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Running in Madeira

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richbannister Jan 2016 8:55pm, 25 Jan 2016 3 posts	Quote Pin richbannister Hi All. I'm looking at getting some early season sun and fancied a running holiday to Madeira in March. Has anyone been there? Where are the best trails to run, where would you advise staying? Many thanks!
mrs shanksi Jan 2016 9:18pm, 25 Jan 2016 7,017 posts	Quote Pin mrs shanksi waves Can't help you but thought I'd say hello and good to see you on fetch
SooWoo Jan 2016 10:23pm, 25 Jan 2016 117 posts	Quote Pin SooWoo Lurking.... I'm off to Madeira in june
The_Saint Jan 2016 10:35pm, 25 Jan 2016 5,792 posts	Quote Pin The_Saint I have asked a native who should be along shortly, in the meantime you probably don't need to be told that Madeira is hot and very mountainous. For example a weather station there mad-weather.com calls 14C at 22:30 in January "Chilly" without irony. When I was there last, the European Mountain Running champs were at Porto Moniz on the North West coast european-athletics.org As I recall it, the men's race was something like 4000 foot of climb in 10K. There is also this madeiraultratrail.com across awesome landscapes.
Madeira Jan 2016 10:47pm, 25 Jan 2016 First-time poster!!	Quote Pin Madeira Ola You can also find beautiful Levadas where you'll be able to have great runs. Here is one of many Levadas around Madeira. walkmeguide.com
The_Saint Jan 2016 10:47pm, 25 Jan 2016 5,793 posts	Quote Pin The_Saint This is about 5000 feet up on the (at the time partially closed) road from Paul da Serra to Encumeada
The_Saint Jan 2016 11:22pm, 25 Jan 2016 5,794 posts	Quote Pin The_Saint This is worth perservering with past the usual touristy stuff to get an idea of the landscape https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wV8xshROFI The tune (and variations of) in the background is a traditional Madeiran song called "Bailinho da Madeira" that you hear quite a lot there and whenever exiled Madeirans get together This article in the Guardian features quite a cheeky chap and an interesting story theguardian.com
richbannister Jan 2016 9:59am, 26 Jan 2016 4 posts	Quote Pin richbannister Hot and hilly... sounds like my ideal holiday destination! Thanks for the links above. Where would you recommend staying? It'll just be me and my girlfriend... we'd prefer to be away from anything too touristy, but still have restaurants, bars etc nearby if we fancy eating out.
HellsBells Jan 2016 10:30am, 26 Jan 2016 20,369 posts	Quote Pin HellsBells we stayed in Funchal itself - it was in the town proper, well away from the strip along to coast where all the "resort" area is. Ours was a special weekend and we really blew the budget and stayed at Reids palace, which was fabulous, but very definitely not a budget option
The_Saint Jan 2016 2:05pm, 26 Jan 2016 5,795 posts	Quote Pin The_Saint I've stayed in Machico, Garajau and Funchal and of these three I would agree that Funchal has the most options and is more central. The parts of the island that I find the most interesting are the relatively unpopulated west and north-west so would like to stay out that way in the future. If you get a car and go out to the less populated areas you will see more long road tunnels than you would believe.