Walking on La Palma: Volcano Trails, Laurel Forest and the Best Time to Go

Anyone planning a walking holiday in the Canary Islands will find that La Palma lives almost entirely off walking tourism rather than beach tourism. You can feel it: paths are well maintained, clearly signed and divided into three categories. GR routes (long-distance trails) link the island in every direction, PR routes (medium-length paths) open up the individual areas, and SL routes (short paths) lead to the details that no bus can reach.

What really sets La Palma apart as a walking island is the constant shift between altitude zones. Hardly any route stays at one level. You might set off from the coast among banana terraces and end up in a pine forest, or leave the misty laurel forest in the morning and stand on a crater rim in the sunshine by lunchtime. These transitions happen over short distances, because the island is steep and small. That's exactly what makes it ideal for walkers with a moderate amount of time: plenty of variety, with little travelling between areas.

The landscape is a mosaic of the Caldera's erosion bowl, Canarian pine forests, ancient laurel forest, lava fields and ash cones, banana and vineyard terraces on the coastal slopes, deep barrancos, and the night sky above the Roque de los Muchachos, ranked among the darkest in the world. It's greener, steeper and quieter than its neighbouring islands, though that's not meant as a ranking. A walking holiday on La Palma means going outdoors because there's little else to do, and that's exactly why the island works so well.

Most walkers land in Santa Cruz de la Palma in the east. From there, the north-east with Los Tilos and Marcos y Cordero is just as easy to reach as the old town. Anyone heading into the Caldera or onto the ridge should base themselves in El Paso, the main access point for the national park visitor centre and the Refugio El Pilar. Los Llanos de Aridane in the west is the base for day walks into the Caldera from the valley floor and for the coastal paths of the south-west. Fuencaliente in the south is the destination of the Ruta de los Volcanes and also gives access to the lighthouse, the salt pans and the Teneguía volcano. Los Sauces and Barlovento in the north-west open up the damp, trade-wind-exposed north with the densest laurel forests. Garafía is the most remote corner, barely developed for tourism, and interesting for exactly that reason.

An important point for planning: many of the finest walks on La Palma are one-way routes, not circular walks that bring you back to your car. That makes buses and taxis a genuine planning factor. Anyone doing a multi-day tour, where luggage travels ahead to the next overnight stop each day, avoids this problem neatly. Leaving a hire car behind at the starting point is the most common planning mistake.

Caldera de Taburiente: the crater bowl at the island's heart

Walking the Caldera de Taburiente means moving through one of Spain's oldest national parks, a vast erosion bowl formed not by an explosion but by millions of years of water and tectonic movement. The bowl is ringed by steep crater walls, densely covered inside with Canarian pine, and crossed by a permanent watercourse, the Río de Taburiente.

The classic approach runs through the Barranco de las Angustias, the narrow gorge at the entrance to the Caldera, reachable from the valley floor near Los Llanos. Alternatively, you can come in from the ridge via the La Cumbrecita visitor centre, with its short viewpoint walk to the miradores. The Pico Bejenado, on the southern rim of the bowl, makes for a rewarding summit day. The colourful Cascada de Colores waterfall inside the Caldera is a highlight, and on hot days good for a swim. Best for: anyone who prefers national park atmosphere, pine forest and dramatic crater walls to an open volcanic ridge.

Roque de los Muchachos and the ridge above the clouds

The Caldera's crater rim, at around 2,400 metres, is one of the most impressive viewpoints in the entire Canary Islands. From the Roque de los Muchachos you look down into the crater on one side, and across a sea of clouds towards the neighbouring islands of Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro on the other. International observatories are sited here because the sky above the Roque is among the clearest in the world.

The ridge is exposed to wind and cold, often rising above the trade-wind clouds and therefore sunny even when the northern slopes are wet. Conditions can change quickly. The crater-rim walk demands sure-footedness on a few exposed sections, though no technical climbing is needed. Best for: anyone who wants to see the sea of clouds from above and doesn't mind a fair bit of wind.

Cumbre Vieja and the Ruta de los Volcanes

The south of La Palma is pure volcanic landscape. The Ruta de los Volcanes runs along the ridge of the Cumbre Vieja, past ash cones, cooled lava flows and open pine woods, with views of both coasts at once. This is La Palma's volcano trail walking at its purest.

In 2021 the Tajogaite volcano erupted here, permanently changing the south-west of the island: new lava fields reaching to the sea, altered path routes. Paths in the immediate vicinity of the eruption were closed and are being reopened gradually, depending on safety conditions. There's no need to overstate this: by far the greater part of the Ruta de los Volcanes and the Cumbre Vieja remains walkable. Check what's currently open with the island authorities or on the trip page before you go. Best for: fit walkers looking for open landscape, far-reaching views and volcanic geology.

