Canary Islands Walking - La Gomera and Tenerife

Absolutely loved La Gomera…wonderful views, great walking, in parts challenging (rocky uneven terrain), lots of ups & downs, so helps to have good knees and/or knee ointment if needed! I’ll echo previous reviews, plenty of layers to cope with variation in weather and altitude a must. Good variety of restaurants with lots of local fish dishes. Hotel was great… family owned, welcoming, simple, clean, copious breakfasts…..just a couple of minutes’ walk to the beach…perfect at the end of a day’s walking. Bert, our tour leader, regaled us with many interesting stories about the island(s) during the week. San Sebastián has plenty to explore on free day. Last day on Tenerife and walking around base of el Teide enjoyable, but not as interesting as La Gomera. On reflection would have preferred to get cable car and walk around the crater. Understand that options are limited for a one nighter on Tenerife, so hotel (big resort variety) served a purpose & was a bolt back to reality after the magic of La Gomera. Group was a wonderful mix of people, the majority of whom were travelling solo (10 in total including Bert)…..all meals enjoyed happily together. (Itinerary could do with a bit of updating as there were some variations/differences in a couple of sections).

Great holiday, good guide ( Bert) and fun group. For me La Gomera was the hi-light with wonderful walks. Last day on Tenerife my least favourite - a lot of travelling for limited walking time and hotel not to my taste.

Very enjoyable trip to La Gomera. Varied walks with a reasonable level of downhill. Special mention to the leader, David, who looked after us all very well, arranged meals out in the evenings for the group, and was very friendly and informative.

A great hiking trip on a beautifully rugged unspoiled island. The hotel (Torre del Conde) was very comfortable with an extensive breakfast buffet. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and organised. Bring layers and a wooly hat so you are prepared for cooler and damper conditions in the Garajonay National Park (cloud forest) and warmer conditions on the steep descents!

Dave was a truly excellent guide. The hotel was good but now with so, so many hiking tourists the breakfast period was totally over run making it difficult to fit in prep for hiking with grocery purchases for lunch.

David was one of the best leaders I have experienced with Explore. He was knowledgeable, keen and willing to go above and beyond the duties of the role. He knew the hike routes inside out and ensured the group both took care and enjoyed the walks. The main La Gomera hotel was well located but lacked a bar to wind down at the end of the day.

This was my first trip with Explore and I was very satisfied with the excellent guide, the variety of walks and the accommodation which was conveniently very centrally located in the delightful small city of San Sebastian and close to many good restaurants and the beach.

Some walks were uncomfortable for me as I have vertigo and this was not covered in the itinerary

This was a great trip: varied walking, epic vistas, lush vegetation and some really unusual geology. The main hotel in San Sebastian was really good: plentiful breakfasts and a spacious room/shower. The itinerary wasn't too long so there was time to return and freshen up before the evening activities. In this way we were lucky (well some thought so) to have a local festival on while we were there including the fab talcum powder night! We were also fortunate in having Mike as our leaser who was brilliant: so well-organised, knowledgeable and inclusive. Some people felt the walks were more than moderate and the surfaces, including a lot of descents can be a bit challenging - so don't do this tour if you're not fit or a competent walker (a common problem on these tours). Finally, can you simplify the reviewing process? Asking for one for Explore and another here for Feefo feels onerous :(

Gomera is a picturesque island for walkers and trekkers with challenging terrain. The island has an authentic Spanish vibe. The Torre del Conde hotel selected by Explore is in a perfect location. Rooms are updated and the breakfast has a variety of choices. The Explore guide, Ester, is an exceptional guide in terms of expertise and in keeping the group together with her warmth and sense of fun. Made the trip very enjoyable.

