The beautiful city of Funchal, the capital of the archipelago, located in the south coast of the island, in a beautiful bay bathed by the Atlantic, is rich in history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, and provides its visitors with a range of attractions and leisure activities, wonderful gardens, squares and traditional Portuguese pavement, museums and monuments. There one can also visit the Madeira wine cellars, installed in typical houses of Madeira, where one can taste a wide selection of wines from several harvests, many of them old and a true rarity. In the municipality of Funchal one can also visit some wineries, where a great variety of wines and regional products can be tasted. The grape harvest season in late August and early September is also the time when the Madeira Wine Festival takes place, a festival which aims to recreate the old winemaking traditions of Madeira developed over centuries.
The gastronomy of Madeira is characterized by a Mediterranean origin, which excels both for the traditional and the contemporary, with a great variety of fish,seafood, vegetables and tropical fruits. The traditional dishes of this island are the marlin steak, the tuna steak or pickled tuna, grilled beef on a laurel skewer or Madeira skewer, a dish which consists of grilled meat and seafood on a sword skewer. The so-called "Bolo do Caco" bread is another delight, usually served with garlic butter.