REASONS FOR CHOOSING MADEIRA AND CASA ROCHINHA:
For nature lovers, Madeira has plenty to offer, with superb vegetation, and hundreds of subtropical plants to keep the most enthusiastic gardener occupied. Peter and Jeanne, the owners of Casa Rochinha, have established a lovely garden full of interesting plants. Part of the island has been pronounced a World Heritage protected site, this is the area of the Laurisilva forests located 15 minutes' drive away and well worth exploring, especially on foot. Walking the island has become very popular with visitors who can follow long trails along the islands water courses, locally known as levadas. For golfers there are two excellent golf courses and for those seeking sea swimming, you can pop down to the sandy beach at Calheta. The capital of the island is of course Funchal, 30 minutes' drive away. As well as being very attractive and spotlessly clean, it has interesting museums, Madeira wine lodges, an excellent variety of shops and many restaurants for all tastes and budgets.....
GUEST COMMENTS:
OUR GUEST BOOK starts from Dec 05 and contains comments which not only paint a picture of life at Casa Rochinha but also give valuable snippets of information on what you might do and where you might eat locally and further afield. Here are some excerpts dated from Apr 07:
APRIL 2007 PHILIPS FAMILY with children aged 9, 5 and 3 years from Reading, UK
We have had a very nice Easter break at Casa Rochinha. Al though the weather has been variable we have managed to find the sun on all days except for one. There have been many highlights but we would recommend (especially for families) the fantastic volcanic caves at São Vicente, the near-vertical cable car at Achadas da Cruz and just relaxing at the beach at Calheta. We had a lovely walk to the waterfalls at Rabaçal (we walked right from the car park but the children were tiring at the end so it is probably best to get the bus down). Also suggest a trip to beautiful Porto Moniz + a swim in the pools and visit to acquarium.
GUESTS COMMENTS cont....:
END MAY 2007: GRAHAM FAMILY + FRIENDS from UK
This has been a 10/10 holiday. The villa felt like home from day one and we have found it faultless; facilities and equipment have met our every need. The pool has been used most days, warming from a chilly 17ºC to a beautiful 27º today. The location of the villa is simply magical with different themes of the same view every morning and evening. The levada walks are just as good now as they were 18 years ago when we last visited Madeira and the views from the tops have been amazing. The kids have had a fantastic week & they should be pround of their achievement taking on the hard walks their Mums & Dads have done! Having said this they loved the beach at Calheta where they could enjoy a few hours of 'sand & sea'! Boat trips from Funchal to see fish/dophins were great. Rock pools for swimming at Porto Moniz also great. (Note from Charlie: I loved playing football on the sandy beach, swimming, the food and the glass bottom boat.)
Other Activities:
Calheta beach, 10 kms away, is the only beach with golden sand on the island. Deep sea fishing is available from the new marina next to the beach.
Learn more about this holiday rental at the owner's website:
