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The El Golfo valley on El Hierro seen from the Tanganasoga volcano in spring
The Charco Azul pool seen from inside its lava cave, El Golfo, El Hierro
A wind-bent juniper with a twisted trunk in El Sabinar, El Hierro
César Manrique's Mirador de la Peña above the sea, with the Roques de Salmor offshore

Things to do in El Hierro: 10 experiences

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Photo: Erik del Toro Streb, CC BY-SA 4.0

La Maceta, El Golfo

Swim in the lava-rock natural pools, picked by sea state

Photo: Areuland, CC BY-SA 4.0

La Dehesa

Walk among the wind-bent junipers of El Sabinar

Tours in El Hierro

Photo: Desde un tajinaste, CC BY 4.0

Guarazoca

Look down into El Golfo from Manrique's Mirador de la Peña

Photo: Casacanarias, CC BY-SA 4.0

El Hierro is the smallest and westernmost of the seven main Canary Islands, about 268 km² of volcanic slopes, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2000 and a Geopark since 2014. It has almost no beaches and no resort strip: people come to dive the marine reserve off La Restinga, swim in pools cut into the lava, walk the old paths across the summit and stand at Punta de Orchilla, where European maps once drew the zero meridian.

The island splits into four quite different corners. The north-east around Valverde, the only Canary capital away from the sea, holds the port, the airport, the Garoé and the sheltered pools of Tamaduste and Charco Manso, and it is often under trade-wind cloud. El Golfo, on the north-west, is a 15 km-wide amphitheatre left by a prehistoric landslide, with Frontera, La Maceta and the Ecomuseo de Guinea on its floor and the Mirador de la Peña on its rim.

The far west (La Dehesa, El Sabinar, the Ermita de los Reyes and Orchilla) is almost empty grazing land and lava. The south runs from the pine forest of El Pinar down the bare slopes of El Julan to La Restinga, the fishing village that faces the calm water of the Mar de las Calmas.

10 things to do in El Hierro

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An island grouper (abade) on the volcanic seabed off El Hierro

Dive the Mar de las Calmas marine reserve from La Restinga

La Restinga

Book ahead

A protected sea off the island's southern tip, sheltered from the trade winds, where visibility reaches 30 m.

Tours in El Hierro
The Charco Azul pool seen from inside its lava cave, El Golfo, El Hierro

Swim in the lava-rock natural pools, picked by sea state

La Maceta, El Golfo

Free

With very few beaches, El Hierro swims in pools set into the lava along the coast, and the swell decides which one works.

A wind-bent juniper with a twisted trunk in El Sabinar, El Hierro

Walk among the wind-bent junipers of El Sabinar

La Dehesa

Free

An open wood of junipers bent almost to the ground by the trade winds, with the island's emblem tree among them.

Tours in El Hierro
César Manrique's Mirador de la Peña above the sea, with the Roques de Salmor offshore

Look down into El Golfo from Manrique's Mirador de la Peña

Guarazoca

No booking needed

César Manrique's viewpoint sits 645 m above El Golfo, the 15 km-wide bite left by a prehistoric landslide.

Stone houses of the Guinea hamlet below the cliffs of El Golfo, El Hierro

Meet the giant lizards at the Ecomuseo de Guinea

Las Puntas, Frontera

About 2 hoursNo booking needed

A lizard of about 60 cm, declared Europe's most threatened reptile, bred here in captivity and released back into its habitat.

The Garoé tree beside the rock-cut basins that collect its water, El Hierro

Visit the Garoé, the sacred tree that drank the fog

San Andrés

No booking needed

A tree whose leaves combed water out of the fog, sacred to the island's first people and once its main water supply.

Punta de Orchilla with its volcanic cones and lava fields above the Atlantic, El Hierro

Stand on the old zero meridian at the Faro de Orchilla

Punta de Orchilla

Free

The island's south-western tip, where European maps once counted longitude from until Greenwich took over.

Green pastures and stone walls of the Nisdafe plateau under low cloud, El Hierro

Hike the Camino de la Virgen across the island's summit

La Dehesa to Valverde

7 h 30 min for the full routeFree

Walk the route the island's patron saint is carried along every four years, through juniper, pine and laurel forest.

