Poço da Neve

The structure looks like an igloo built of rock, and visitors keep using that word for it. Underneath is the reason it exists: a deep pit, built in 1813 to hold snow. Snow settles on Madeira's high massif and never on the coast, so ice had to be kept up here.

The dome is the whole site. Information boards stand next to it, and that is all. On a clear day Funchal lies directly below and the view carries out to the coast. In cloud there is the stone and nothing else. Photographers also come after dark — the sky is dark at this height, and the dome gives them a foreground.

• No facilities: there are no toilets and no drinking water at the site or within reach of it. Bring water.
• Cloud kills the view: when the massif is in cloud there is nothing to see beyond the stone dome itself.
• It is one structure: the dome and the pit beneath it. Expect a stop, not an outing.
• Colder than the coast: the site is high on the massif. Bring a windproof layer even if Funchal is warm.

The usual approach is by car, on the road up to Pico do Arieiro, and the site works as a stop along it. No bus serves Poço da Neve itself. Parking is away from the cellar, so the last stretch is on foot. Walking in is possible too: one visitor came from Poiso on foot, through cloud and open ground, and called it exploring rather than sightseeing.

Better: a clear day for the view down over Funchal, or a clear night for the sky.

Avoid: days when cloud covers the massif.

The site sits at the level where cloud forms. The same spot gives a wide view over Funchal and the coast one day and no view at all the next, so check the weather on the heights rather than in town.