I drove around Madeira without a problem - away from Funchal most of the roads were pretty quiet. There seemed to be plenty of buses in Funchal and other main towns, but in the central area I don't remember seeing many.

Try http://www.madeira-island.com/bus_services/sam/index.html

We found the bus services in Madeira to be excellent. we purchased a week long bus pass that allowed us to hop an any bus. We were based in Monte - certainly would not want to drive in that area so catching a bus was great. Frequent service took us to the bus depot in the old town area near the cable car...great for hitting the restaurants there and the service to Monte at least ran up till nearly midnight.

Thanks for those replies . It looks as though we will be able to rely on public transport so that's good news. So that's one more tick in the box in favour of Madeira.

We aren't planning to go till next year but I do like to do my research of a destination before making up my mind. I think I have found a nice apartment to rent , it's just the flights to sort out. At the moment BA flights are coming out much cheaper, compared to charter flights. The only downside is that they are from Gatwick. I would much prefer East Midlands , Stansted of Birmingham.

Try EXCEL Airways, they fly from Manchester.

I've had a look at the Manchester flights and Thomas Cook comes out the cheapest at £30 less than Excel. So I have booked with them for next summer.

Trisantona (David?)
Enjoy your holiday, we loved it there, went twice then bought a timeshare there so we're definitely going back!
Bought your recommended map - thanks for that.
Airplane landings can be a bit of an adrenalin kick if you're not used to the place. Apparently the air currents along the runway can sometimes flow like the stripes on a barber's pole and the pilot can have a tricky time of it. Our BA flight took two tries to get down.
Just remeber the air crew do it all the time, three times a week!

Peter & Jan

Newark-on-Trent? Is that near the Trent & Mersey canal? We go boating along there.

Newark is actually on the River Trent (or one branch of it). It lies twenty miles north of Nottingham. I think the Trent and Mersey canal lies further to the west , and as the name suggests , links the two rivers together. Glad you liked the map.