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The Quinta das Vinhas cottages are located in Estreito da Calheta which is part of the larger municpal area of Calheta. "Estreito" means narrow in Portuguese and in this particular case refers to the valley that shapes the parish area into a ravine. The way the land slopes means that there is always a view for everybody. Many homes and cottages are dotted about the landscape and most of them cultivate some form of fruit or vegetable - either for subsistence farming or for large scale production such as wine or sugar cane processing. Estreito da Calheta is classic countryside and the cottages at Quinta da Vinhas draw upon the traditions and colours of the region. In effect the cottages become a paradigm of what a typical Madeiran stone cottage should be.
Some three minutes away by car is the main Calheta marina which also has the first golden sandy beach in Madeira. Two parish counties further paragliding and parasailing can be enjoyed from the top of Arco da Calheta. The famous "Aguaradente" (fire-water rum) is produced at the "Engenho" near the villa of Calheta and many farms produce their own wines nearby. The most notable characteristic of the area is its lush green and flowery countryside. The tranquility and charm of nature with no dangerous animals or pests about. The weather in Madeira is usually mild and pretty uniform the year round. Temperatures oscillate between the 15º Celsius to 28º Celsius. For further infromation on Madeira try visiting www.madeira-island.com or www.madeiraonline.com.
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Quinta
das Vinhas is close to many walking trails (levada walks and "veredas").
Many walks follow trajectories that traverse several parish areas ("freguesias").
The sea is relatively close by: a short hop over to Jardim do Mar -
the nearest sea side village - is a very good spot to enjoy surfing,
fishing and eating out. Using Estreito da Calheta as
a point of departure the whole of the south-west and north-west of
the island can be discovered easily and quickly by car or even by foot
for day trips. The rest of the island is accessed easily via the new
freeway built along the southern part of the island that goes all the
way straight past Funchal to the Airport and then onto Machico and
Santana. Quinta da Vinhas is about 35 minutes away from the airport
and some twenty minutes away from Funchal.