Cruises From Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain

Things to do in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain

A colonial port town at the pier, a giant volcanic caldera and some of the best stargazing skies in the Northern Hemisphere. Here are the best things to do in La Palma on a cruise day:

♦ Calle Real and Plaza de Espana

The town's mostly cobbled main street runs through the historic center past shops, squares and historic buildings to the Plaza de Espana, where locals meet. The square holds the town hall and the Church of El Salvador, founded in 1500, and it is the heart of a walk that starts just a few minutes from the ship.

♦ The Balconies of Avenida Maritima

Along the seafront avenue, a row of traditional Canarian houses carries wooden balconies decorated with brightly colored flowers. They are a highlight of any walk along the waterfront.

♦ Caldera de Taburiente National Park

The island's north is dominated by this immense basin, about 6 miles (10 km) across, with walls that rise as much as 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above its floor. A national park since 1954, it is covered in Canary Island pine forest and was the last stronghold of the island's native people against the Spanish conquest. Its high rim is reached by road.

♦ Roque de los Muchachos

The island's highest point, at 7,960 feet (2,426 m) on the rim of the caldera, is home to the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, one of the best sites for astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere. Its telescopes include the Gran Telescopio Canarias, among the largest optical telescopes in the world, and clouds that form well below the summit usually leave the sky above it clear.

♦ Naval Museum and Plaza de la Alameda

At one end of the Plaza de la Alameda, the Naval Museum recalls the town's seafaring past. Nearby are the walls of the Castillo de Santa Catalina, one of the forts built to defend the port from pirates and corsairs.

♦ The Volcanoes of the South

The southern half of La Palma is the Cumbre Vieja, a ridge of volcanic cones that is still active. It last erupted in 2021, destroying more than 2,600 buildings, after earlier eruptions in 1949 and 1971, and the ridge runs south to the island's tip at Punta de Fuencaliente.