Buses

La Palma has rather good public transport. For example, there’s a bus from Santa Cruz (the capital) to the airport via Los Cancajos every half hour. The buses across the centre of the island between the two main town are half-hourly too, and one goes past the Princess hotel into Los Canarios every two hours.

If you want to see glorious scenery, I recommend the bus around the north, from Santa Cruz, through, Puntallana, Los Sauces, Barlovento (change buses), Gallegos, Franceses, Santa Domingo, Puntagorda Tijarafe and Tazacorte, to Los Llanos. It’s 4 hours each way, though.

La Palma bus timetable,

2011 Transportes La Palma(bus company) Click on the UK flag to get English, and on “SCHEDULE INFORMATION” to get the fare.

I think the nicest bus stops are in Breña Baja. The council built them, and the local painters’ association turned them into works of art.

That was five years ago, and they still haven’t been vandalised. Puntagorda followed suit, and they haven’t been vandalised either. A few have graffiti, but never on the art. Obviously La Palma has a better class of juvenile delinquent.

Taxis

The taxis on La Palma have their own website in English, Spanish and German. It lists all their various services. Obviously you can call a normal taxi for a single trip, but they also have 8-seater taxis for bigger groups, and at least one taxi which can take a wheelchair. They have a series of standard tours, which are great if you want to see more than a sliver of the island and you’re just here for a day from a cruise ship, or nervous about driving on the “wrong” side of the road. They can also drop off walkers or cyclists, and pick them up later. The man who handles the bookings is more comfortable with written English in an email, but he says he usually manages on the phone anyway. So if you’re phoning, I’d recommend allowing a little extra time, particularly if you have a strong regional accent. The website is La Palma Taxi

Getting to La Palma

Flights

• Binter Canarias Inter-island flights
• Islas Airways Inter-island flights (website in Spanish only, but usually a little cheaper)
• Thomson Fly Charter flights to London Gatwick and Manchester
• Iberia Spanish national Airline

Ferries

• Fred Olsen Fast (2 hours) ferry to Los Cristianos in southern Tenerife
• Naviera Armas ferries Slower and cheaper. Also the only direct ferry to El Hierro.
• Trasmediterranea Ferries to S/C de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Arecife and Cadiz

Leaving La Palma

Wouldn’t it be nicer to stay?

Posted by sheila

Sheila came to La Palma with a six month contract and has stayed 24 years so far. She used to work as a software engineer at the observatory, but now she's a writer and Starlight guide.