Choosing A Winter Walking Destination
What do you need for an enjoyable walking holiday when winter closes in on the northern hemisphere?
RELIABLE WARMTH AND SUNSHINE
On La Gomera – Tenerife’s Teide visible
A 5 hour flight south (from the UK) gets you to the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa. You can expect about six hours of sunshine per day (average) with highs of 20C in December though of course there are variations depending on the island and location.
Levada Nova, Madeira
Madeira is a bit closer and almost as sunny (around 5 hours) and almost as warm though the chance or rain is higher. That’s why Madeira is so green and floriferous!
A GOOD CHOICE OF HOTELS, NIGHT LIFE, SHOPS and RESTAURANTS
The Canary Islands and Madeira don’t really have a ‘closed’ season for tourism so you will find a wide range of accommodation, eating places, shops and night life. There are quieter, smaller places to stay if you want to get away from the ‘bright lights’.
EASY TO GET TO
There are plenty of flights all year round to the Canaries and to Madeira.
WHAT’S THE WALKING LIKE?
Each of the Canaries is unique, offering a wide choice of walks and challenging hikes. If you are looking for a pleasant stroll for an hour or two, a coastal discovery route or a full day in the mountains (or something inbetween), the Canaries are an ideal choice.
Madeira is rugged and steep, though the many levada walks (mostly level walks alongside narrow water canals) make it a walking destination with plenty of choice for all.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CANARY ISLANDS WALKING HERE:-
FOR MORE ABOUT WALKING ON THE GARDEN ISLE OF MADEIRA, LOOK HERE:-
Madeira
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands – New 3rd Edition Tour & Trail Map
It may not be as well-known as some of the other Canary Islands – that means there’s plenty of room for you to explore this bold, beautiful and dramatic island.
You want mountains and ravines? You want remote, unspoiled sleepy villages? You want abundant verdant woodlands, paths and tracks? You want endemic plant life found nowhere else? You’ve got them all on the island of Gran Canaria.
Map section, Gran Canaria
This third edition includes new walking routes, even clearer ways to show routes and other map features and all the detailed cartographic information that afficionadoes of the Tour & Trail series have come to expect and rely upon. Take a look at this small extract (left).
Detailed updating and addition of new walking routes and additional data have been researched by our ‘on the ground’ walking expert, ‘Rambling Roger‘ and his fellow walking researchers who know the island like the backs of their hands.
If you’re looking for an adventure away from the European winter, with almost guaranteed good weather and great walking (definitely guaranteed) then take a look at Gran Canaria.
(Custom Map digital edition for Garmin Users is available from Discovery Walking Guides’ website. Digital editions are available for 3G/4G GPS apps from Viewranger and My Trails.
Walking Newsletter Now Available
Take a look at Discovery Walking Guides latest newsletter; topics include Menorca, Lanzarote, free digital maps and Walk! books and more. Click the link to read all about it.
Madeira – so much wonderful walking
High above the world on Madeira’s peaks
Walking researcher/residents Shirley & Mike Whitehead know the island intimately and have followed up their Volume One book of 40 ‘Leisure Trails’ with a new Volume Two, tackling challenging trails and high altitude routes.
Pico Areeiro
If you’ve never visited this beautiful and dramatic island, you’re missing one of the world’s great walking destinations.
Mountains, levadas, tiny hamlets and towering cliffs; unique flora and ancient forests.
In around four hours by air from Europe you can escape the long cold tail of winter and revitalise yourself with strolls, walks and challenging hikes.
Levada Nova
Click HERE for more information.
Formentera? Where’s that? UPDATE
You’d be forgiven for not knowing the location of this little gem of an island. It’s surprisingly easy to reach and has a delightful personality all its own.
Formentera is one of the Balearic Islands to the east of mainland Spain, in the Meditteranean. It’s the little sister island to Ibiza and is only a 30-minute ferry trip away.
Here’s a few facts and figures:
- Beaches, beaches – so many of them for such a small island and white, clean and beautiful.
- The island had been occupied by the Carthaginians, then the ancient Romans, the Visigoths, the Byzantines, the Vandals, and the Arabs.
- Eventually the island added to the Crown of Aragon and later became part of the medieval Kingdom of Majorca.
- The main island of Formentera is 19 kilometres (12 miles) long and is located about 6 kilometres (4 miles) south of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea.
San Francesc, Formentera
- The major villages are Sant Francesc Xavier, Sant Ferran de ses Roques, El Pilar de la Mola and La Savina.
- Formentera comprises one municipality, also called Formentera, and has a population of 9,962 (as at 1 January 2010).
- Its land area is 83.24 square kilometres (32.1 sq mi).
- Cars are easily hired in the port and there’s a good choice of conventional or electric vehicles. There are more electric vehicle charging points here than anywhere else in the world, given its land area.
- Mopeds and bicycles are available to hire; the terrain is mostly flat and there are dedicated cycle lanes in some areas.
- The island has four Martello towers.
- Ferries to Formentera from Ibiza operate every half hour in high season.
- A local Ibizan (eivissenc) variant of the Balearic dialect of the Catalan language is spoken in Formentera though English and other European languages are frequently heard too.
Discovery Walking Guides carried out an intensive cartographic survey on Formentera a few weeks back and design of the new Formentera Tour & Trail Super-Durable Map is well under way.