Once again I was lucky enough to have an outstanding tour leader in David. Especially lucky as he was also the leader for the Gran Canaria trip that I did the previous week! The landscape on La Gomera is less dramatic than Gran Canaria but the walks were excellent. One of the highlights was the Laurisilva cloud forest - complete with plenty of clouds (and rain!) but still a lovely walk. Another highlight was the optional walk to Valle Gran Rey with great views to the coast followed by a scenic ferry journey back to San Sebastian. Also the short but stunning walk on the El Teide plateau in Tenerife. The group of 16 was great company on the walks and at dinner in the evenings. Accommodation in La Gomera was clean and comfortable and well located. The hotel in Tenerife was an interesting contrast!

Overall a wonderful week, La Gomera is a beautiful lush green unspoilt island. David our leader was excellent, very professional, calm, caring, flexible, and knowledgeable about the local culture and history. He gave up his free day in order to offer an additional walk. The walk program was outlined accurately in the trip notes before the holiday and so everyone knew what to expect. However though graded as moderate I felt that some of the walks were strenuous, and there was a bias towards a lot of descent on all the walks, sometimes between 900-1050m of rocky steep descent. The walks program could be improved by redesigning some of the routes by having some circular walks where ascent and descent could be evened out. The hotel staff were very friendly and helpful, the rooms were spacious but a little dark. The hotel was quite busy and noisy since other walking groups occupied the hotel in the same week. Eating out in local restaurants was a bit hit and miss and service was sometimes slow.

Fantastic group, big personalities, sense of humour, team spirit. I didn’t stop laughing or talking all week. Great leader in Rocio - everything went to plan and happened as it should. The islands are stunning with a huge array of landscapes, each day was different. The hiking was difficult but rewarding.

The hotel was very well placed, comfortable and a great breakfast. Our guide Rocio was excellent, gave detailed briefings, set good, clear expectations and certainly supported us all as a group. The walking on La Gomera was varied and very beautiful. Personally I would have liked one less day on La Gomeria and a little more time on Tenerife. Our only walk on Tenerife was after an hours ferry crossing and over an hour on the bus up to Mount Teide. We had a super hotel in Tenerife but we didn’t arrive till gone 7pm, had 30 minuted turn around to go out to dinner and then left the next morning. It’s a shame to book such a lovely hotel for us not to be able to enjoy the facilities. I would have preferred a short walk after the ferry, more time at the hotel and a full days walk on Tenerife the next day. Apart from that it was a great holiday, super walking and a very friendly group. Thank you Explore.

Very entertaining group expertly led by our guide, Rocío.

Overall disappointed with the itinerary vs what we actually did on the tour I can’t fault the accommodation and the location plus breakfast however for a variety of reasons the overall trip (and my first with explore) left a lot to be desired A number on the trip expressed their disappointment but I was led to believe this wasn’t a usual experience and hopefully a series of unfortunate events led to these unexpected and disappointing circumstances for the group

I have used Explore on a few occasions over the years, and found them generally very good. This trip was amazing, and i would recommend it to all, if you wish to get around a beautiful island, see the Canaries in an unspoilt setting, and get the privilege to wander through volcanic landscapes, cloud forests and diverse flora and fauna then this is the place. San Sebastian is lovely - quiet yet with an amazing history. The Guide on this occasion was not up to Explores usual standard, a view shared by the 16 in the party.

We had a lovely walking holiday on La Gomera, would certainly recommend it as a destination. The hotel was suitable and convenient, the walks were good (despite poor weather first two days; it was really nice when the sun came out after that!) and I liked San Sebastián as a base town. Unfortunately our tour guide, who was a very last minute substitute, was not at all a good leader. They had no care for the clients, often leaving behind the people at the back of the line (who were perfectly capable walkers but just a bit slower going up or down hill). It was left to fellow group members to check on the last people over trickier ground. I saw no evidence that they carried a first aid kit (though fortunately we didn’t need it during our week). Communication was poor and often failed to acknowledge that, while the guide knew what to expect, we as first time visitors did not. That said, it was a good holiday which I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. But based on this particular experience, I would suggest future clients ask questions about who is leading the walk.