Guided Tours in La Palma

Guided tours on La Palma: the volcano, the tunnels and the old town

La Palma is the steepest island in the archipelago, and the newest ground on it is five years old. The 2021 eruption at Tajogaite ran for eighty-five days and left a cone you can now walk up to, and most of the guided walks above are built around that landscape. The rest is the old town of Santa Cruz and a lava tube from an older eruption.

Up to the volcano

The Tajogaite hike is an eight-kilometre loop to the crater rim, about four hours, and it starts with a six-minute film of the eruption before you set off. A shared van carries the group the twenty minutes from El Paso up to Llanos del Jable, where the loop starts, and it is waiting at the end.

The sunset version is the same rim an hour later in the day, five hours in total, and it ends at the viewpoint with a tasting of Canarian produce and wine while the light goes. Both are guided in Spanish and English, and dogs are welcome on the daytime one.

Underground

The Cueva de Las Palomas is a lava tube left by the 1949 San Juan eruption, walked with a helmet and a head torch, two hours, Monday to Friday. It is the same volcanic story as Tajogaite seen from the inside, seventy years further on.

The long one

Marcos y Cordero is twelve kilometres and seven hours, following a water channel cut into the north-east face through thirteen tunnels. A 4x4 taxi climbs fifty-five minutes of mountain track up to the Casa del Monte, and the walk comes back down through laurel forest to Los Tilos. Helmet, head torch and poncho are provided, and you will want all three: the tunnels drip. It runs with four people or more.

On foot in Santa Cruz

The free walking tour covers the old town in two hours, Monday to Saturday at 10:30 from Plaza Van Dale, in groups of up to twenty with a guide qualified in history. You decide at the end what it was worth. It is the easy half-day if you are off a ferry or have a morning before a flight.

Picking a walk

The volcano loop and the lava tube suit most people with ordinary fitness. Marcos y Cordero is a full day with a long descent and needs proper footwear. Everything except the town tour starts away from the main towns, so check the meeting point before you book: El Paso for the volcano walks, Las Manchas for the cave, San Andrés y Sauces for the tunnels. The walks on their own are gathered under hiking on La Palma.

Booking

Small groups and fixed departure days mean these fill earlier than a bus tour would. Every booking comes with our Best Price Guarantee. If you are on the island for two days and want one walk, message us and we will tell you which.