Green paths and stone giants

For those who love hiking, the islands’ inland areas offer a surprisingly varied landscape that invites you to take a slow, contemplative walk. On La Gomera, the Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the laurisilva forest (an evergreen rainforest), a veritable living relic dating back over twenty million years that evokes the appearance of the ancient Mediterranean basin. Moving on to La Palma, the trails of the Caldera de Taburiente wind their way through one of the world’s largest erosion craters. Here, walking through dense pine forests and alongside slender streams, you reach the picturesque Cascada de Colores in the Barranco de las Angustias, where the rock faces are naturally coloured by minerals. Further south, the Ruta de los Volcanes offers a route through extinct craters and lava flows that slope down towards the ocean, whilst on El Hierro, the La Llanía route winds through woods often shrouded in Atlantic mist, leading walkers to the spectacular natural amphitheatre of El Golfo.