Secret Canary Islands: Where to go to escape the crowds

As easyJet launches new flights to little-known La Palma, we venture beyond the domain of the package tour operators

Dive in to La Palma (Shutterstock)

With a benign climate year round and only around four hours’ flying time from the UK, the Canary Islands have tremendous allure as an autumn- and winter-sun destination.

Cheap holidays are available on the main islands of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. But the Spanish archipelago’s appeal runs far deeper than sun and sand, with plenty of beauty away from crowds.

La Palma

This Saturday easyJet launches flights from Gatwick to La Palma, which will be this season’s only direct scheduled service to this spectacular island. Like nearby Madeira, La Palma has a wealth of natural diversity as well as colonial touches that give a distinct New World flavour. There is spectacular high-altitude hiking and mountain-biking through lush forests, a corrugated shore dotted with good beaches and fishing villages, and the handsome capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma. Fares on the new route start at around £82 return (departing 11 October, returning 15 October).

La Gomera

With easy access from Tenerife’s biggest resort, Playa de las Américas, La Gomera is the ideal day trip away from the tourist hordes. The high-speed ferry takes you from Los Cristianos to La Gomera’s capital, San Sebastian, in only 50 minutes, during which time you may spot dolphins at play. Hike the trails in the ancient Garajonay forest, which covers a tenth of the island, or drive across the spectacular landscape, which is riven with gorges and speckled with villages that are centuries old.

La Gomera's colourful capital, San Sebastian (Getty Images)

Isla Graciosa

To the far east, Isla Graciosa is little more than a sand-dune off the northern tip of Lanzarote, but it’s worth a day trip. Take the ferry from Orzola in Lanzarote to the lively little town of Caleta del Sebo, where you can rent a bike – be warned, there are no sealed roads, so you will be cycling on sand – for the relatively short, but heavy-going, ride to Playa Francesa, one of the finest beaches in the Canary Islands – and one of the emptiest.

Playa Francesa on La Graciosa (Shutterstock)

El Hierro

This is the Canaries’ (and Spain’s) southern and westernmost point. You arrive, by sea or by air, in the north-east, where the coastal villages of El Tamaduste and La Caleta have instant appeal with cottages compressed beneath the cliffs, and pools suitable for safe swimming. The north of the island is topped by a serrated ridge over a near-vertical cliff, while the south is a complete contrast, scattered with woodland and feeling like some rural backwater in mainland Spain.