Madeira

Madeira is a walking island. The levadas carry you through laurel forest at Fanal and Caldeirão Verde, Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo give you the high ground, and the coast runs from the natural pools at Porto Moniz to the dragon-tail cliffs at Ponta de São Lourenço.

A week is the right length: two or three hikes, a day in Funchal and a slow drive round the island. The hotels I recommend sit between Funchal and the south coast.