In natural beauty, La Palma rivals all the other Canary Islands put together. Its immense, abyss-like crater, the Caldera de Taburiente, is considered to be the largest of its kind in the world. Deep within its pine-speckled, towering walls is a year-round abundance of water- gushing streams, boisterous cascades, and a plummeting waterfall. Outside the crater, high on the cloud-catching hillsides, 20 million-year-old laurel forests grow as dense as a jungle. In the southern half of the island, hills pitted with volcanic craters and mini-deserts of black lapilli speak of the island's volcanic past. This stark, striking landscape, all the more dramatic for its stabs of volcanic reds, oranges, and yellows, is far removed from the lush and verdant, tree-clad north. El Hierro, the least-visited of all the Canaries, at first appears to be a dried-up, sprawling mountain of rock, rising straight from the sea, treeless and barren. But Noel introduces you to the island's hidden charms as remarkable as any in the archipelago, and well worth a visit in its own right or during your stay on La Palma.

"We must tell you that walk on La Palma was spectacular, marvellous, and many other superlatives." (V.H., Hyde) Walk here from October to June. La Palma: 3 car tours, many long and short walks and picnic suggestions El Hierro: 1 car tour, several long and short walks and picnic suggestions Plan of Santa Cruz de La Palma plus fold-out touring maps