The Canary Islands are a relatively small Spanish archipelago of 7 islands waaaay down under Europe. They are a popular holiday destination for Europeans during the winter but they are also well known for their hiking possibilities. Culturally European, geographically African, the Canaries have something for every hiker.
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La Gomera is the second smallest island of the Canary Islands. It’s known for its pure natural environment and sparsely populated land which makes it the best island for me for hiking within the Canary Islands…
Gran Ruta 18 is the longest trail in the Garajonay National Park in La Gomera, Canary Islands. It’s a circular trail going from El Cedro (800m) to Alto de Garajonay (1529m), the highest mountain of the island…
This article series in short: if you wanna go hiking to the Canary Islands, go to La Gomera and do GR 132. Howgh. In long: La Gomera is the Island for hiking within the Canaries. The truth is though, that whatever island you go to, you can please the hiking heart everywhere…
The trail starts in San Sebastián de La Gomera, the island’s capital city. You can get there quite easily by a ferry from Tenerife, Gran Canaria or La Palma. Naviera Armas is cheaper, Fred Olsen is faster. You realize how small San Sebastián actually is when you start to climb up on the southern slopes…
When the sun rises, we’re on our way towards the coast. Ruins along the trail look definitely creepier in the dark than during the day. We soon saw Playa de Chinguarine which is a good spot for a bivi too…
We arrived to Arguayoda at about 7am. We struggled to find a water fountain and neither of us had the balls to knock on someone’s door and ask for water on New Year’s Eve so early in the morning. We continued for a bit further down towards the ocean…
We got the top of the cliff La Mérica, 650m, in about 1 hour. With the section we walked the day before it’s 2 hours of very steep ascent. I’m getting used to magnificent views from every top here…
Down to Vallehermoso it was another half an hour of easy-going walking. There are heaps of grocery shops but no water fountain. Fortunately there is a very funny guy in a gasoline station who’s happy to help poor thirsty hikers to refill their bottles…
To El Palmar it’s quite a comfortable walk, similar to what you’re used to from the previous parts. From there to Encherada it’s a mountain road. I’d even call it a pipe road since you follow a water pipe which is crawling on the side of the road…