DESTINATIONS PORTUGAL | RESTARTING TRAVEL
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Toboggan ride; Funchal Cable Car; Tui’s Yvette Travers; restaurant at Hotel Riu Palace Madeira PICTURES: Joe Pepler/PinPep; Ben Ireland
I approached the edge of the lookout point, glass floor of the skywalk beneath my feet, and a sign pointed out we were 580m above sea level. I could just about make out the waves far below in the distance. And while gazing out at the sweeping view is enough to make you feel small, it was a welcome change after the past 14 months to be reminded of how wide the world really is.
If your knees can handle going even higher, head 1,094m above sea level to Eira do Serrado, where you won’t be short of selfie opportunities. Visitors are bussed most of the way, but a 10-minute walk to the summit gets you up close to the greenery that envelops the impressive and vast Valley of the Nuns – named for the remote village where local sisters fled to avoid the French corsairs who plundered the island for sugar in the 16th century.
WARM WELCOME Despite its remote qualities, Madeirans are keen for travellers to return. The feeling was mutual at the Hotel Riu Palace Madeira, where staff were palpably excited to welcome their first customers back. Yvette Travers, Tui’s service
delivery team manager for Madeira and Porto Santo, described the atmosphere as “jubilant” as the first UK package holidaymakers in months arrived at the resort. “The whole island is geared up to welcome people back,” says Travers, who has lived here for 18 years. “Everybody’s really happy.” She points out there are some
Covid restrictions to remember. As well as compulsory mask wearing (apart from poolside and while eating), Madeira is subject to an 11pm curfew until further notice. “We have to be considerate of the rules but in a nice way,” she says. “The key is talking to guests
clearly so it’s audible through the mask, and smiling though the eyes,” she explains. “From the first touchpoint, we need guests to feel secure,” Travers adds. “People are on their holidays so need to be relaxed, but they also need to know they’re in good hands and that the measures are sufficient.” She expects mask wearing and
frequent hand sanitising, made easy with stations throughout the hotel, to remain in place for the foreseeable future. And the hope is Madeira’s green list status will too. “It feels different this time,” she
says. “It’s a cliché, but it feels like the new normal now. There was a nervousness when we restarted last year but not this time. “Guests are happy to be away and feel quite comfortable. For a lot of people, it’s their first holiday in two years, and we’re mindful of that. We want to give them a good, and safe, holiday.”
TW
BOOK IT
Tui offers a week at the 4T-rated Hotel Riu Palace Madeira from £787 per person on an all-inclusive basis, with flights departing from Gatwick on June 28, and transfers. A Nuns Valley and Madeira wine tour, taking guests to Pico dos Barcelos and Eira do Serrado, followed by a local wine tasting, costs £26 including hotel pick-up and a guide.
tui.co.uk
travelweekly.co.uk 27 MAY 2021 31
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