From the comfort of MV Van Gogh you will experience a myriad of delightful destinations and a very special atmosphere. There will be plenty to do and see ashore and afloat, and our itinerary offers a lovely blend of leisurely days cruising at sea, sightseeing and shopping ashore.
Enjoy time to explore the ancient Spanish city of La Coruna, the exotic city of Casablanca, the sun-kissed Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife, and the impressive natural harbour of Vigo.
You’ll also have a full day in Madeira, known as the “Floating Garden of the Atlantic” because of its abundant flora and stunning scenery. All from just £599 per person!
Day 1: Falmouth, UK. Take advantage of our complimentary coaching or join directly at the port.
Day 2: Cruising at Sea. Arrive at La Coruna, Spain during the evening.
Day 3: La Coruna, Spain. Discover a thousand contrasts and surprises in this, the ancient city located on the north western tip of Spain.
Day 4: Cruising at sea.
Day 5: Casablanca, Morocco. Famed as the setting for the Academy Award winning film of the same name, Casablanca is a symbol of modern Morocco, offering a unique combination of old and new. Discover fascinating Art Deco architecture and perhaps see the old Medina.
Day 6: Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands. An optional tour to Timanfaya National Park will give you the perfect opportunity to experience a live volcano.
Day 7: Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Explore this sun-kissed island and perhaps take an excursion to the island's huge volcano - Mount Teide.
Day 8: Funchal, Madeira. Blessed with a sub-tropical climate, Madeira is a haven for peace, quiet and pure relaxation. An optional 'Island of Beauty' tour offers the unique opportunity to enjoy the many natural wonders of the island.
Day 9: Cruising at Sea.
Day 10: Vigo, Spain. The attractive sea port of Vigo is one of the finest of the Galacian Fjords. Our optional excursion will enable you to visit Santiago de Compostela.
Day 11: Cruising at sea.
Day 12: Falmouth, UK. Upon arrival enjoy return coaching to your original departure point.
Portugal has a rich seafaring past, superb beach resorts, wistful towns and a landscape wreathed in olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. Littered with UNESCO World Heritage sites and graced by one of Europe's most relaxed and attractive capitals, it also remains refreshingly affordable.
Savouring life slowly is a Portuguese passion, and much of the best is humble - traditional folk festivals; simple, honest food drowning in olive oil; music that pulls at the heart strings, recalling past love and glories; and markets overflowing with fish, fruit and flowers.
Madeira is brimming with smiles and colour. It is, more often than not, warm, sunny and mild. For a quick peek at some of the beautiful views and pictures available on this site of Madeira why not head to our Virtual Postcards and have a look at those gorgeous photos. Send them as a greeting card too!
The Madeira Islands (pron. IPA /mɐ.'ðɐj.ɾɐ/) is a Portuguese autonomous archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean that lies between 32°22.3′N 16°16.5′W and 33°7.8′N 17°16.65′W.
The Madeira Islands, known originally to the Romans as the Purple Islands, were rediscovered (accidentally) by Portuguese sailors and settled by Portugal in 1418. It is currently an autonomous region.
Positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, about 360 miles directly west of Morocco, Africa, and 540 miles southwest of Lisbon, Portugal. Madeira and Porto Santo are the only inhabited islands.
These islands are a popular year-round resort, famed worldwide for their Madeira wine, embroidery artisans, New Years' Eve celebrations with a spectacular fireworks show, a perfect climate, striking scenery and beautiful flowers.
Madeira's almost five-century-old capital is said to have been named 'Funchal' because of the abundance of fennel (funcho) that was growing there.
Funchal is located in a unique area. The amphitheatre of Funchal city begins at the harbour and rises almost 1200 metres high on gentle slopes. This provides a natural shelter and was what once attracted the first settlers.
The harbour and climate combined with an excellent geographical position allowed Funchal to have a rapid population growth.
