CHOOSE LA PALMA

Hiking on La Palma

The island of La Palma, with its narrow and deep ravines, steep and rugged mountains, is traversed by a network of trails. These paths are also known as royal trails or "Caminos Reales" , which were used by the island's inhabitants until the middle of the last century.

Because La Palma is very difficult area in terms of transport, these paths were used for all transportation. Especially horses and donkeys were used to transport all goods from one place to another.

Today, these trails are a godsend for any hiker who likes a bit of adventure.

That is why La Pallma today has a special attraction of visitors who love peace and nature. La Palma offers the hiker a variety of landscapes and views unknown to many.

Despite its size, the most green island of the Canary archipelago makes you wonder and amaze every time.

Discovering nature in La Palma

Hiking can be one of the best ways to enjoy nature and La Palma's hiking trails are one of the best ways to enjoy a landscape full of contrasts: shady forests, stunning coastal paths, sharp rock faces, barrancos or spots of jungle character.

Routes that lead the hiker through a unique environment whose landscape changes radically in a few kilometres and certainly with plenty of elevation changes, as plains are found almost nowhere in La Gomera. Hiking in La Palma is an experience that leads both physically and mentally very, very far. Moreover, the majority of trails offer the guarantee and peace of mind of knowing that they were designed by professionals.

Getting around in La Palma

La Palma is in no way comparable to other Canary Islands such as Tenerife or Gran Canaria.

You won't find shopping centres, overcrowded beaches and nightclubs. La Palma is to enjoy and unwind and, in the evening, dine at one of the typical restaurants in one of the few touristy places like Los Llanos de Aridane.

If you opt for beach holidays and crowds, you are better off on one of the other islands. La Palma is for those seeking peace and nature, where you can really enjoy the silence. There is also noticeably less traffic than e.g. Tenerife.

Hiking opportunities

A car is really necessary here if you want to explore a bit of the island and get from A to B in a smooth way. Fortunately, a rental car here is quite affordable.

Despite the size of the island, you'll still easily spend an hour on the road because, despite the good condition of the roads, there is practically no straight road anywhere and all roads are with many ups and downs.

Tenerife Trails presents to you a number of GPS walks that we ourselves took over the past years.

The choice of walks on La Palma is vast, but it is a good and varied mix of treks that will show you all the nooks and crannies of this wonderful island.

You can follow us on Wikiloc for all our hikes

Tips to stay and visit

You can opt for a pleasant stay in several ways on La Palma. Don't expect large-scale hotels on LaPalma exept in the south. Most tourists stay in small-scale hotels and guesthouses, bungalows or flats.

A good tip for staying is Los Llanos on the south-west side of the island. From Santa Cruz de la Palma, it is an hour's drive to Los Llanos. Los Llanos elongated valley is surrounded by almost perpendicular cliffs. The town is proudly described by locals as the most beautiful part of the island.

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How to get there...?

Flying to La Palma is one option, the other is by ferry.

You can take the ferry in Los Christianos. It's a 2.5 hour ferry-trip with Fred Olsen.

If we may give you a good tip: Rent a car in Tenerife at the airport and hire it from Cicar. It is the only rental company that allows you to take your car on the ferry as it is a Canary company. Moreover, they have very friendly rates.

For a crossing, count on around €50pp each way. You take the car for €20 extra which is a bargain. The car rental offer on La Palma is much smaller and if you already rent in Tenerife you can put your suitcases straight into your rental car as on the ferry they have to go into a separate cargo van.