Madeira is a beautiful island and very popular holiday destination. Though it doesn't offer a whole lot of historic sights, it features a wide range of diverse landscapes and habitats, the most unique of which is the laurel forest. This type of forest disappeared on the European continent during the last Ice Age, but survived on some Atlantic islands such as the Canaries and Madeira. To tick it off, I took a local bus from Funchal to the trout hatchery at Ribeiro Frio, which seems to be crowded with tourists at all times. From there I took the pleasant trail (about 1.5 km one way) through an impressively dense forest to the beautiful Balcoes viewpoint. I also started on the longer trail to Portela, but turned back after a while when it started to rain. Ribeiro Frio is certainly the easiest way to visit this WHS, but for more serious (and fit) hikers than I am, Rabacal and the trail to the 25 Fontes seems to be the best way to experience the laurel forest. It should be noted that although the Madeira Nature Reserve easily covers three quarters of the island, this is not the same as the World Heritage Site, which only covers the remaining pockets of laurisilva, most of which are in the northern part of the island. I found it rather difficult to find a map showing the exact extent of the WHS (even though there is an endless variety of hiking maps available), but the small one I could eventually find definitely included both Ribeiro Frio and Rabacal. On one of my bus trips across the island, I also crossed the forest reserve of Chao dos Louros, also within the WHS, but I couldn't get off there.