I would like to thank Jack Sulliman for arranging our trip to Madeira. Everything went like clockwork.
Great holiday. All aspects perfect.
Adam Siu is so helpful in sorting out all our trips and ensuring all runs smoothly.
Three happy customers.
Easy booking, always a friendly and personal service
DialAFlight service is fantastic. Kylie Budinger managed some difficult bookings with flight cancellations superbly. I would highly recommend them.
Lots of help from Scott Mayes and follow up calls -great service
Great service. Thank you.
As always, for about 20 years, the service was excellent, friendly and easy to use. Contact is always available, if needed, communications are to the highest degree. Thank you Robbie, Zac and your team.
Recommended villa was superb. Clear instructions throughout.
Highly recommend Sadie and her team
Nice to be able to speak to a person
Thank you Russell, fantastic holiday!
Very pleased with the friendly and professional way you dealt with my enquiry. It's so much better when a person answers the phone instead of a robot. Customers appreciate the personal touch.
I could not be in better hands, than DialAflight. They are simply the Best.
Damian Paterson was excellent - organising everything and will be using again next year
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Lucy, as always, great service.
Always get professional and friendly people in the team wanting to help. Highly recommended.
Stayed at Dom Pedro Marina hotel Villamoura for few days - my choice - but hotel rooms are small and very dated wouldn’t stay there again. Ashanti villas are outstanding in terms of accommodation standard and excellent cleaning support/cleaning services
Philippa was in regular contact up until our holiday. We had a query whilst we were away so we emailed and got an immediate response. Philippa is lovely, friendly and very efficient.
Another fantastic holiday booked with you. Everything we asked for was successfully booked and transfers ran smoothly. App is very good for keeping an eye on flights and any changes.
Would recommend Lucas every time
All well executed as always
Sean was extremely helpful in every way from start to finish.
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The most famous of Portugal's Atlantic islands, Madeira is a gardener's heaven. Perched on windowsills or on steps up to the doors of even the tiniest houses, flowers are a constant welcome to visitors.
The semi-tropical climate means you are as likely to see an African flame tree, a jacaranda or a popcorn bush as a lupin or hollyhock. I was guided by landscape architect Dr Gerald Luckhurst, author of The Gardens Of Madeira.
Here is his pick of the bunch…
Belmond Reid's Palace Hotel
This is Madeira's most iconic landmark and Gerald helped design its peaceful and soothing gardens. Paved with pebbles, the terraced garden was the vision of hotel founder William Reid.
'I used to think cacti and succulents were something small boys collected – but since working in this climate, I have realised what beautiful forms they have,' says Gerald, showing me a crown of thorns set off by towering agapanthus.
Quinta da Boa Vista
High above red tiled roofs, a green door in a crumbly wall transports us into Madeira's orchid farm.
Originally a vegetable and then a flower farm, Boa Vista is run by Patrick Garton, whose late father, Group Captain Cecil Garton OBE, was British Consul in Madeira and founded the orchid garden in the Sixties.
Long staircases with Spanish moss and steep paths flanked by hibiscus lead to glasshouses, where rare orchids bloom.
Botanical Garden
Behind tall, iron gates in a faded ochre wall lies a handsome old mansion, a late 19th-century cream house with dark-green shutters – today home to a natural history museum.
The garden is divided into five parts and is known for its formal mosaiculture, or carpet bedding, an ornate purple and green patchwork with views over the city of Funchal.
Monte Palace Tropical Garden
This lofty garden is reached by cable car. It plummets from a Gothic structure housing African sculpture and an impressive gem and mineral collection. Archways, rails, bridges and pagodas are a vibrant Chinese red, accentuating the lush green around them. Waterfalls tumble into pools and lakes.
Palheiro Gardens
These best represent Madeira's flamboyant soul. They are mainly the work of the Blandy family, who bought the estate in 1885 from the Count of Carvahal.
They were neglected until the Eighties, when Mildred Blandy's Swedish daughter-in-law Christina re-invigorated them. 'Christina likes serendipity, rather than colour plans,' explains Gerald as we walk amid jasmine, calendula, birds of paradise, azaleas, camellias, pansies, dahlias, foxgloves and roses.
First published in the Daily Mail - October 2016
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