I normally take a winter break and have mostly gone to Madeira in the past. fancied a change this year and thought I would try the Canary Islands . Have always been put off by their reputation as I like the quiet places of the world.
I discovered that there are several less well known islands and I chose La Gomera.
You have to get a ferry from Tenerife but what a fabulous place. Tourism very low key and the scenery fantastic. If you like walking you will love the island. Brilliantly engineered roads, courtesy of the EU and driving is a real pleasure, although the island rising to 1200 metres high in the middle and being 25 KM across never got beyond 3rd gear in a fortnight. Thoroughly recommend the place
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Was this independent or a package? We've been put off the Canaries before for similar reasons. Nearly went to Tunisia this Feb instead :-)
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Independant. wef lew Ryanair to Tenerife, took taxi to Los Cristianos and ferry from Los Cristianos to San Sebastian de la Gomera. Rented an apartment from "Owners Direct"
As I said scenery in La Gomera is truly outstanding. Centre of the island is a national park and heavily wooded. We stayed in San Sebastian which is a typical small Spanish town. Main tourist area is Valle Gran Rey on the other side of the island which is semi tropical. Very few Brits on the island - most tourists are German or Dutch.
If you like quiet places with character you would love it. If you want night life would look elsewhere1
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La Palma (not Las Palmas) is the one that interests me the most + there is ~ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hierro
Don't discount Tenerife though, it's like me going to Norwich and saying I don't like Norfolk,
or someone going to Newquay and saying they don't like Cornwall.
All the Canary Islands have something that appeals to me ~ Winter Sun.
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Yep - winter sun is really appealing - 14 days of sunshine in La Gomera. Actually Mt Teide on Tenerife looks stunning from San Sebastian, snow capped and rising through the clouds.
Agree La Palma looks interesting and may well try it next year
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>>Agree La Palma looks interesting and may well try it next year<<
I'm soooo jealous! ... our apartment in Los Cristianos looked out to El Hiero & La Gomera, I had a pair of high powered binoculars that I used to 'study' the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with (and other Ahem! heavenly bodies) and I used to 'follow' the ferry from Los Cristianos to Gomera on a clear evening.
(which meant most evenings).
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An interesting island - rtj70
