Madeira – the Garden Isle
If you were standing, right now, on the Pico do Ruivo, Madeira, and looked west, this is the view you’d be seeing. After one of the gloomiest, darkest northern European winters on record, wouldn’t this do your soul good, not to mention your fitness 🙂 ?
Madeira has long been an A-grade walking destination, offering levada walking along man-made water canals as well as trails for the most adventurous mountain hiker. Then there’s the wonderful endemic plant life too. The best thing is – simply go and see for yourself.
Here’s the map that goes with the photo.
There’s more information here :- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/mad.htm
Europe’s 10 Best Adventure Destinations? What’s Your Opinion?
According to the Huffington Post, these are the 10 best adventure destinations in Europe.
We’re pleased to see two of our top favourites, the Canary Islands (Spain) and Madeira (Portugal) included.
Take a look – which destinations would make your top ten?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/minube/europes-10-best-adventure_b_4315349.html
Get Away From Winter – there’s wall-to wall sunshine now in La Palma
If you’re in the UK or northern Europe you have most likely had enough of gales, floods and dark skies. On the teardrop-shaped volcanic island of La Palma, Canary Islands, the forecast ahead is for almost wall-to-wall sunshine with daily highs of 20-22C and not much less than 16C in the night.
Even better, it offers dramatic and wonderful walking. And you could be there within 5 hours’ flight time from UK and many European airports.
The image (right) was taken while following the Ruta de Los Volcanos.
And how about following the route of the southern volcanoes (left)? Much of the walk is along the volcanic ridge that bisects the island west-east, offering super views. Here’s how it looks on the La Palma Tour & Trail Map.
The image below shows a walker starting out on the Roque Palermo route; La Palma’s famous observatory can be glimpsed in the background.
There’s more information here:- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/lap.htm
A Taste Of La Gomera’s beauty – a free walk to download
You’ve heard of Tenerife – but where’s La Gomera? It’s just a short ferry ride from Tenerife yet as different as chalk from cheese.
The island is almost circular and resembles a giant cake cut again and again by dramatic barrancos (ravines) running from centre to sea, topped by an ancient and mysterious laurel forest.
The taster route is Walk 26, ‘Las Mimbreras’, offering a tantalising sample of the island’s adventures. Here’s a map section of the route.
Find your free walk here:- http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/walkla.htm
Costa Blanca Mountains – how would you like a free walk?
Inland of the famous holiday coast of Spain’s Costa Blanca lies an unspoilt walker’s paradise.
Do you want a taste? Take a look at this free sample walk. Click on this link to access the download:-
http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/CBM.htm
Walk 7 ‘Castell de Confrides’ lies not far from Benidorm – here’s the objective, the remains of a stronghold hundreds of years old from which there are amazing views.
Lanzarote – important update – Tabayesco circular walk
Another update from Neil C, for the start (and end) of Walk 33 Tabayesco circular in Walk!
This is the track you follow at the start of the walk.
Lanzarote guidebook. Thanks Neil!
“We parked for Tabayesco circular (33) at the recycle bins (noting they were perhaps 70 or 80 metres from the bus stop).
There was a very clear unmapped track leading away from the bins in the direction shown on the map – I wasn’t entirely happy that it was the correct track which seemed to be mapped nearer the road junction, but we set off anyway (a car came down the track [shows how major it was] from nearby houses and the driver waved a friendly greeting to us).
After about 200 metres of walking and surprised not to have found the jeep track on the left, we were shouted at from a house garden above by an English voice: “You are going the wrong way!”. “Sorry?” I said, not quite clear how someone could know where we were going.
“This is the wrong way! Are you doing the Tabayesco Circular walk?”
“Yes”
“Then this is the wrong way. The recycle bins have moved since the book was printed – you want to go back to the bus stop and the track that leads up towards the broad ridge over there”
“Thanks”.
We returned to the bins and beyond them to the bus stop and found the real track correctly mapped.
Future walkers (until the book is re-published) should note that the walk starts from the bus stop and you walk on the coast side of it to access the first track mentioned. Thanks for a great time in Lanzarote – the book and map are invaluable!”
Neil C
If you’re doing Walk 33, note that the walk also ends at the bus shelter (where it starts). Disregard references to the bins at the start and the end of the route description.
Lanzarote – thanks Neil for this update
Walk! Lanzarote – thank you Neil for this feedback for Walk 26 (Uga to La Geria) and Walk 33 (Tabayesco Circular)
On 27 January 2014 Neil C wrote:
“We have just returned from nearly two weeks in Lanzarote, walking every day using the 3rd edition you kindly sent us.
It had to happen eventually! We walked 26 (Uga to La Geria) in reverse (because we had walked part of it the recommended way on a previous trip) and saw a group approaching us down the road from La Asomada, one of whom was carrying a blue walk booklet exactly the same as I was!
We exchanged notes and continued. I thought you’d be amused to learn of this. However, I will not do 33 that way round again! As well as having long steep ascents, the wind was blowing a gale into our faces on both the main upward sections making forward movement next to impossible.
I will e-mail you shortly with a few observations about the new edition’s contents, but meanwhile I will mention a wry smile that I had when I read that you said “there were four or five wet days when you surveyed for the book”. We had rain or drizzle almost every day! Also, when we did walk 33 and were about 1/4 way up the unpathed ridge, the sun went in, the strong wind grew even stronger and was then accompanied by very heavy, virtually horizontal rain: even our boots clogged with the mud from the ground! We arrived very cold and bedraggled at Los Helechos restaurante, and although I agree with your scathing comments, it was a haven of warmth and dryness for us that day!
More feedback shortly.
Regards
Neil
PS Greatly enthused by your new Majorca book which we’ll order ASAP and are even now planning when in 2015 we’ll go to try it!”
Gran Canaria – almost there …
Are you waiting for our new Tour & Trail Map before heading off to adventure on the wonderful island of Gran Canaria? Not long to wait now. Our cartographer, David is checking the design through and it will soon be off to the printers. A downloadable version will also be available. Want to know more? Look http://www.dwgwalking.co.uk/gcan.htm
In the meantime, check out Rambling Roger’s website – this man knows walking on GC like the back of his hand and we thank him for his valuable input into the map detail.
See his site
http://www.ramblingroger.com/
Thank you, Mr & Mrs H, for your kind comments
People say the nicest things. Here’s the latest:-
On 21 January 2014 B H wrote:
“Just to complement you on the excellent guide and map for Lanzarote. Having walked all over the world as well as in the UK we certainly agree that these are the clearest and most helpful guides we have found. We stayed outside Haria and this proved an ideal centre for all parts of the island – we did have a car. The map on its own would have been fine, but your personal comments and recommendations were greatly appreciated, as was the ability to link up the walks.
As is to be expected there were one or two places where new buildings had been erected or the trail was obscure, but we never got lost. By the way, the restaurant / bar La Tegala in the cultural centre in Haria is great for local food and very reasonable, as is the Stop Bar in Yaiza. The one you describe in Ye wasn’t open while we were there, but maybe they don’t get much custom in January?
Best wishes; we will be buying more of your guides and recommending them to our friends. We only wish we had found them earlier.”
Regards, B and T H (Somerset)
Walk! Tenerife now available as pdf download
Got a last-minute flight booked for Tenerife? If you’ve no time to get your hands on the printed version of Walk! Tenerife, grab the pdf download for 4.99.
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