The green north-east: Los Tilos and Marcos y Cordero

The north-east is the island's trade-wind side: damp, cool, green. Los Tilos is a UNESCO biosphere area with one of the last untouched laurel forests in Europe, laced with ferns, thick moss and old irrigation channels. The Cubo de la Galga in Puntallana is another laurel-forest gem, once used as a filming location for international productions.

Marcos y Cordero is a different world entirely: you walk into the tunnels of the old water supply system, headtorch and rain jacket are essential, and an off-road taxi takes you to the starting point. This is the side of La Palma that most guidebooks forget. The contrast with the south couldn't be greater: no lava, no dust, but darkness, water and ancient forest instead. Best for: anyone who prefers botany, quiet and a touch of underground adventure to a volcanic ridge.

Coast, barrancos and fishing villages

La Palma has no classic bathing bays, but it does have a coastline that's easy to explore on foot. Coastal paths run between banana terraces and small fishing villages, often along old trading routes. Fuencaliente in the south is the finest example: a lighthouse, salt pans with flamingos during migration season, the Teneguía volcano, which can be climbed on a short loop, and, to finish, a black lava pool for a swim in the sea. The barrancos, the deep gorges that cut across every region, offer short, intense walks into surprising depths. Walking and swimming on La Palma is entirely possible, but don't expect the Caribbean: dark sand, sea-water pools and the Atlantic are what's on offer, and that's plenty.

The principle behind an island crossing is simple: every morning you set off, every evening there's accommodation waiting in the next town, and someone else has already moved your suitcase there. You only carry a day pack.

Our 6-day La Palma walking trail is an individual, self-guided crossing of the island along the GR 131, running from the coast at Santa Cruz de la Palma over the ridge and past the Refugio El Pilar down into the volcanic landscape of the south to Fuencaliente. You walk alone or with companions, but without a guide, with pre-booked accommodation, luggage transfers, an offline map and a GPX track in the Bookatrekking app, which also shows you the current weather for each stage location. The stage over the ridge passes through the Roque de los Muchachos area, and the final stage crosses the volcanic landscape of the Cumbre Vieja: both areas lie right on the route.

Guided walks on La Palma, or independent? Our trip is deliberately designed as an independent one: your own pace, no group, no fixed guide. If you'd rather join a guided group with a local walking guide, local operators offer day walks of that kind. Our multi-day tour, by contrast, solves the questions of logistics, accommodation and navigation without giving up the freedom of an independent trip.

The route through the south depends on which paths have reopened since 2021. The trip page shows the current status. For all the other walking holidays in Spain, from the coast to the Pyrenees, you'll find the full overview in our Spain blog.

The GR 131 is the long-distance trail that crosses La Palma from north to south: from Puerto de Tazacorte over the crater rim of the Caldera, up to the Roque de los Muchachos, down to the Refugio El Pilar and across the volcanic landscape of the Cumbre Vieja to Fuencaliente. It links every major area of the island except the damp north-east around Los Tilos.

Its best-known section is the Ruta de los Volcanes in the south, La Palma's volcano trail walking at its most intense: an open ridge, ash cones, pines and sweeping views of both coasts. You'll find the full route of our trip, the currently open sections and every overnight location on the La Palma walking trail trip page.

If you'd rather base yourself in one place, or can't or don't want to walk for six days straight, La Palma still offers more than enough choice. The network of PR and SL paths makes exactly this possible: day-walk options on La Palma, and the finest routes as a guide to help you decide.

A few of the most rewarding options:

• Los Tilos, Bosque de los Tilos: a laurel-forest gorge with a waterfall, ferns and moss, short but deeply immersive.
• Marcos y Cordero: a water-tunnel walk in the north-east, headtorch and off-road taxi required, a genuinely unique experience.
• Cubo de la Galga: a laurel-forest loop in Puntallana, family-friendly, dense and green.
• Ruta de los Volcanes from Refugio El Pilar: where open, one of the most impressive day walks in the Canaries.
• Barranco de las Angustias: the entry point into the Caldera from the valley floor, following the river into the bowl.
• Fuencaliente coastal path: lighthouse, salt pans, Teneguía volcano, lava pools for a swim.
• Pico Bejenado: a summit walk on the southern rim of the Caldera with views down into the crater bowl.

Easy walks on La Palma: Los Tilos, the Cubo de la Galga, coastal sections near Fuencaliente and the viewpoint paths at the La Cumbrecita visitor centre are the most accessible options. It's worth being honest here: "easy" rarely means flat on La Palma. The island is steep. Steps, uneven volcanic rock and the occasional descent are part of almost every route. Good walking boots aren't a nice-to-have here, they're essential.

Guided walks on La Palma, or independent? Local guides offer guided day walks, often in small groups, in Spanish and German. That's ideal if you want background on the island's geology, flora or history explained on the spot. If you'd rather spend several days walking independently, with pre-booked accommodation and luggage transfers, our individual island crossing offers exactly that package. Guided or independent isn't a question of quality, it's a question of style.

