Hikes, food and things to do on the beautiful Island of La Palma

When

28th December 2024–7th January 2025

Where we stayed

Rather than moving around the island, we opted to rent a car (a must!) and used a cute, cosy casa as our base.

Reading recommendation

The Bear: This was a quick, easy read. I couldn’t put it down. Sad but beautiful, and a great complement to being surrounded by nature.

Top 3 hikes

Volcano Trail via GR131 / E7

This was our favourite hike on the island. We arranged a taxi to pick us up from the endpoint (where we left our car) and drop us off at the starting point, making it mostly a downhill hike. The taxi cost about €40.

Roque de los Cuervos — Bejenado — Lomo del Estrecho

An easy circular hike with some nice views.

Cascada de Colores

A nice, easy hike through an old river valley. The view at the end isn’t as epic as the pictures make it seem… but it’s an enjoyable hike nonetheless.

Where to eat

We struggled to find great places to eat, so we mostly shopped and cooked at home, enjoying the space we had rented. But when we found Andares La Palma, we loved it so much we went two nights in a row… three nights in total! Most other days, we picked up fresh fish from the supermarket and cooked it ourselves. Great value — 0.5 kg of tuna for about €20? Sold.

• Andares La Palma Great value for amazing pizza and steak.

• La Papaya — Speciality Coffee & Vegetarian Brunch On the other side of the island, but worth the trip. Combine it with a hike and you’ve got the ingredients for a great adventure day( Try the Snickers bar).
• Banana Garden La Palma Café & Bar Nice coffee, you can get a nice flat white here.
• Bar Arepera El Encuentro  We ate here a few times. The atmosphere is great and the tapas-style food is tasty.

Points of interest

• Poris de Candelaria viewpoint I hated driving down here — it was so steep, and I had an old manual car. Just thinking about the drive back up made it hard to enjoy the place.
• Observatorio Astrofísico We had a tour planned, but it was cancelled because the road was blocked by snow. We decided to drive up that direction anyway the next day, and it was perfectly fine — lots of other people were driving up and walking around. Sad we couldn’t do the tour, but it was a beautiful view nonetheless.

• El Charco Azul Piscina Natural

Great place for a swim, with basic changing facilities and a restaurant.

• Centro de interpretación Caños de Fuego

We did the volcano tour and it was fantastic. Who knew that walking through a lava tube was a thing you could do?