Richard Webber

First some facts about Bydgoszcz, pronounced “bid-gosh-ch”. Poland’s ninth largest city straddles the Brda River in the north of the country and is an important inland port. Nicknamed the “Venice of the North”, due to its waterways edged by Art Nouveau buildings, it also boasts the country’s biggest city park – one of many, by the way. Another claim to fame is that it’s widely celebrated as a UNESCO City of Music.

Stunning location, comfortable accommodation, delicious cuisine, first-class service…here at Travellowdown, we could go on and on with superlatives when describing The Carlyon Bay Hotel, which is perched atop the Cornish cliffs on the outskirts of St Austell. But I think you’ll have got the picture by now: we rate the hotel highly after enjoying a three-night stay.

Sitting on a bench by the fountains in colourful Santa Caterina Park, we asked ourselves why we love Madeira and, in particular, its capital, Funchal, so much? We’ve visited many times but keep coming back for more. After considering the question, we realised instantly that it wasn’t just one reason – there were myriad reasons we adored returning to this lush, mountainous isle, sitting 280 miles from the African coast and a tad over three hours’ flying time from the UK.