We found that advance planning of our visit to the island of La Palma was not an easy task. There are a lot of interesting places here and different nuances to be aware of. We will try to tell you about them.
La Palma is the most remote of the Canary Islands. To come here you need a ferry and a car, although it is possible to get around with a taxi.
We stayed at Santa Cruz de La Palma in Apartamentos La Fuente (booking.com), close to all needed infrastructure: port, airport and even McDonalds. The town has a very nice historical center.
La Palma are mountains and hiking. Of course there are beaches here, but they are not the major sights. The highest point of the island is a viewpoint Roque de Los Muchachos (2423 m). It is also one of the most important observatories in the world and the second (after Hawaii) with the best atmospheric conditions. Viewpoint is located on it's territory and can be visited during the day. But in the night road is closed, since any illumination on the mountain is prohibited.
Some of you may have already heard about this observatory, as here was carried out the famous experiment - the most distant quantum teleportation. This experiment was carried out in conjunction with the Observatory on the island of Tenerife, which is located at a distance of 144 kilometers.
The most spectacular of telescopes is MAGIC which looks very unusual and futuristic.
We really wanted to visit the observatory, but unfortunately there were no excursions on the day of our trip. Anyway the pre-registration is here.
We looked over the caldera from the viewpoint. In the distance you can see the cloud waterfall. This phenomenon is the hallmark of the island and can be seen quite often (video). Although this viewpoint is not the best one to observe it.
Next we went to the viewpoint Mirador del Llano de Jable (N28 37.038 W17 50.906). This is a place for amateur astronomers, but also a good place to watch cloud waterfall.
After that fairly quickly through the tunnel we got to Santa Cruz de La Palma. This is one-day visit to the island by car.
Now additional information. If you like spectacular shots, then the best picture of cloud waterfall can be taken from the mountain Pico Birigoyo (description). The climb is quite easy, about 90 minutes (track). If you are lucky, you will see this.
There is also a viewpoint Mirador De La Cumbrecita, which can be reached by car. However, if you're there in the middle of the day, you can book a parking place here.
Find here (PDF or JPEG) map of the walking routes around the island. On the same website, see the description of all routes. As for me the best routes and this one and this one.
If you like to observe the stars, then this article (PDF) is for you.
Getting there: by ferry from the islands of Tenerife and La Gomera. There are two companies: Fred Olsen (https://www.fredolsen.es) and Naviera Armas (http://www.navieraarmas.com). La Palma also has an airport, find here list or airlines.
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