Landscapes of Madeira by John and Pat Underwood
Summary: Madeira walking and touring by car, walking in Madeira, Madeira walks, driving in Madeira, walks in Madeira, levada walking
[ The book is described below. Click above to order or to access other information ]

Now you can check out the Contents and Index pages!
Use these useful links to discover exactly what the book contains:
Click here to view the Contents page of the book
Click here to view the Index page of the book.
To view some photographs from the book click here
To view a pdf of one of the walks featured in the 8th edition click here

THE guide to Madeira for the last 18 years and a winner of the Thomas Cook Best Travel Guide Award. It really is indispensible if you want to explore the best of the island. This new 9th edition is fully updated to reflect changes that have occurred since the 8th edition was published. The Sunday Times said: 'A remarkable paperback which may have done more than any other to change the way its readers spend their holidays this book single-handedly turned levada-walking into something approaching a craze.'

While dedicated hikers will revel in the island's mountainous terrain, walking the 'levada' paths is one of the most popular activities with visitors. Levadas are watercourses that carry rainfall from the mountains to irrigate the cultivated terraces. These watercourses and their adjoining maintenance paths extend for an incredible 2150km/1350mi or more, but even more fascinating is their great variety. The older levadas, built centuries ago, are narrow and plummet steeply downhill from mountainside springs - really challenging walking. Their banks are covered with wild flowers, and the water rushes and foams with energy. The newer levadas are wide 'mini-canals' and run horizontally along the island's contours - ideal for easy walks. Their flow is stately and serene, and their banks are lovingly planted with agapanthus lilies and hydrangeas. Click here to see additional information about the history of the levada system in Madeira.

You may be interested to read the following comment by a user who told us that while working in Madeira in the 1950s he had explored the island relying on a pre-war map (with no guide book - there were none at that time) using his own initiative to follow old drovers and shepherds trails. In March 2001 he returned to the island for the first time in 46 years. On his return he wrote:

"It was with enormous relief therefore that before I returned with my wife last week I came across your book "Landscapes of Madeira". We were greatly impressed with the detail, accuracy and comprehensiveness of the guide and with the research that obviously went into it. May I congratulate you on the best guide book that I have come across. Despite having lived in, and visited, the Lake District over 60 years where there is a surfeit of guide books, I have not met your equal."

Best time to walk: Walking on Madeira is superb all year round.

Where to Stay: If you plan to use the local buses, stay in Funchal for ease of access to the entire island. But if you plan to hire a car, you have a much wider choice, including some good hotels in inland villages and in the mountains. For more information about Madeira and accommodation, see www.madeira-island.com or www.madeira-web.com or www.madeira-tourist.com.

6 car tours, 100 long and short walks, 27 picnic suggestions

Plan of Funchal

144 pages + touring map

9th ed, 2008 ISBN 1-85691-341-6 £12.99

Post paid UK £14.00; Europe £16.00; USA/Canada £17.00; Far East/Australasia £18.00
First class extra: UK 50p; Europe £1.00; USA/Canada £2.00; Far East/Australasia £3.00

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To get the complete book as an Acrobat pdf document (for instructions on how to access the download, e-mailed to your computer for £14.00), click here.

(Note: If you buy from Amazon, book prices are discounted, therefore amazon.co.uk's post paid prices differ from those shown here.)

We regret that we have ceased importing "MADEIRA PLANTS & FLOWERS" the guide to the island's plant life and we can no longer supply this book. To the best of our knowledge it is not available from UK booksellers, but it is readily available on Madeira. Please note that our hardback souvenir book THE MADEIRA BOOK is now out of print.