RENTAL CARS IN LA PALMA, CANARY ISLANDS
La Palma is a charming island of high mountains, clear, star-filled sky and banana plantations. You can spend a vacation on La Palma at any time of the year. The name of Isla Verde means "The Green Island", here you will find natural landscapes galore, lots of beaches with soft sand, simple and complex pedestrian routes, the famous astronomical observatory at an altitude of 2400 meters above the sea level and the world's first starry sky park. You can get to the island of La Palma by ferry from one of the neighboring Canary Islands: Tenerife and La Gomera, or by taking a direct flight from many European capitals. The island has excellent roads, so renting a car on La Palma is the best way to discover this green paradise. Even if you are a big fan of hiking, a car will make your stay even more enjoyable. Rent a car at the La Palma Airport and start the journey straight away. You will save a lot of time getting to the hotel, shops or the island’s attractions. In addition to that, you can create your own travel route and save money on pre-planned excursions.
The main enterprise on the island is the growing and export of bananas, although the role of tourism has increased significantly in the recent years. But, despite the fact that La Palma isn’t a tourist island like Tenerife, there is a wide array of entertainments for tourists here, too. There are museums, some archaeological sights, bright and unique cities, wide sandy beaches and a few natural pools, recreation parks and a lot of beautiful landscapes. La Palma is the island with the biggest elevation differences in the world, one look at the map would be enough to see a variety of landscapes, created by the La Caldera peak, as well as those going from the North-West to South-East of the island. If the weather allows, the La Caldera peak and other mountains can be seen incredibly clear at dawn without any clouds. The island boasts a surprising combination of idyllic scenery and palm plantations and volcanic landscapes covered with pine trees. Travel agencies on the island offer trips on glass bottom boats, whales and dolphins watching, as well as diving, popular astrological tours (there’re 16 astronomical observation sites on La Palma) and hiking on mountain trails.
You can get to the capital of La Palma - the city of Santa Cruz – by car, there you can park it by the waterfront and stroll about the city center. The parking spaces are usually well marked with signs and markings; yellow marking indicates that parking is prohibited, the blue marking means it’s a pay parking, where you pay via a parkomat. In Santa Cruz de La Palma you will find cobbled pedestrian streets, churches, cozy squares, a cigar museum, a copy of the Colombo ship, the ancient fortress of Santa Catalina, souvenir shops, coffee shops and many other attractions. There are other popular resort towns - Tazacorte has a long and wide sandy beach, hotels overlooking the sea, a pedestrian seafront, playgrounds and restaurants; Puerto Naos also has a very well-developed beach with several cafes near the sea, where tourist life abounds; the beach of Los Cancajos is protected from the wind by breakwaters and is divided into several parts by rocks, it’s big plus is a shallow lagoon, convenient for a vacation with children. Fans of the natural basins, carved in the rocks, should take a trip to Charco Azul or La Fajana, the first one is more popular. The Nogales beach is located at the same South-Eastern side of the island, it can be accessed only through a path along the cliff, is a wild and secluded beach for the true nature lovers.
You will especially appreciate the car rental services on La Palma, as you’ll be able to take the most popular routes on the island yourself. The most picturesque and rich in attractions is the small and easy road of LP-301 (Santa Cruz - La Cumbre Nuevo tunnel). Here many hiking trails of varying difficulty begin, there are large organized resting and picnic areas, such as La Pilar and Vieja, acropark with ropeways (open from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.), two astronomical viewing platforms Lanos del Jable and Lano de Forest Ventas; from this very road, you can see a spectacular panorama of the mountains with clouds floating over the peaks. The next must-see place is the Muchachos observatory, with a lot of interesting telescopes located on it’s territory. It was found in 1985, and is considered to be the best astrophysics observatory in the northern hemisphere. Guided tours in and around the Observatory are carried out only on request in the morning hours. The Gates to the territory are open from 7.00 to 19.00. Keep in mind that on top of the mountain, which is 2.426 meters high, the weather may vary dramatically, the temperature difference between the mountain peak and the sea level is about 20°C during the day time, make sure you dress appropriately. The road to Roque de Los Muchachos constantly goes uphill along the winding serpentine. Also, to avoid going there on a cloudy day, you can take a look at the island’s web cameras, showing the weather on the mountain in real time. A visit to the San Antonio volcano, which is about 3000 years old, would also be very interesting and informative. You will get to see the volcano crater that is about 300 meters wide, the Tenegula volcano, that erupted in 1971, is also visible from afar. Entrance fee is 4.5 euros, there is a museum located on it’s territory, it’s open till 17.30. The wine made from the grapes harvested in the area is widely known. If you drive further down to the South, you will get to the Fuenkaliente lighthouse, where you can watch or walk along the salt fields of La Palma. If you are fond of astrophotography, the aforementioned places will be perfect for night shooting.
It may seem that La Palma island is relatively small, but even after a two-week holiday you can find new roads and more captivating views here. Travelling on La Palma by car will bring you a lot of fun, all the major roads on the island are in excellent condition, with markings and reflective signs, the traffic isn’t loaded, there’re emergency stops and well-equipped viewing platforms along the way. Hotels usually provide guests with parking spots. Gas stations are located in major cities, 1 liter of 98-octane gasoline costs 1,042 euros, 95th-octane gasoline is 0.968 Euros per liter, but you can only pay in cash or via a credit/debit card, in most cases, there is a mini market near-by. It is a lot more convenient to rent a car at the airport, and pick it up after exiting the arrival hall, but you can also rent one in the city.
Rent a car on La Palma using our website CarCanarias.com and discover the marvelous volcanic landscapes and the best sandy beaches on the island yourself.
