Jordan is very helpful and professional
We always use DialAFlight for our bookings and Adam Siu is always very helpful
Really appreciated the call a few days before we left
DialAFlight is unfailingly brilliant
Joe Orton is amazingly helpful. I rely on him for all my travel arrangements.
Philippa was very helpful and I particularly liked receiving a call a few days before our holiday. It was very reassuring
Excellent hotel and flight. Superb service as usual from Bradley. Very pleased.
It took us 45 minutes to come through passport control on our return to Stansted!
The very best service, always.
We've used DialAFlight many times and twice in this past year - both with Jessica. Excellent service and will continue to use and recommend
Great service, recommended flight went well, will use again!
Just brilliant all the way through
Easyjet had no food available going out or back...not great.
As ever Elizabeth was excellent and the service we received from DialAFlight was spot on. Thank you.....
Special assistance was excellent - flights both ways on time. Good service all round
Everything worked out fine.
Tara McConnell from DialAFlight, was extremely helpful. She listened to what we required from our holiday and delivered, at a competitive price. We have used the company before, and found Tara extremely approachable and responsive to our many questions. We are using them again for our next trip to Brisbane this year, and have no hesitation in recommending Tara and DialAFlight .
Although this booking was flight only I received the same level of excellent service and attention to detail that I receive when I've booked holiday packages. We later added an overnight airport hotel before our early flights and received an excellent rate better than the web
Thanks to Zoe - fabulous service!
Howard and Russell were great as usual. Anyone we speak to is always so helpful.
As always DAF delivered a great holiday and excellent service. Shame that BA are not the same though!
Excellent service. I have and will recommend you
Thank you again. You never let us down.
I am so impressed by DialAFlight service - they deal with “useless old ladies” brilliantly! So reassuring and kind. I have recommended to many friends.
Just a big thank you!
I used you for the first time and I was very happy.
They would not let me on the flight as I had filled in the locator form incorrectly. Had to stay the night and buy a new ticket. Grrrr
Thank you so much once again Sally for all your assistance in booking our holidays. Another great one for sure and everything went really well. Very much appreciated
Jet2 did well (first time with them) though we could not land at Madeira because of bad weather. We went to Tenerife overnight, all well arranged by Jet2. Hotel we used in Madeira we would not stay in again, but that was our choice.
During these unprecedented covid times it gave us peace of mind that we would be looked after. We will book again
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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