La Palma 
Rural landscapes and pretty villages, excellent for walking
The pretty heart-shaped Canary island of La Palma is situated to the north west of Tenerife. It is a beautiful island covered with exhuberant vegetation from the palm groves of its valleys to the pine forests of the National Park of La Caldera de Taburiente.
On La Palma agriculture is more evident than tourism and quaint farming villages, producing bananas, wine and tobacco, are scattered throughout La Palma's countryside. The island also has a few good beaches, mainly of black sand, in its main resorts of Los Cancajos and Puerto Naos. The capital of La Palma, Santa Cruz, is an attractive little city with a colonial past and many interesting traditional buildings.
La Palma - Nature:
The Caldera de Taburiente Natural Park, in the centre of the La Palma, is one of the largest craters formed by erosion in the world. Pines cling to the steep slopes and streams tumble down ravines to the crater floor where there are beautiful pools and clusters of Canary willow.
La Palma - Recreational Activities:
Apart from enjoying the volcanic scenery in the Caldera de Taburiente Natural Park, there are beautiful walks in the north of La Palma and, in contrast to this lush scenery, there is the 'Ruta de los Volcanes' which follows the live volcanoes in the south.
Hang gliders can often be spotted on La Palma at Puerto Naos, launching from the hills high above the village and, if you are interested in astronomy, La Palma's observatory - the Observatorio Astrofisico - is at the edge of the Caldera de Taburiente.
La Palma - Beaches:
There are two beach resorts on La Palma, one on the east coast, south of Santa Cruz at Los Cancajos, and on the west coast at Puerto Naos.
Puerto Naos enjoys the most sunshine and there are quieter beaches, including one naturist beach, located to the south of the town. Like the other islands in the Canaries, La Palma is an excellent choice for a winter sun holiday.
La Palma - Climate:
La Palma is not the driest of the Canary Islands and its lush green landscape reflects this. The north east of the island is the wettest and Puerto Naos and Tazacorte, on the west coast, are the sunniest spots on the island, although Santa Cruz and Los Cancajos (at sea level on the east coast) do receive a fair amount of sunshine.
Cloud normally increases with altitude and during the winter it can be cool over 700 metres above sea level, particularly at night.
La Palma - Agriculture & Gastronomy:
Tobacco is grown on La Palma and the local cigars are readily available. Being a thriving agricultural island it produces wine, a local rum and a fair variety of food.
The usual Canarian fish restaurants can be found in the coastal villages on the west coast of La Palma and a variety of good meat restaurants are located inland, particularly in the towns and villages.
La Palma - Getting There:
There are direct flights from the UK to La Palma from Gatwick and Manchester with Thomson Fly. The island can also be reached from Tenerife by catamaran, a daily fast ferry from Los Cristianos (takes 2 hours) or inter-island flights from Tenerife North Airport, of which there are 9 a day.
There are daily flights from Gran Canaria and flights 2 days a week from El Hierro and, during the summer, a daily flight from Lanzarote. You can take a taxi transfer from Tenerife South Airport to Tenerife North Airport (Transfer time about 90 minutes) and catch a flight to La Palma (flying time about 30 minutes). At La Palma Airport you can either hire a car or take a taxi transfer.
La Palma - Our Secret Destinations:
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