Quinta do Pântano Self Catering Units: Location

Quinta do Pântano is situated in a village called "Santo da Serra" which is the short version of the official name "Santo António da Serra" - which means Saint Anthony of the Woods in Portuguese. Santo da Serra is part of the municipality of Santa Cruz (mostly) but with reasonable overlap into the municipality of Machico creating, sometimes, some measure of conflict unto which municipal authority some parts of Santo da Serra should be administered by. In recent years most of the municipal responsibility has fallen under Santa Cruz.

Ironically, Santo da Serra, due to its altitude should be considered an area where the weather might not be as good as it might be on the coast of Funchal. This is a fallacy much too often propagated in the tourism industry. Very often when it is raining in Funchal the butterflies are batting their wings and the bees are buzzing about their frenetic business in glorious sunshine on this wonderful plateau. It is not by chance that Madeira's most important golf course is also situated there.

Quinta do Pântano is literally fifty metres away from the village centre. There are many small shops, snack bars, supermarkets and so on available. On the weekends there is a popular farmers market where everything from hot bread to protea flowers are sold - nearly all the products locally grown and made.

Regarding getting to and from the quinta we recommend you hire a car albeit there is a good bus service to and from Santo da Serra to Funchal and the airport. This is merely to give you a chance to use the many roads where busses and tour guides do not go in and around Santo da Serra and the surrounding municipalities. However, there are taxis close by ans they are realtively inexpensive compared to most European fares.

Quinta do Pântano sits next to the Santo da Serra golf course. It also sits alongside another hotel where a pool, tennis court and spa service is available. Horse riding and training is less than a kilometre away. There are several good restaurants nearby including the nice and cosy restuarant at the Quinta de São Jorge equestrian centre. Many other facilities are nearby: tea houses, medical facilities, bars, night life, and rural pastimes.