Today Funchal is a very modern city with over 104,000 inhabitants. This does however mean that traffic congestion in the centre can become sometimes quite stressful. The city can easily be explored by foot and no matter where your hotel is located (as long as it is in the Funchal tourist area) you will find no difficulty in walking into the city centre to delight at its sights and sounds.
Probably the most central point is the Sé Cathedral. Built between 1493 and 1514 by Gil Eanes it represents one of Madeira's numerous treasures.
, the capital of Madeira Island, is on the south coast of the principal island, in 32°37.75′N 16°55.3′W. Among Madeira's main cities are: Funchal, Porto Santo also known as Vila Baleira, Ribeira Brava, Machico, Câmara de Lobos, Santa Cruz, and Calheta.
The archipelago lies about 360 miles from the coast of Africa, 535 miles from Lisbon, 240 from Tenerife, and 480 from Santa Maria, the nearest of the Azores.
Madeira Island is the largest island of the group with 741 km², has a length of 30 geographical miles (57 km), an extreme breadth of 13 miles (22 km), and a coastline of 80 or 90 miles. Its longer axis lies east and west, in which direction it is traversed by a mountain chain, the backbone of the island, having a mean altitude of 4000 feet (1220 metres), up to which many deep ravines penetrate from both coasts.
On the south there is very little left of the indigenous laurisilva forest which once clothed the whole island (until the original settlers decided to clear the land for farming by setting most of the island on fire) and gave it the name it bears (Madeira means "wood" in Portuguese), but on the north some of the valleys still contain native trees of fine growth. These laurisilva forests, notably the forests on the northern slopes of Madeira Island, are designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
A long narrow and comparatively low rocky promontory forms the eastern extremity of the island, and here there is to be seen a tract of calcareous sand, known as the Fossil Bed, containing land shells and numerous bodies resembling the roots of trees, probably produced by infiltration.
Its geographical position and mountainous landscape permit a very pleasing climate. Temperatures are about 22 degrees Celsius in the summer and circa 16 degrees Celsius during the winter. With its mild humidity, the weather of the Island is classified as subtropical. Influenced by the Gulf Stream, sea water temperature is 22 degrees Celsius during the summer and 16 in the winter. The islands are of volcanic origin.
It has been conjectured, but on insufficient evidence, that the Phoenicians discovered Madeira at a very early period. Pliny mentions certain Purple or Mauretanian Islands, the position of which with reference to the Fortunate Islands or Canaries might seem to indicate Madeira islands. Plutarch (Sertorius, 75 AD) referring to the military commander Quintus Sertorius (d. 72 BC), relates that after his return to Cadiz following a military reverse in Mauretania, "he met seamen recently arrived from Atlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only by a narrow channel and distant from the coast of Africa 10,000 furlongs. They are called Isles of the Blest." The estimated distance from Africa, and the closeness of the two islands, seem to indicate Madeira and Porto Santo.
There is a romantic story, of doubtful truth, to the effect that two lovers, Robert Machim and Anna d'Arfet, fleeing from England to France in 1346, were driven off their course by a violent storm, and cast on the coast of Madeira at the place subsequently named Machico, in memory of one of them. On the evidence of a portolan dated 1351, preserved at Florence, Italy, it would appear that Madeira had been discovered long previous to that date by Portuguese vessels under Genoese captains.
In 1419 two of the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to the island called by them Porto Santo, or Holy Port, in gratitude for their rescue from shipwreck. The next year an expedition was sent to populate the island, and, Madeira being described, they made for it, and took possession on behalf of the Portuguese crown.
The islands started to be settled circa 1432 or 1433. In September 23, 1433, the name ILHA DA MADEIRA (Madeira Island or "island of the forest") appears in a map, by the first time, in a document.
In 1921, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Charles I was deported to Madeira, after an unsuccessful coup d'état. He died there one year later.
In 1976, following the democratic revolution of 1974, Portugal granted autonomy to Madeira.
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