If you are touring Madeira with a car, you will certainly notice signs for Miradouro’s.
Miradouro’s are viewpoints with spaces to sit and rest. They are scattered all over the island and are generally found at the highest points of the particular hill or mountain they are located on.
For the first few days in Madeira, we didn’t pay them much notice but after visiting Miradouro Bica da Cana, that changed.
What I wasn’t really paying attention to at first was what was obvious to us on most days – the scenery right alongside the drive we were taking from Ribera Brava across the island to Sao Vincent.
The first couple of times we took it, I was just orienting myself to the island and concentrating on paying attention to where we were going on Google Maps.
Madeira is an entirely new way of driving – through lots and lots of tunnels and having to navigate around cars, which could casually be parked anywhere along the side of the streets and if one was, then if you were headed in the direction they were parked in, it was understood that you would stop and allow cars coming in the opposite direction right of way until waiting for the road to be clear before continuing along.
Above: The incredible Serra de Água valley route from Ribera Brava to Sao Vincente. Photo taken from Miradouro Terre Grande.
It took me almost two weeks before I realized that there was an entirely different roadway system that ran up and over the central valley and mountains, above the tunnels and that we could drive those routes. We were visiting the north side of the island every other day or so and drove through the Serra de Água valley regularly.
Serra de Água runs almost directly through the middle of the island via ER 104 to Sao Vicente and from there you can go west towards Porto Moniz or right towards Santana.
As you drive through the valley, there are incredibly beautiful views as well as lots of places to pull over and enjoy the green valley, terraced gardens and small villages built between the hills.
Towards the end of our three week visit, I turned off onto ER 105 and headed up and over the mountains to find the lookout and this turned out to be a jaw dropping drive. Miradouro de Terra Grande was one of the most spectacular views in Madeira, with its breathtaking view of the valley and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.
If you are visiting Madeira, make sure you take this detour to visit.
No Comments