One of the highlights of my recent trip to Madeira was the one-day tour I took around West Madeira. Stunning mountain vistas, lush green landscapes, natural swimming pools and ethereal forests were all on the agenda. Suffice it to say, my camera got a good workout that day! Read on to find out more.
The Portuguese island of Madeira — located some 500 miles southwest of the mainland, just over 400 miles west of Morocco — wasn't really on my radar until a few years ago. After a couple of friends had wonderful trips, it soared up my to-visit list.
By the time May rolled around, I was in serious need of a break and some sunshine. The Portuguese island of Madeira has been on my to-visit list for several years and I took advantage of the extra public holiday for the Coronation to book in a trip. I'll be sharing my Madeira travel guide soon but in the meantime, here are some of the specialty coffee spots I visited while I was there.
Welcome to the 11th edition of my annual speciality coffee and food awards, where I am highlighting some of my favourites from the coffee shops and eateries that I visited for the first time this year.
My second, and almost certainly last, foreign trip of the year was to Porto last month. I spent four days in the Portuguese city and was treated to warm weather, blue skies and bright sunshine. It was a welcome break from the near-constant rain and greyness of November in London. I've already written about Porto's great specialty coffee spots, but read on to find out what else I got up to, and where I ate, drank and shopped.
With the desire to spend my birthday somewhere sunny for once, I found myself in beautiful Porto earlier this month. I'd wanted to visit the city nicknamed Invicta since my trip to Lisbon in 2015. My city guide is now live, and here is my guide to Porto's excellent specialty coffee scene — well, the ten coffee shops I visited during my four-and-a-half-day stay, one of which is in technically in Vila Nova de Gaia.
