The problem with some walking holidays is they are walking holidays. That might sound obvious. Stick with me and I’ll explain what I mean.
Recently, I followed the exploits of a travel writer friend on the Canary Island of La Palma because a) I love La Palma and wanted to see which parts he explored, and b) he was there with a UK-based walking company, so I was curious to find out exactly what their La Palma holiday consisted of.
Colonial architecture in Santa Cruz de la Palma.
Disclaimer time. Andy and I have helped pull together walking and discovery holidays on La Palma, so I am not completely objective. However, I’m not going to mention any specific companies. This isn’t about rivalry, otherwise I could ‘out’ another UK-based walking company whose representative approached Andy while we were on La Palma with a colleague scouting out potential routes. Seeing her in hiking gear, they asked if she had any tips for good walking routes on the island. Additionally, their way of communicating with a Canarian coach driver was to shout words in English at him. Specialist travel companies actually having specialist local knowledge is something I expect. It’s not a given, but that’s another story … or two.
Black sand beach at Los Concajos.
Location, location, location
The first thing that surprised me was when I saw where walkers on the La Palma walking holiday were based. Los Concajos is one of the few places on the island that could be described as a tourist resort. It’s a low-key one, but a resort all the same. It is not really reflective of La Palma. There are some great towns on La Isla Bonita (the island’s nickname) – one of the best being the capital, Santa Cruz de la Palma, less than a 10-minute drive away from Los Concajos – where anyone interested in an authentic Canarian experience would find it by simply stepping outside the door of their accommodation.
Hiking on La Palma.
I like discovering unfamiliar places and what makes them different by walking across them. However, walking is only one ingredient among many others, one of them being staying somewhere that reflects the true personality of the destination.
It is more than walking
Maybe the problem is that I’m judging it from the point of view of someone whose preference is for immersive Slow Travel of which walking is just one aspect. I also want to experience the people, the restaurants, the towns & villages, gastronomy, the cultural and historic, traditions, quirks, and the bars – the whole shooting match. It’s that approach Andy and I use when we create walking routes, either for ourselves or others. But not all walking holidays are of this accord. The example from La Palma I’ve used is clearly one which is all about walking and not a lot else. This is perfectly valid if all someone wants is to pull on the boots and yomp around a countryside that boasts some stunning scenery. There are plenty who do, as illustrated by this customer comment: ‘Hotel food awful. But that’s not the most important aspect of a mountain walking holiday!’ That comment suggests the bar of expectations has been set pretty low. What I mean by that is I expect good local cuisine to be part and parcel of any walking holiday. If it isn’t, the company that has arranged it has failed.
La Placeta in Santa Cruz de la Palma.
Food IS important
On La Palma, we’ve walked through banana plantations and pretty towns with pastel-coloured houses to reach a traditional restaurant in time for tapas beside the sparkling sea. We’ve hiked across volcanic land younger than we are, then had lunch consisting of updated Canarian classics such as puchero beside salt pans whose product seasoned the food we were eating. In Santa Cruz, we followed a route past old mills to reach a church which is said to have existed since before the conquest before returning to eat in one of the prettiest placetas (small square) in the Canary Islands. At the end of longer hikes, we’ve replenished energy in a restaurant inside an elegant old casino in Santa Cruz (casinos in Spain are recreational clubs rather than gambling establishments), tasted dishes from the past which were resurrected by the owner/chef of an award-winning restaurant up a side street in Los Llanos de Aridane, and been blinded by the sunset on the southernmost tip of the island while relishing modern interpretations of Canarian favourites accompanied by wine produced from the surrounding volcanic slopes.
Conejo (rabbit), papas arrugadas, wine from the surrounding volcanic slopes, and salt from salt pans beside this restaurant on La Palma.
A tired an unimaginative hotel buffet is just not going to cut the mustard.
It is true that food might not be the most important part of a walking holiday. But it is an essential aspect if the objective is to have an all-round immersive experience.
The problem with some walking holidays is they deliver a watered-down experience. The hiking might be great, but that alone is not nearly good enough for anyone who expects real insight into a destination.
