Jardim Municipal do Funchal

Tropical trees close over the paths and the traffic noise drops away beneath them. The planting is dense, well kept and broken into separate areas: a fountain, benches deep under the canopy, a café, and a small open-air stage that is not always in use. Locals call the garden Jardim de São Francisco, after the Franciscan convent that once occupied the ground. It works as a city park as much as a garden — tourists and Funchal residents share the same benches, and it gets busy with both.

• Toilets and water: free public toilets sit about 45 m from the garden, with a drinking water point at a similar distance.
• Dogs: allowed in the garden.
• Crowds: it gets very busy, with tourists and Funchal residents both sitting out under the plants.
• The stage: a small open-air theatre stands among the planting, but it is not always in use.

Most people arrive on foot: the garden lies within walking distance of the centre of Funchal, and the last stretch is city pavement. Buses stop on the streets alongside it. Take care with taxis for short hops — one visitor was charged €35 for a five-minute ride and afterwards wished they had taken the bus. Agree the fare before you get in.

Best: May to September, the warm dry half of the year in Funchal.

Avoid: June, when persistent cloud can settle over the whole bay — Funchal knows it as the city's helmet.

Funchal is the warmest city in Portugal, averaging 20 °C over the year, so the planting looks much the same in February as in August; what changes is the sky. October to April is the cooler, wetter season. Whenever you come, expect company on the benches.