La Gomera is certainly the place to visit if you like hiking – its a walkers paradise. It is very easy to get there from Tenerife – there are at least 5 ferries a day from Los Cristianos in Tenerife and the short crossing takes less than an hour but is expensive at €50 for a one-way trip- but costs far less if are a resident of the Canaries. There were no direct ferries from El Hierro to La Gomera so we had to first get a ferry from El Hierro to Tenerife and then get a second ferry to La Gomera. It was a bright sunny Sunday in El Hierro but VERY blustery. As soon as we got onto the ferryboat, the stewards handed out sick bags….which were needed by many but thankfully not by us (we had eaten some olives with anchovies (the Canarian remedy) and swallowed a sea -sickness tablet as well, just to be sure).

The stewards also gave passengers brown bags of ice to hold at the nape of the neck, another remedy for motion sickness. Despite all this, soon the smell of vomit was mixing with the disinfectant spray and perfume and was almost enough to upset the strongest of constitutions🤢. There were also some almighty crashes when a stack of trays fell over and some glasses hit the deck. But thankfully, the Atlantic became calm before we arrived in Tenerife (two and half hour journey) and our second leg to La Gomera was relatively smooth.

San Sebastian, the capital of the island is a small pleasant town arranged around a gorgeous harbour with brightly coloured houses built up the slopes and a lovely central plaza with beautiful Indian laurel trees. It sees a lot of day trippers from Tenerife and there is no shortage of cafes, restaurants and tourist shops. Christopher Columbus (Christobel Colon in Spanish) spent some time here before each of his three voyages to the New World and these visits are still much celebrated. We stayed in a hostel called Hostel Colon where our bedroom was a windowless cell with shared bathrooms and no other communal spaces – usually hostels are great places for meeting people and sharing information but we never bumped into anyone, not even in the bathrooms although the hostel was full!

Having saved money on the hostel, we decided to hire a car – public buses go around the island but a car always gives more flexibility and freedom. La Gomera is very popular with well-organised Germans and hiring a car proved far more difficult than we expected as most were already reserved. But eventually we found one, we were delighted until we sat into it and it wouldn’t start – it had a flat battery which reminded us of the Guzzler on our Greek road trip. But a replacement was found and away we went. The roads were good but corkscrew-twisty. Oncoming traffic – especially public and tour buses – on narrow sections made for some challenging driving conditions (Caoimhin called it ‘exciting’🤣)

La Gomera is a round mountainous island with rocky summits, deep ravines and ancient forests. It has been compared to a giant fruit juicer – imagination required🙃 – the deep ravines are where the juice flows down. Agriculture is very important with small banana plantation running right to the rocky/ black-sanded coast. Many of the fertile valleys are tiered and planted with vines, potatoes and other vegetables. We stayed in Hermigua, a village in a spectacular valley with views over the mountains and banana plantations, close to the sea and many hiking trails. But in reality, there are hiking trails everywhere on the island. Vallehermosa translates as ‘the beautiful valley’ and is another popular base for hikers and has some unusual sculptures in the town playground, which gave us a laugh.

La Gomera is all about the hiking and there are trails to suit everyone from 30 minutes to all-day. At its centre is the beautiful Parque Nacional de Garajonay with its cloud forest of laurel and juniper and a myriad of well marked trails. The weather conditions caused by the constant flow of mist, produced when the cool Atlantic trade winds meet the warm breezes, ensure constant dew and humidity and allows the growth of over 400 different varieties of trees and plants. It also means that it can be a sunny 22C in the valley and a misty 6C in the cloud forest. Unfortunately, a huge forest fire in 2012 destroyed almost 20% of the park which is only slowly recovering. It was an August day when the conditions were perfect for the rapid spread of fire – 30/30/30 – temperatures well in excess of 30⁰ C, humidity well below 30%, winds well in excess of 30km. All it required was an idiot with a match 🔥🔥

La Gomera is full of miradors, viewing points to admire the stunning landscapes, places to take a breather if you are walking or to pull in if you are driving. But the most spectacular -and the most nerve-tingling – is the Abrante mirador, a glass-sided box on a clifftop, high above the sea with the gorgeous seaside village of Agulo spread far below and distant views of Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Tenerife. If you’d like an adrenaline shot, this is the place to go. It would have been more nerve racking if the glass floor was made of clear glass rather than opaque, then it would truly have felt like walking on air.

The Valley of the Great Kings – Valle Gran Rey – on the western side of the island with its beaches and long stunning valley is a popular spot for relaxation and is known for its nightlife…we spent a night in a house up the valley where the nearest bar was full of locals playing chess.

La Gomera was far busier than the island of El Hierro…people laughed when we said it was touristy – but because of it popularity, it required being reasonably well organized with accomodation and car hire. We like the spontaneity and flexibility of booking at the ‘last minute’ but in the busy season, this can limit options. . . especially on a budget. A gorgeous island and well worth a visit.

High on La Gomera