Walking and hiking in the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands offer a great range of walking and hiking opportunities. There is a rich diversity of scenery and landscape throughout the islands that are ultimately dominated by the dormant volcanic mountain on each island. Located off the northwest coast of Africa, the Canary Islands consist of 7 islands that are Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, Fuerteventura, La Palma, Lanzarote, and El Hierro. 

The GR131 long distance walking path links all 7 Canary Islands to create a walking route of intense diversity. As well as the GR131 walking path, all the Canary Islands have a great network of waymarked walking trails that are both long and short.

The GR131 Camino Natural Anaga-Chasna trail starts at La Esperanza in the north and finishes at Arona. It typically takes 5 days to complete and is 86km long. The trail starts in the lush forests in the north and climbs to the Las Canada plateau beneath Mount Teide. An option is to then climb this mountain that at 3,718m high is the highest in the region. The GR131 trail then descends along attractive trails theough the Vilaflor valley to finish at Arona. The route is clearly marked like many other trails around Tenerife.

The GR131 Camino Natural Cumbres de La Gomera starts at San Sebastian in the east, and then cuts across the island through lush rain forest before finishing at the rural town Vallehermoso in the north. La Gomera has a great network of walking trails that are well marked including another long distance walking route, the GR132 that encircles the entire island.

The GR131 starts near Agaete in the north and cuts across the highest point of the island before finishing at Maspalomas. The trail is not clearly marked along the entire length. However throughout the island there is a network of official walking trails called “SL routes”.

The GR131 El Bastón starts at Tazacorte in the west of La Palma, and then ascends the crest of Caldera de Taburiente at over 2,000m. The trail then follows many ridges before finishing at the Los Canarios lighthouse in the south of La Palma. The La Palma GR130 encircles the entire island of Palma (approximately 150km long) that is part of a great network of well-marked walking paths and trails.

The GR131 Camino Natural de Fuerteventura is 156km long and only reaches a height of 800m – the lowest of all the Canary Islands. The GR131 route on Fuerteventura cuts across the island, starting at Isla de Lobos and finishing at Punta Jandía.

The GR131 long distance walking trail is 69.3km long and it cuts through the centre of Lanzarote that has been waymarked and signposted. The route starts at Isla de Lobos and finishing at Punta Jandía.

The GR131 Camino de la Virgen on El Hierro is only 42km long and reaches a height of 1,500m. The trail starts at Faro de Orchilla on the east coast where it climbs to the central spine of El Hierro and finishes at either Tamaduste or Puerto de la Estaca.

The location of the Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa make them an ideal year round destination, though the best time to visit the Canary Islands for walking is from the autumn through to the spring.

There are many walking maps that cover all of the Canary Islands and these are available to buy from our shop. There is also a great variety of walking guidebooks for the Canary Islands that cover the GR131 route plus many other walks both long and short. Buy these walking guidebooks for the Canary Islands from our shop.