What kind? Hotel? Resort? I went to Madeira on the new year 04/05 and stayed at a nice 3* Hotel in the centre of Funchal (where we could go on foot at night to the marina). The resorts and 4 or 5* hotels are maybe 1 or 1.5km from the center.

I'd recommend Funchal, there are other places to stay, but Funchal has a good offer of decent hotels, plenty of restaurants, shops, bars etc and has excellent transport links.

Plenty to see, some can be reached by bus, but a car offers more flexibility - Curral das Freiras (Nuns Valley), Cabo Girao some of the highest sea cliffs in the World, Pico Ruivo (highest point of the island), Levada Walks, Monte, botanical gardens.

The only really touristy thing we didn't do was the sled ride from Monte to Funchal.

We did ..... with my 80 year old Mum - and it was great! Your post brings back memories of all the superb scenery, daveyjp. The best thing we did was drive up above the clouds to Pico do Arriero, where the air was so clear and the clouds below looked like cotton wool. Unfortunately we did it again the second time we went but we never came out of the top of the clouds - very disappointing!

Only one word of warning, Lay66 - beware of Madeiran drivers. Most people on here think Portuguese drivers are bad, but having driven (hubbie, not me!!) in Madeira, we think the Portuguese drive like BSM instructors!