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Portugal's enchanting island of Madeira has been crowned Europe's Leading Island Destination 2020 at the World Travel Awards, which probably won't come as a surprise as it has won the award for seven out of the past eight years.

7 sensational things to do in Madeira

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Madeira succeeded over the other nominees - The Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Crete, Cyclades, Cyprus, Guernsey, Jersey, Malta, Sardinia and Sicily. It has also taken the award for world's leading island destination for the past five years, but will have to wait until the Grand Final takes place on November 27 to see if it is the overall winner again this year.

Rural Madeira - Parque Natural do Ribeiro Frio
Rural Madeira landscape © Juergen Sack / Getty Images
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The tiny volcanic island of Madeira is located 1076km southwest of Portugal, and it's geologically dramatic, filled with exotic colour and warmed year-round by the Atlantic sun. Nicknamed Pearl of the Atlantic, it is a diverse place for vacations. Lovers of the outdoors will enjoy hiking the levadas - narrow irrigation channels that were dug as far back as the 15th century and have been used over the centuries to disperse water. The island's black sand beaches, towering rock walls and gushing streams are also big attractions.

Highlights of the outdoor life include the glass-bottom lookout at Cabo Girão, which sits atop one of the highest sea cliffs in the world and the mountain-strewn landscape at Pico do Arieiro (1818m). The island is also a place of gentler pleasures, such as wine-tasting, visiting lush botanical gardens and watching embroiderers and wicker weavers at work. Visitors love traveling down the steep streets into Funchal from the steep mountainous slopes of Monte village in special wicker sledges on wooden rails that reach speeds of up to 38kph. The tradition dates back 100 years, and men known as carreiros transport passengers on the 2km ride. Further information on the winners of the World Travel Awards can be found on its website here.

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