PORTUGUESE PARADISE

The journey to lunch could hardly be more dramatic. As you look 300 metres down a sheer cliff face, the might of the Atlantic crashing on the rocky coastline below, you spot terracotta-roofed buildings scattered among impossibly green vineyards. The cliffs continue in a dramatic sweep up the coast, unchanged for millennia since this magnificent island was born from a vast undersea volcanic eruption.

We are somewhere called both the “island of eternal spring” and the “garden island”—, otherwise known as Madeira. Around a 90-minute flight southwest from Lisbon, or three- and-a-half hours to London, Paris, and Amsterdam, this archipelago stuns the first-time visitor with truly awe-inspiring landscapes, legendary wine, and a genuine,