Porto Santo Island

[Oistinemup]

How have I not heard of this ?

I was just browsing last minute hols for Madeira and a few came up for Porto Santo Island. So I did a little googling and found it. It looks very quiet with few restaurants etc

Has anyone been? What’s the verdict ?

I've looked at it a few times. I think there's only 2 hotels. Every time I've looked on Tui though, its always unavailable.

It's main claim to fame is for holding planes that are unable to land at Madeira! The cabin crew described it in very unflattering terms.

We’re going to Madeira next month and could go for the day, but it’s 2.5 hours each way so I don’t think we’ll bother.

Or if its windy when your flight tries to land, you might get to go there whether you decide its worth it or not @MadKittenWoman

Have you ever been to Madeira?

Madeira is very quiet. No resort style entertainment like you'd get on a typical Spain/Greece/turkey etc holiday.

Porto Santo is supposedly even quieter.

If you enjoy spending the evening just going for a meal and expect nothing more in terms of entertainment, you'd be fine.

I personally enjoyed Madeira. It's definitely completely different to other holiday destinations I've been on. A bit like a quiet city break by the sea with absolutely zero Brits abroad influence.

Porto Santo is a beautiful relaxing island. We went for a week with TUI (AI) a few years ago and had an amazing time. The hotel was very clean and comfortable. The food was lovely (especially for AI) and the staff could not have been more helpful.

There isn’t a huge amount to do. One side of the island has a gorgeous clean sandy beach, the other side rocky coves (perfect for snorkelling). There is a golf course, small zoo, a very small museum where Christopher Columbus once lived and some interesting rock formations. There are a few boat trips (we went on one and saw dolphins) and some organised walks/gentle hikes around parts of the island. But not a lot in the way of nightlife.

Thanks for all the replies.

I don’t mind quiet. I haven’t been to Madeira yet so perhaps should try there first

Funchal in Madeira is wonderful to visit, so much to see and do. Puerto Santo Is where a lot of people that live on Madeira spend their holidays, like us going to IOW. It is very quiet.

Yes, I've sat for hours at the tiny airport, waiting for our plane to get permission to try and land in Madeira.

We did four nights in Madeira and two nights in Porto Santo about 15 years ago and had such a lovely holiday. Porto Santo is quiet but the beach is lovely and we enjoyed wandering around. We stayed at the Pestana and had great food there although it was a long time ago now!

We've stayed at the pestana. It was a nice break. The kids loved it.

I went on a day trip from Madeira to Porto Santo a couple of years ago. The beach was beautiful and there’s a nice capital called Vila Baleira. I could happily spend a week there.

I've had a week in Porto Santo, the beach is long with golden sand, you can walk all the way to the main town from the pestana ai hotels, though I think it's like a 5k walk or something! Not much to do but I enjoyed lounging around in the hotel for a week with DH and a 4 year old.

I've also been to Madeira, much more to do there, famous botanical gardens, exotic fruits market, way more restaurants and bars, amazing levada walks. The beaches are rockier with black sand and a lot of the coast line is sheer cliffs into the water.

We went a few years ago - Pestana hotel was nice as was the beach but we found it was cloudy (but warm) almost every morning of our fortnight there in August