Tours in El Hierro
Wind turbines of the Gorona del Viento wind and hydro plant, El Hierro

Tour Gorona del Viento, the island's wind and water power plant

Valverde

Book ahead

Inside El Hierro's bid to run on renewable power: a plant that stores surplus wind as water in a crater.

The Bimbache tagoror, a ring of stones on the lava slopes of El Julan, El Hierro

Join a guided route to the Bimbache rock carvings of El Julan

El Julan

Timed entry

The island's most important rock engravings, left by the Bimbaches on lava slopes above the Mar de las Calmas.

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    There are no direct flights from outside the Canaries. Binter flies to El Hierro airport, about 10 km from Valverde, from Tenerife North and Gran Canaria, so international travellers change on one of those islands. By sea, Naviera Armas and Fred. Olsen sail from Los Cristianos, in the south of Tenerife, to the port of La Estaca below Valverde in about 2 h 20 min. Guaguas link Valverde with the airport (line 10) and the port (line 11).

  • Getting around

    Hire a car, ideally at the airport: El Sabinar, the Faro de Orchilla and the El Julan centre have no bus at all. TransHierro runs 12 guagua lines at €1.35 a trip, most of them starting in Valverde, which is enough for Tamaduste (line 6), Pozo de las Calcosas (line 9), San Andrés and Guarazoca (line 5), Frontera (line 3) and La Restinga (line 8, from El Pinar).

  • How many days

    In must30's view, three full days is the minimum: one for El Golfo (Mirador de la Peña, Guinea, La Maceta), one for the west (Ermita de los Reyes, El Sabinar, Orchilla at sunset) and one for the south (El Julan in the morning, La Restinga in the afternoon). Divers should add their dive days on top, and walkers a day for a section of the Camino de la Virgen.

  • When to go

    The sea stays between 18 and 25 °C all year, so diving has no off season. Winter and spring are the green months for walking, while Valverde and the north often sit under trade-wind cloud. The services at the Tacorón pools run only in summer. The Bajada de la Virgen fills the island every four years on the first Saturday of July; the next is in 2029, so book beds early for that summer.

  • Where to base yourself

    Valverde is the transport hub, close to the port and airport, with every guagua line passing through, but it is the cloudiest base. El Golfo (Frontera and Tigaday) puts you near La Maceta, Guinea and the road west to El Sabinar. Divers stay in La Restinga, where the dive centres and the fish restaurants are.

Questions travellers ask

Do I need a car in El Hierro?

For a first visit, yes. TransHierro's guaguas reach the towns and several natural pools for €1.35 a trip, but no line serves El Sabinar, the Faro de Orchilla or the El Julan centre. Hire one at the airport if you can.

How do I get to El Hierro from Tenerife?

Fly with Binter from Tenerife North, or take the ferry from Los Cristianos to La Estaca, which takes about 2 h 20 min. Gran Canaria also has flights. From the rest of Europe you change in Tenerife or Gran Canaria.

Does El Hierro have beaches?

Very few, so islanders swim in natural pools such as La Maceta, Charco Azul, Tamaduste and Tacorón instead. La Maceta and Charco Azul have no lifeguards and the north coast takes heavy swell, so check the sea before you go.

Can I dive in El Hierro as a beginner?

Yes. Dive schools in La Restinga run discovery dives and courses as well as boat dives for certified divers. Scuba diving inside the marine reserve requires a diving certificate, insurance and a medical, so ask the centre where a try dive takes place. Punta Restinga is rated a low-level site.

When is the next Bajada de la Virgen in El Hierro?

In 2029. It is held every four years on the first Saturday of July, when the image of the Virgen de los Reyes is carried from La Dehesa to Valverde along the Camino de la Virgen. The 2025 edition was on 5 July; confirm the 2029 programme nearer the date.

Is the El Hierro tourist passport worth it?

The Pasaporte Turístico costs €17.95 and covers the seven centres run by the island's public company Meridiano, including the Ecomuseo de Guinea (€9.50 on its own), the Garoé and the El Julan centre. It pays off once you visit Guinea and three other centres. It does not include the guided route to the El Julan rock carvings.

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