La Palma is a truly beautiful gem in the Atlantic Ocean that continues to attract visitors thanks to its striking nature. The island is also called “the beautiful island” or “the green island”. Despite being one of the smallest islands amongst the Canary Islands, it is one of the most diverse for sure!
From the lush forests of the north to the rugged craters of the south, to the astonishing beaches, to fascinating volcanos and fabulous black beaches. I knew how beautiful it is, but I had no I idea that it can be this wonderful, with such an impressive nature and something you don’t see this days anymore, the night sky.. full of stars. There are very few places in the world where you can actually see the stars at night.
Did I woken up in you the sense of wanderlust? It is a great place if you are seeking beauty and a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Life here passes at another rate. If you are searching for a real experience, I highly recommend you to visit the mountains, not only the beaches. So here is your full guide with what you should visit in La Palma.
ROQUE DE LOS MUCHACHOS
La Palma is one of the best island if you love hiking. It has numerous hiking trails to choose from, starting with easy ones to pro type of hikes. There are several hikes to be enjoyed. We chose an easy one and we enjoyed this delightful corner of La Palma in a lush enchanted forest tucked inside a barranco (small canyon). Moisture gets trapped around these parts, causing the forest to be incredibly lush and jungle like.
On the way you can find various “miradors” or an observation deck overlooking the stunning views of the forest. If you are short in time, you can drive up just for the view or you can just walk into the forest. Both ways are good options.
CASCADA DE LOS TILOS
This is the biggest and most beautiful waterfall in the Canary islands! It is not very hard to reach it, actually it is very easy, you can drive the car very close to the waterfall. From the parking lot you have to hike a couple of hundred meters till you reach the waterfall. The hike is very magical and it goes through tunnels and along water canals.
If you have enough time you can adventure a little bit more into the lush forest. The Los Tilos trail is especially worthwhile, taking you through a moss covered cloud forest that has an almost ethereal feel.
Hike the Cubs de la Ganga trail
If you don’t want to do a difficult hike, then this is a great one, being also one of the most popular and also one of the easiest hiking trails in La Palma. Even if you are not a hiker, I really recommend doing this trail! It goes along a deep river and through lush green forests with huge trees, giving you the feeling like you are in a fairytale story.
It is a dense and humid forest with an air of mystery which results in temperatures being cooler than elsewhere. I wasn’t feeling cold at any moment, but I do recommend you bringing a light jacket for just in case.
La Palma hosts one of the biggest observatories in the world, The Gran Tecan. The clear skies, altitude and low light pollution makes this place unique, giving the visitors the chance of rediscovering the stunning night sky. Something that these days we donยดt get to see at all.
STAR OBSERVATION
One of the best spots to observe the stars of all places in the world, is definitely La Palma thanks to its location and the strict laws against the light pollution. You can see the stars at any point off the island, even in places with light. But if you want to observe the best of the best night sky, go at a spot with no light around, you will see literally millions of stars. Be ready to be amazed and take some awesome pictures of the sky.
There are various protected dark zones, streetlights must conform to regulations and flight paths are rerouted over the ocean to cause minimal interference. Other reasons for the perfect star gazing conditions include the islandโs low humidity, observation points at high altitude and the smooth Atlantic winds bringing stable air.
Sandy black beaches and lush forests are great, but you can enjoy visiting the two volcanoes of La Palma. If you visit Charco Azul you can have a nice swim in the natural pool of the volcano. On the North coast, the most famous spot is the Natural pools of La Fajana.
CUMBRE VIEJA VOLCANO
I’m pretty sure that most of you heard about the big eruption of the Volcano Cumbre Vieja that lasted for months. Everybody thought this was a dead volcano until it decided to crack open and a new crater roared into life on 19 September 2021. Cumbre Vieja unleashed furious lava fountains and aggressive ash clouds, belching from various craters and vents on its western flank. At one point there were 10 or 11 craters going off at the same time, with angry fire jets spiralling out of control.
The lava flow consumed houses and entire villages within the first couple of days. It tumbled down the mountainside from its original crater at an altitude of 900 metres and plunged into the ocean 6 kilometres further away. And this is how Cumbre Vieja Volcano became the longest eruption in known history on La Palma, after 85 days of continuous activity.
When we visited on March this year, it was very calm, the surrounding very peaceful. You could only see a little smoke, getting out of the volcano, but it was hard not to think, that here happened a very violent eruption just a few months before. Kilometres around the volcano you can still see ashes, hot ashes (there are places where is prohibited to walk on) and even we could still feel the smell.
MIRADOR DE LOS DRAGOS
One of the trees that most caught me the attention is of course the Dragon tree. We found this awesome spot with cute cactus gardens, an impressive view of the island and this huge dragon trees. It is not far away from the road, actually it is very easy to access this gorgeous garden. There are actually two separate dragon trees and both of them are somewhat crooked. Definitely some of my favorite hidden gems in La Palma!
And now let’s talk beaches. La Palma has many great beaches, but almost none of them is good for swimming because of the strong waves that happens here on the island. Even if we haven’t got into the water, we still visited a few of them and I can say it is totally worth it. So here are the ones we loved and enjoyed very much to visit.
PLAYA PUERTO NAOS
This one is a quite popular black beach, very close to the airport, like 10 minutes by car, very windy too. Most of visitors love this beach because of its proximity to restaurants, parking facilities, the scuba diving, as well as paragliding. It is a beach of fine black sand which gives a spectacular sunset. We’ve been here before leaving La Palma, so it was a nice “good bye, see you next time beautiful island”.
SANTA CRUZ DE LA PALMA
This is one of the easiest beach to access in La Palma. It is located near the town, you only have to cross the street and you are at the beach. It has a few restaurants if you want to have a nice dinner by the beach watching the sunset on a clear day. This beach usually has strong waves making it difficult for swimming, but it is perfect to lay down on the sand and relax.
PLAYA DE NOGALES
This is probably the wildest and most beautiful beach in La Palma and also one of my favourite. The beach is surrounded by spectacular coastal cliffs and you can observe everything perfectly from above. The surrounding is completely idyllic, where the environment is as wild, whose charm you will remember forever.
thoughts about La Palma
I absolutely loved this place and I would come back any time. It has a unique energy, the nature is absolutely impressive, I’m still dreaming about those charming forests, the fabulous beaches and the night sky. I hope you enjoyed this blog post and any question you have, just feel free to ask me in the comment section. Happy travels!
Madeleine ๐ผ 
I’ll have to add this to my list of dream destinations. Thanks for sharing!
So happy I inspired you to go there