Canary Islands La Gomera – Tenerife – La Palma – El hierro
Other destinations:
Mallorca
Madeira Levada Hiking
Viñales, Cuba
Phong Nha, Vietnam
Peru – Inka Trail – Machu Picchu
Table of Contents
Canary Islands – overview
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands. Most people goes to the southern end of the island where the major tourist destinations are, such as Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos. Tenerife south is dry. There are dry cactus fields high up before the pine forest takes over. There are also large beaches, lots of sun and several nice hikes there, but it can not compete with the green northern part of the island when it comes to hiking opportunities.
Read:
Tenerife North– Hiking
Tenerife south – Hiking
La Gomera
La Gomera is the second smallest of the Canary Islands, but one of the best for hiking. The nature is very varied with dry climate around the coast, and the beautiful wooded Garajonay National Park in the middle of the island. There are many places to stay, and many hiking opportunities.
Read:
La Gomera hiking – Valle Gran Ray
La Gomera – around Playa de Santiago.
La Gomera hiking- Vallehermoso
La Palma
La Palma is a little visited island. It has few beaches and few tourist hotels, and is known as the steep island. To the south you can walk along the top of the island and view volcanoes, or walk along the coast in pine wood. The huge volcanic crater Caldera de Taburiente offers several possibilities.
Read:
La Palma hiking
El Hierro
El Hierro is the smallest Canary Island, but it is great for nature experiences. It is very varied, with steep mountains, large forests and volcanic landscapes. Unlike the other islands, it also has a large, relatively flat mountain plateau for those who do not like steep climbing.
Read:
El Hierro – Hiking
Gran Canaria
This is probably the most known island for tourists, with many tourist areas in the dry and sunny southern end of the island. But in the mountains there are greener and countless trails to walk.
See: coming…
Fuerteventura and Lanzarote
These islands are low and receive very little rain, and are characterized by desert-like lava landscape. There are trails you can walk, mostly on Lanzarote.
Other areas
Cape Verde
Cape Verde is a world class destination when it comes to nature and hiking opportunities. Especially the island of Santo Antao is fabulous.
Read more: Cape Verde
Cape Verde, Santo Antao
Mallorca
Mallorca is probably best known for beaches and cycling. But along the entire north side of the island there is a mountain range with great hiking opportunities. You can walk the entire mountain range along high mountains, through ancient olive groves, and spend the night by the sea.
Read more here: Mallorca hiking
Madeira
Levada hiking in Madeira is the classic in hiking tourism in the southern regions. Levadas are irrigation canals that carry water from the rainy northwest side of the island to the sunny southeast side. Thanks to rainfall and canals, the whole of Madeira is green and with great floral splendor. It is over 2000 km of levadas, from narrow 30 cm to wide 2 meter canals.
Read more here: Madeira Levada hiking
App / GPS / Map
Trails on Canary Islands
The trails are mostly the original travel routes on the islands, from the time when feet and donkeys were the only means of transport. It is a tremendous work that has been put in. Hundreds of thousands of hours must be spent building high walls and carving the path into the rock wall. In the steepest parts, stairs have been built, partly with stone, partly carved steps in the rock. Long parts are cobbled. It makes it very easy to walk, and you can easily get around in the wonderfully beautiful landscape. But in many places you get problems if you have a fear of heights. Many of the trails are partly very vertiginous, but still safe. But watch out for the weather. It can change quickly in height, with strong winds and rain. Then it can be scary if you are high up in the mountains.
Packing List
Although these are warmer regions, it can be quite cool up in the mountains. I usually wear a thin wool sweater.
Lightweight hiking boots, hiking boots are fine.
Walking poles can be handy, especially in steep terrain which there is a lot of. But they can not be taken as hand luggage on planes.
Always bring rain and a windproof jacket when you go up in height, preferably of the shell type, without lining. It takes up little room.
I prefer to use a bum bag to avoid the sweaty back you get from a rucksack. It takes 6 liters, and it fits just right for a jacket, a liter and half of water and the lunch.
Get around
Bus
The advantage of using a bus and taxi is that you do not have to end up at the starting point, but the flexibility is of course less than with a rental car.
The buses on La Gomera and El hierro are called Guaguas, on Tenerife Titsa and on La Palma Tilp. Apart from Tenerife, there are not many departures per day, but with a little planning it works. You can pay with cash on the bus, but not by card. Titsa has handy day and week card.
Links:
https://www.guaguagomera.com
https://transhierro.com/
https://titsa.com/
https://www.tilp.es
Taxi and rental car
Taxis are affordable and a good alternative to renting a car. In 2022 about 50 cent/kilometer.
Rental car prices vary greatly with demand. When I was at La Gomera in June 2021 I only paid 120 Euro for a week, in January 2022 they wanted 600 Euro. But in June, there were very few tourists because of Covid.
Flights
Many operators fly directly to Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Also check the travel companies for remaining seats. They sell empty seats as “just plane”. Between the islands you can use the local airline Binter Canaria, or ferries. There are ferries between all the islands. Ferries are relatively expensive, not much cheaper than planes.
Ferries
There are ferries between all the islands. they are operated by two companies:
Fred Olsen
Armas
A Guidebook is fine for planning and tour description. I use:
