What to do in Funchal for free – part four

What to do in Funchal for free – part four

Welcome, everyone! I am glad you are here to read about another part of What to do in Funchal for free series. In the last article about this topic, I promised giving you some pieces of advices about which parks in or close by the city centre you should visit.

I am going to write about one of my most favourite park today, so I am really looking forward to sharing it with you. Please, if you are in Funchal, make sure you will get there.

Park/Garden Jardim Municipal do Funchal

As we have finished our “free tour” at the main street/square Avenida Arriaga where you can visit an info centre, watch many different performances and admire antique constructions, we will continue this tour now with its beginning at the same spot.

When passing the info centre and the Blandys’ wine lodge (which are both on our right hand side), you will see a place full of plants and flowers.  And if you are in Funchal during a Christmas time, it will definitely be full of lights. This place is a Municipal garden of Funchal. It looks beautiful and it is a very nice area when you want to relax a little bit.

Picture: A little pond in the Garden

There are many options what to do in the park: sometimes (especially on weekends) there are some stalls with handmade products. It does not matter whether you want to buy something or not, it is still lovely to pass along all stalls and wonder how many beautiful products people can make. You will surely find jewellery made of different materials, diaries with some amazing and very original images, cork products, bars of soap and products made of traditional colourful fabric.

If those stalls are not there by the time you are in the garden, do not worry. You can just walk through the garden and if you are lucky, you might also find a group practising their performance on a stage which is in the middle part of the garden.

The garden has got a tiny pond as well where you can watch some ducks and fishes. Make sure you will also look above do you will see some trees which I still do not know what kind it is. I had never seen anything like that before visiting Madeira.

And now: Christmas time! If you are in Funchal in December, you cannot skip this garden. It is as beautiful as the rest of Funchal, however, there you can have some extra fun. You can visit a Santas’ house, ride a reindeer (which is not real, obviously), drive Santas’ sledge and visit gnomes’ houses as well. All of this sound like it is good enough just for children, but it is not. Believe me! No matter how old you are, I guess you will like it. You might not like it in a sense of “Christmas is coming” especially if you are from a country where Christmas presents are given by the Jesus baby or anyone else, but you can enjoy it as something really unique. Madeira spends a lot of money on those Christmas decorations and a New Year’s firework. I mean, it cost a fortune!

Picture: You will definitely entertain yourself in the park during the Christmas time.

One funny thing is that in December 2018 there was a huge figure of Santa in front of the garden. People could climb on his chair or lap. He was “wearing” very warm clothes even though there was no snow in Madeira and the “winter” temperature lets you wear just light pieces of clothes.

Parque de Santa Catarina

Park Santa Catarina is just few meters far from the garden mentioned above. This park is one of my favourite places in Funchal.

It is really large and as it is quite high, you might come here for a run upstairs and downstairs. Although, if you are not sport lovers and want to enjoy your time in Madeira in a more relaxing sense, bring some snacks here and have a picnic. You can eat those tasty snacks and sweets I have mentioned in previous articles. Get some queijada or pastel de nata. You can also brink some chestnuts  or tosta mista. So do not forget your blanket, choose a spot on a huge grass field and start eating.

Picture: Looking at the Park Santa Catarina from the the other side.

If you like reading, you might find there also such an arbour where you can get a book (and give it back later or bring a new one).

What I personally consider the loveliest part of this park is a part with a pond. Again, there are some ducks and also swans. As there are benches around, you can sit down and enjoy the view of the pond and park itself (with its flowers – estrelicia – and trees as well as the ocean.

Remember passing the ocean side as well and stop there. You will be offered a breathtaking view of the ocean and life in Funchals streets. From there you can also see Hotel CR7 (Christiano Ronaldo) with its pool on the rooftop and the very famous statue of Christiano Ronaldo in front of the museum/hotel.

If you are thirsty, hungry (and you do not plan the picnic) there are usually some vans selling some drinks and food (and ice-cream as well).

Picture: You will also find some estrelicia flowers in the park.

If you need to find a bathroom, it is also in the park. There is a little fee, or you can go to La Vie – a shopping mall which is next to the park (behind the H&M more or less). This shopping mall is one of the biggest in the centre of Funchal. So if you are a shopping lover, you might like checking it. And there is another interesting object which might be interesting especially for the Erasmus students. There is a scale which tells you your body composition (how many percent of muscles, fat and so on you have).

Is that all?

It is all for today’s article about What to do in Funchal for free – part four (about parks and gardens). However, our free tour will still continue. There are few more interesting places where I want to take you via this blog.

I wish your Erasmus stay or your visit to Funchal is full of interesting places which are more or less known among travellers.

Thank you for reading! Now go to get some food and have a picnic in the beautiful Santa Catarina park.

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