La Gomera

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The second smallest of the Canary Islands, La Gomera is a sanctuary of unspoilt nature. Between the enchanted UNESCO-listed Garajonay forest, the palm valleys of Valle Gran Rey and dizzying barrancos where the silbo, a unique whistled language, still echoes, the island charms hikers and travellers seeking authenticity, 50 minutes by ferry from Tenerife.

Garajonay, the silbo and a farewell to Columbus

La Gomera is the round, ridged island an hour by ferry west of Tenerife, 370 km² with barely 22,000 inhabitants and no big resorts. Its centre is Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986: the finest surviving laurisilva, the subtropical laurel forest that once covered southern Europe, kept alive by the trade-wind cloud that drifts through it most afternoons. Walk it — the trails from El Cedro and the Alto de Garajonay are the best in the Canaries.

The island's other treasure is a language. Silbo gomero is a whistled form of Spanish that carries across the deep ravines that cut the island into slices; it is taught in every Gomeran school, inscribed by UNESCO in 2009, and demonstrated in the visitor centres and some restaurants. It is not a show: shepherds still use it.

Columbus made his last stop here in September 1492 before the Atlantic crossing, taking on water at San Sebastián — the well, the church and the Torre del Conde he knew are still there. The west of the island, the Valle Gran Rey, is the terraced valley that drew German travellers in the 1970s and remains the relaxed place to stay.

All year, best for walking in spring and autumn

The coast is mild all year — 20–22 °C in winter, 26–28 °C in summer — while the high forest is cool and often cloudy, which is the point. Spring and autumn are ideal for hiking; summer is warm and clear on the coast. La Gomera is the quietest of the main Canaries in any month, with few package holidays and most visitors walkers, day-trippers from Tenerife, and long-stay northern Europeans in winter.

Ferry from Los Cristianos, then slow roads

Almost everyone arrives by ferry from Los Cristianos in Tenerife — about an hour to San Sebastián, several sailings a day — or by the small airport in the south with flights from Tenerife North and Gran Canaria. La Gomera is Spain — no formality for EU citizens, euro. Distances look short on the map and take twice as long on the ground: every road climbs to the central plateau and drops again into the next ravine. A car is the practical choice, and the driving is part of the visit.

Stay in Valle Gran Rey, Hermigua or San Sebastián. Eat the almogrote, the watercress stew, the palm honey (miel de palma, a syrup tapped from the Canary palm) and the goat's cheese; the island's potatoes and wine are local. Black-sand and pebble beaches, and strong currents on the west coast — swim where the locals do.

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