Enter Portugal

The Mercado dos Lavradores is Funchal's bustling, vibrantly coloured marketplace. Filled with tropical fruit and vegetables such as mangoes (Manga), figs (Figo), guavas (Goiaba), custard apples (Anonas), cherries (Pitangas) and possibly the most famous of Madeira's fruits, the small, sweet bananas.

Mercado dos Lavradores
Photo: Christian Wernicke

This market is as much a feast for the eyes as the mouth as you gaze along the brightly coloured produce on offer. On the ground floor of the market there is a fish market, with possibly the best buys being the huge tuna fish (Atum), sea bream (Pargo), red mullet (Salmonete) and swordfish (Espadarte).

The building that houses the marketplace is itself famous, designed by Portuguese architect Edmundo Tavares (a student of Corbusier) and is built in an art-deco style with some superb painted tiles (azulejos) by the entrance.