Walking and swimming on La Palma: the final stage destination, Fuencaliente, combines a walk and a sea swim most elegantly. The lava pools on the south coast are natural sea-water pools. That said, La Palma is still not a classic beach island, the sand is dark and the waves are Atlantic ones. If you want to combine walking with swimming, plan it as the finish to a day's walk rather than a stand-alone beach day.

No alpine climbing sections, no via ferrata, no glaciers. Technically, La Palma is a straightforward walking island. But it is steep, and that's a difference many people underestimate.

The difficulty builds up on several levels. First, altitude gain adds up quickly, because almost every route links the coast with the ridge, or at least crosses two altitude zones. Second, the terrain changes constantly. Loose lava gravel and ash offer little grip, wet stones in the laurel forest offer even less, and a few sections along the crater rim are exposed. Sure-footedness is enough; a good head for heights is an advantage on the ridge. Third, there's the weather contrast: the north-east can be rainy and cool while the ridge is sunny and windy at the same time, sometimes on the very same day.

Other points worth noting: sun and water needs on the treeless volcanic sections (at least two litres per walk), cold at the Roque de los Muchachos even in winter, and a headtorch for the water tunnels at Marcos y Cordero.

Who does walking on La Palma suit? Anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and some multi-day hill-walking experience. Alpine walkers looking for a sensible alternative to a ski trip in winter. Anyone wanting a winter destination where the weather is reliable enough for long stages. Families with young children are better off with a fixed base and short day walks. Our six-day tour is more demanding than a walk in the low mountains, because of the altitude changes, but it remains technically straightforward.

La Palma can be walked all year round. Even so, there's a clear recommendation: a walking holiday on La Palma works best during the winter half of the year.

October to December brings pleasant temperatures, clear air and little traffic on the paths. Walking on La Palma in November is a question people often ask, and the answer is: yes, it's well worth it. The days are shorter, but still long enough for any normal stage. Paths around the new volcano were partly closed after 2021 and are being reopened gradually, so it's worth checking the current status with the island authorities or on our trip page.

January to March is the most reliable time for long stages: cooler on the ridge, occasional rain in the north-east, but rarely enough to cancel a walk. The almond blossom in January and February makes the south especially beautiful.

April and May offer blossom, long days and no summer heat yet. One of the finest periods for day walks in the laurel forest.

June to September is hot and dry on the ridge and in the south, and the risk of wildfires can lead to closures. Laurel-forest walks in the north-east still work well in summer, but the island crossing becomes considerably tougher.

A key factor for anyone working out the best time to walk on La Palma is the trade wind: moist air builds up against the northern slopes, while the ridge rises above it, leaving the west and south dry. That's why you can almost always find somewhere good to walk on La Palma, even if one area is under cloud. There's also the occasional Calima, Saharan dust that reduces visibility and makes the air feel humid. The Bookatrekking app shows you the current weather for each stage location, by coordinates, before you set off.

La Palma doesn't have a hut system like the Alps. There's no dense chain of mountain huts you can move between one after another. That's a fundamental difference when planning a multi-day walk here.

What you will find: small hotels and rural hotels, casas rurales (holiday houses and fincas), apartments and guesthouses in every town, one simple campsite in the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, and a handful of basic huts such as the Refugio El Pilar. Accommodation is arranged in the nearest town to each stage, and you'll often need to climb up or down to reach it, since paths rarely end right at the edge of town.

That takes planning. The small guesthouses on La Palma fill up quickly during the winter half of the year, there's no booking a bed on the night, and finding no room free after a long stage is a real problem. That's why we book everything in advance.

Luggage transfers between towns aren't a luxury extra on a steep island, they make a real difference: on long climbs, a day pack is the difference between enjoying the walk and enduring it. Our La Palma island crossing includes accommodation with breakfast, daily luggage transfers, route notes, an offline map with GPX track, and current weather for each stage location in the app.

If you'd prefer a fixed base, Los Llanos de Aridane and Santa Cruz de la Palma are the best options for day walks into the various areas of the island.

Current prices, dates and inclusions are shown on the relevant trip page.

In short: if you have a week free and reasonable fitness, the six-day island crossing is the clearest choice. You'll see every area of the island, sleep somewhere new each night, and won't need to coordinate any logistics yourself. If you're travelling with children, short on time, or want to combine walking with a beach day, plan a fixed base and choose your route day by day. If you're after a guided group with a local walking guide, that's available through local operators.

On navigation: La Palma is well signposted, but mist on the ridge and current closures in the south make a GPX track and offline map genuinely useful. The Bookatrekking app provides both. For all the other walking holidays in the Canary Islands, from El Hierro to Gran Canaria, see our overview page.