For full details about the new Formen
tera map, click here.
KICKSTARTER PROJECT
How would you like to be part of the launch of this exciting new map project? For a modest pledge you can help this project to fly – and receive free maps too.
There’s still time to be a part of this exciting project.
Take a look at DWG’s Kickstarter Project here.
Ibiza – white beaches, azure seas, verdant pine forests UPDATE
Forget the tabloid image of all-night clubbing, loud music and young visitors in various states of inebriation and undress.
The real Ibiza is a beautiful place, blessed by a wonderful climate with many hours of sunshine each month.
Numerous fine white beaches and little coves tempt the swimmer and sun-worshipper, while walking/biking trails meander through wild flowers underneath a canopy of fragrant pine woods.
A few Ibizan facts:
- Ibiza is one of the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean east of the Spanish mainland.
- It’s a naturally beautiful island with white sand beaches, turquoise seas and verdant pine woods, olive groves and wild flowers.
- The island has a long history of invasion by various forces including the Ancient Romans, the Vandas, Byzantines, the Moors, the Norwegians and were finally claimed by Spain. Nowadays, the ‘invaders’ are tourists.
- Ibiza is 572.56 square kilometres (221.07 sq miles) land area.
- The highest point of the island is Sa Talaiassa, at 475 metres (1,558 ft).
- The population is estimated at approximately 132,500.
- Eivissenc, a dialect of Catalan, is spoken on Ibiza, as is Spanish. English is widely spoken in tourist areas.
- Though renowned for its clubbing scene, there are beautiful beaches, pine woods and walking/biking routes across the island.
One of Ibiza’s beautiful coves (on the west coast)
Until now, the maps available for the island of Ibiza have been basic and without the kind of detail you need to enjoy exploring.
That’s all set to change as Discovery Walking Guides has completed their ‘on the ground’ mapping survey. Design of the new Ibiza Tour & Trail Super-Durable Map is well under way.
Click HERE for all the details of the new Ibiza map.
KICKSTARTER PROJECT
How would you like to be part of the launch of this exciting new map project? For a modest pledge you can help this project to fly – and receive free maps too.
There’s still time to part of this exciting project.
Take a look at DWG’s Kickstarter project here:
Madeira: The Garden Isle – a new walking guide
Enduring popular as a walking destination, Madeira remains a beautiful and breathtaking island.
Resident authors and researchers, Shirley and Mike Whitehead know it like the backs of their hands and have come up with 41 routes and trails ideal for the ‘leisure’ walker in this new publication Madeira Walks: Volume One.
Volume 2 of this series will follow later in 2015 which concentrates on more challenging and high altitude routes.
All the routes are carefully described and are beautifully illustrated with images taken along each route.
Every route has its own highly detailed ‘Tour and Trail’ map section showing the route and waypoints clearly marked; research is done while carrying GPS 
equipment to ensure accurate walking information.
For more information about the new book and Madeira Tour & Trail Maps and Madeira Bus Maps, take a look http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/mad.htm
Fuerteventura Super-Durable Map is here!
Fuerteventura Super-Durable Map 2015
Just arrived – Fuerteventura Super-Durable Map. HIghly detailed and right up-to-date and printed on a special polymer withstanding rain, wind and folding many times. The island appeals to windsurfers, cyclists, walkers and adventurers, and has miles and miles of pure, clean beaches too.
It’s an intriguing island with a timeless quality, the raw bones of the island shaped by a volcanic past. Unique – once experienced, never forgotten. Read more here
Aloe Vera thrives in Fuerteventura’s desert conditions.
http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/fuerteventura.htm
On Fuerteventura’s east coast
Wind and Watersports on Fuerteventura
The Sierra de Aracena – walking in Spain
Uunspoiled, green countryside near Galaroza.
Having explored Spain’s Sierra de Aracena some years back for a walking guide and map, it was interesting to see a long and enticing piece in today’s Saturday Telegraph magazine about this little-visited region:-
Another green and beautiful walking route, near the little town of Fuenteheridos.
Spain offers so many wonderful walking regions, yet Sierra de Aracena remains little-known – which is of course, part of its charm. If you want dramatic mountains, look elsewhere. If you like wonderful green, natural walking interspersed with hamlets and little characterful towns, you’ll enjoy this area. It’s the perfect ‘get away from it all’ place.
The little town of Cortelazor.
If your interest has been sparked, take a look at map and walking information from DIscovery Walking Guides: http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/sierradearacena.htm
Lanzarote – walking the Caldera Blanca
Wow! The interior of the crater, Walk 39, Lanzarote.
Our thanks to Robert and Penny, recently returned from walking on Lanzarote. Here’s what they told us:-
Standing on the volcanic crater rim of Caldera Blanca, Lanzarote.
We have just returned from 10 days walking in Lanzarote. Your book was a great help as there is little in the way of signs or clear path markers. Without your book we would have frequently got on the wrong
route.
One comment, on walk 39, Caldera Blanca, We agree this was a
fantastic walk and the view from the crater rim were fantastic.
However, if we were to do this walk again we would have gone round the
other way (anti clockwise). The decent from the top was much steeper
and the path was full of small stones which required great care to
safely negotiate. We would have been much happier going up that way.
We walked in La Palma a few years ago and again found the guide great.
Thanks again for a great guide.
Robert and Jenny P
discoverywalking 