Madeira, set in the middle of the Atlantic 500 miles south-west of Lisbon, is one of the gems of Europe. The island — or more correctly group of islands, for the popular Porto Santo with its long, golden beaches and now one golf course, is just a 15-minute plane hop away, and the uninhabited Desertas islands cluster off-shore — were formed 35 million years ago when a huge volcanic eruption on the Atlantic sea-bed threw millions of tonnes of molten lava high into the air. When it settled the islands had been formed, mountainous, jagged and very fertile. Dense forests and lush vegetation soon took hold, eventually giving its name to the island - Ilha da Madeira (The Wooded Isle). Forest still covers much of the island, and bananas, grapes, passsion fruit and many other crops are grown. Flowers abound, both in the wild and in the specially created gardens, including the Botanical Gardens in Funchal, the Monte-Palace Tropical Garden, the Boa Vista Garden and the Palheiro Gardens. If you don't have time for that you can always get a good taste of the local produce by visiting the Market in the centre of Funchal where vivid displays of fruit, vegetables, flowers both fresh and dried, are on sale and, in a vast indoor fish market, thousands of fish of varieties you might never have seen before are brought in from the boats each morning. I can imagine hordes of health inspectors from Brussels holding their heads in disbelief as fresh fish - some still moving - are dispensed to waiting housewives who will ensure that they are on the meal table at home within a few hours of having been caught. No packing, freezing, chemical spraying or other rubbish to preserve them in freezers for months - this is fresh food as it should be.

Funchal itself is a beautiful town full of little squares and tiny back-streets lined with fashionable shops, but without designer prices. There are many coffee-shops where you can sit in the afternoon sun and just watch the world stroll by. A beautiful Cathedral dominates the main square, sumptuously decorated and brimming with flowers, light and fresh, totally unlike the more austere Gothic frugality we are accustomed to in northern Europe. Plenty of good quality hotels can be found in and around Funchal, especially near the Lido, a 15-minute walk from the centre. I stayed reently at the Pestana Palms, right on the ocean. The Palheiro course is 15 minutes up the hill from the town, set in part of the beautiful gardens, first laid out in 1801 and planted with trees from all over the world, but primarily from Brazil. Sit on the terrace of the clubhouse with a coffee before you play and enjoy the stunning view over Funchal Bay, 600 metres below you. You will certainly need all the help you can if you are to successfully tackle this monster of a course. It might only say 6002 metres on the score-card but it plays much longer than that.

It is tough to begin with, the first rising steeply uphill. After that it levels off considerably though still has some sloping lies and narrow driving areas. A hugely enjoyable course but you might consider taking a buggy, even though I hate them. The run-in is tough, with the 14th to 17th being particularly testing; you can lose it all here. And finally a relaxing par-5 to finish, with a lovely view of the Bay as you approach the green. A huge cypress guards the front of the green so you need to be in the right spot to attack the green. You can probably smell lunch cooking in the clubhouse at this point too, and it was very welcome.

Madeira has only one other course at Santo da Serra, the venue of the Madeira Open. This is another tough course. There are actually 27 holes here, with the yellow loop of nine being rather gentle and, whilst not exactly flat, less taxing than the rest. The signature hole on the yellow "Serras" course is the 160-metre par-3 fifth, playing across a lake to a small green. The pros play the red (Machico) and blue (Desertas) course, designed by the late Robert Trent Jones, whose pupil and assistant Cabell Robinson was responsible for Palheiro. Jones has here, as always, done a wonderful job, using the natural terrain without moving millions of tons of earth and putting in row after row of mounds like some designers. There are plenty of tough holes, quite a bit of water and a few blind shots but it is magnificent an you'll be glad you came. A truly stunning course but again you would need to be very fit to walk it. I came back two kilos lighter! I probably need to go again. With courses this tough you probably won't want to play every day but there is much more to enjoy about Madeira and the weather is pretty decent year-round. Food is good with lots of seafood, naturally and everything is fresh. It really is a paradise island.

Madeira's sister island is Porto Santo, a 12-minute hop by air or a two-hour cruise in summer. It is a very quiet island with only 5000 inhabitants and if you want to get away from the madding crowd this could be for you. The scenery is excellent with plenty of hiking trails to test your legs. For golfers there is the one course designed by Seve Ballesteros. The front nine is testing and enjoyable with good driving holes that also require accuracy. The back nine is a bit different and there were a couple of occasions when I wondered what on earth was going through Seve's mind when he designed it. A couple of holes play across the clifftops so you have spectacular views but a couple of holes don't exactly fit. But I'd go back and try to get to know it better; it was enjoyable.

Getting to Madeira is easy with a three-hour flight direct from Gatwick daily on TAP Air Portugal, one of the airlines who still understand what the word service means. And they don't charge extra for golf clubs. A meal (not fantastic but ok as airline meals go), free wine, a little snooze and you're there. And with your boarding pass stub you get a free bus service into Funcahl, or it's €30 by taxi. It is a beautiful island. Go soon, you'll enjoy it.