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Porto Santo Island (Portugal)

Description: Porto Santo is a Portuguese island just northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Newest Review: ... pumpkins in fields sheltered by stone dry walls. Over the years trees such as cedars and aleppo pines have been re-introduced ... more

... as they are able to withstand prolonged periods of draught. More successful are the grapes that grow along the south coast. Most of these are cultivated for eating but a small part of the harvest is used to produce Vinho do Porto Santo, a heavy red wine with a distinctive reddish brown colour. It has a pleasant taste and goes down surprisingly easily. The wine varies in quality and can be sampled in local bars ad restaurants. Although tourism thrives in the summer months there are bold plans to develop the future o...more

Read Reviews for Porto Santo Island (Portugal)

Porto Santo Island (Portugal): A Gilded Island in the Atlantic (2512 words)
by - written on 02/01/09 (Very useful, 182 readings)
Rating:

Porto Santo is Madeira's neighbour - a sleepy island that hasn't changed for hundreds of years where there is very little to do but it does have one major asset, a long, golden sandy beach. I have always been intrigued by this small island mainly because it is stuck out miles away from anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean and also because the spoken language of its inhabitants is Portuguese. Having just returned from Madeira I was bursting to review Funchal but then realised I had already done so from a previous trip so seeing that I only visited Porto Santo just over a day ago I would like to tell you a little about this strange island and the people who live ... Read the complete review