La Gomera, La Palma & Lanzarote

Anyone been to either of those islands? Can you suggest what to do there besides ship excursions. Did anyone hire a car/scooter? Are the ports interesting or should we venture further out?

Any suggestions and advice greatly appreciated.

Our ship (NCL Spirit) stopped in Lanzarote. We did the ship excursion which went to the Volcano park. It was really interesting. It is like being on a different planet. We went to the visitor center where they do demonstrations (sticking a branch in the ground and it catches on fire-things like that). There is a restaurant there where they cook the meat over a hot vent in the ground. Then we got back on the bus to take a trip through the park to see the unusual scenery. If you took a taxi or private car there you would be put on a park shuttle bus to take the tour. The visitor center was busy, but the buses go out on a staggered schedule so that you get more of a not of this world feeling. After visiting the park we stopped at a winery and then on to the coast where the lava had flowed into the sea. Really enjoyable shore excursion. I am sure you could arrange to do it privately if you prefer.

We hired a car at Lanzarote. We hired online from Cicar, they have an office on the dock. We drove up to the volcano and took the park bus tour which is included in the entrance price. The roads were all very good.

In La Gomera we rented a car and went right around the island. A visit to the Parador is also worth a visit. In Lanzarote my friend picked us up at the port, but otherwise we would have hired a car.

In La Palma we just wanted around Santa Cruz, the capital and met up with some friends who were also there on another cruise ship. We were going to take a taxi from the port, but it was raining and we would not have seen much if we had gone up into the mountains. The local taxi company offers tours, I think they are called TaxiLaPalma or LaPalmaTaxi, but you can find them on Tripadvisor.

We also hired our car with Cicar as they are a reliable, long established company in the Canaries. Car hire and petrol are cheap.

Thank you all for your replies. It has been very helpful. I think we will DIY these places and hire a car. It all depends on the weather as well I suppose. We will be there in November.