical for pure plant lovers, with its own cable link from Monte itself.