Flying Directly

Great news - the direct Manchester to La Palma flights with Thomsons are back on again!

After a summer with Thomsons offering direct flights to La Palma from only Gatwick, with some jubilation I see the Manchester ones have made a come back.  And it looks like it wasn't just me that  was pleased to see them as it certainly created a flurry of enquiries from people looking for accommodation on La Palma - and I'm not surprised with the prices they are offering.

For example for one week from the 25th November to the 2nd December, the price is £114.00 return.  That is a brilliant price!  Great to team it up with a week in the rural north of La Palma in a traditional Canarian house or bag a beach break with a self-catering apartment overlooking the sea in Tazacorte. 

On behalf of owners, we've got some fabulous apartments for rent on La Palma at the Puerto de Tazacorte. You can check them out here.

And if the Thomson itinerary doesn't suit, you can of course find flights to La Palma via Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Germany, Holland or Belgium seven days a week. 

Happy Holidays!

Insured to go

When it comes down to it, I don't think too many of us are averse to cheap flights these days.  Even the more expensive flights seem to have cut down on providing an in-flight meal or even film to while away the hours.
So how about cheap accommodation?  I'm certainly not averse to booking a hotel room on-line at two-thirds of the normal price - although I have discovered you can't expect the best room in the hotel!
And then what about cheap travel insurance? There was a time when it was obligatory to take out travel insurance when booking a holiday either at the travel agents or at least tick a box confirming that travel insurance had been taken out.  With time however, it seems to have become more of an optional extra and this is when I hit upon the great idea for savings in this direction - just don't bother!
So that begs the question - is travel insurance compulsory?  And the answer to that is very simple - yes!  Yes that is unless you are happy to pay for an air ambulance should you need to be flown back after a serious accident or illness, yes if you have to get home quickly due to an emergency which means booking new flights and yes unless you don't mind losing all your money and valuables while on holiday.
Having decided that travel insurance is probably the only option then it's time to decide on which company to take the policy out with.
On my last travelling expedition, I took out cover with World Nomads, a company apparently among thousands who are offering travel insurance.  However, what swung me towards them is the fact that they are recommend by Lonely Planet and - even more so - they go that bit further to add value to your holiday with a host of extras such as a travel forum, travel articles and information, photo uploader, travel journal and the facility to 'add a little back' by donating to a chosen project. 
If you or one of your young ones are setting off travelling or on a gap year then a rock-solid travel insurance is vital.  But then even short holidays are precious too and for the relatively few pounds or euros involved, taking out travel insurance for any holiday has got to be a must. 
Have a peek into our new holiday shop where travel insurance is top of the list.
Happy holidays and we hope to see you on holiday in La Palma one day.

Putting the Canary Islands on the Map

I remember ten years ago when we came to the Canary Islands looking for a place to live.   Wow - all that exploring and seven islands to do it in.  It wasn't long before we bought a map. 
Luckily, we came across a map with all the Canary Islands on it and it was certainly enough to get us by in the short term.  However, I have to confess that a smaller scale map of Gran Canaria or Tenerife might have been useful at times especially as I am all for saving petrol, time and in-car harmony!  
Once we arrived in La Palma, we quickly decided that we were not going to rely on road signs or our Canary Islands map to guide us round and we bought our first map of La Palma.  

Now the funny thing about La Palma is that there really is only one main road which runs round the island.  From that you might think you can easily manage without a road map.  Well, in one way you can … because at least you are hardly likely to end up on the wrong island without noticing it!  However, whilst it seems to simplify things with relatively few roads on the island, this does mean that it is important to be on the right road.  Coming from the UK, we are so used to one road literally leading to another that we tend to keep on driving until we find a turning.  Here, you might have to drive a long way before that becomes the case, or if you do find a side road, there is a good chance that after a couple of kilometers of tortuous driving, you’ll end up in a banana plantation or pine forest when actually you were heading for the beach.

The map that we chose soon became my trusty companion in that the main roads stood out really clearly from the side roads, donkey paths, walking paths and mountain bike paths.  This, as I’m sure you’ll agree, is rather important in the popularity stakes when navigating! 

In time though, we came to realize that whilst this was an excellent road map of La Palma, it wasn’t particularly good as a walking map so we invested in a second map.  And then, when we became more avid walkers, it was time to buy yet another map of La Palma but an even smaller scale map particularly suitable for walkers. That really did show the walking routes in great detail and provided us with even greater enthusiasm.

So if you are coming on holiday to La Palma and you’ve already got your flights booked and accommodation sorted out then maybe it’s time to think about getting a map in advance especially as there are not so many places on that island that sell them.  Don't forget that La Palma is not a tourist hot spot!
If you are holidaying on any of the other Canary Islands then it still might be a good idea to buy a map on line whether that is a map of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote or Fuerteventura.  For a map of La Gomera and map of El Hierro, you will find that either they have their own map of they will be on a map with either Tenerife or La Palma.  There is certainly a choice of maps and scales, especially if you are buying your map on-line.
Once you have your map, your holiday homework can really begin.  Enjoy!

Taking Off

Here's some good news that you might be able to take advantage of - another airline with flights from the UK to Madrid and Madrid to Santa Cruz de La Palma (flight code SPC).   There are also flights from Barcelona to La Palma and Bilbao to La Palma - it's great to know that there are more flights from mainland Spain to our little Isla Bonita!
The company is called Orbest Airlines and although it offers flights from just one UK airport at the moment, Edinburgh, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it really takes off, so to speak.

If you haven't heard of Orbest, maybe you have heard of one of its parent companies - Orizonia and before that, Iberworld airlines.  Apparently, without most of us realising it, they have been pretty busy flying thousands of passengers in and out of around twenty airports in Spain alone.
The Orbest fleet consists of  9 aircraft: 3 Airbus A-330-300, able to hold 388 passengers, and 6 Airbus 320, capable of carrying 180 passengers.   If you are searching for flights to La Palma or the other Canary Islands, their website is in Spanish and English.
At the moment, they are only projecting flights as far forward as September and because the Edinburgh to Madrid flight is on a Monday and the Madrid to La Palma flight is on a Friday, you'll need to do a bit of mix and matching with other airlines. The flights from Barcelona to La Palma are on a Saturday and the flights from Bilbao to La Palma are on a Tuesday.
I hope you manage to find a flight to suit you and don't forget the airport code to La Palma is SPC!

Good Connections

If you are considering a holiday to La Palma, then you may wish to take advantage of one of the many super-cheap flights and travel via Tenerife or Gran Canaria.  Then you can continue your journey by air or sea - or even stay a few days on one of those islands.
If travelling via Tenerife, you will most likely need to transfer from the international airport in the south, Reina Sofia, to the north airport, Los Rodeos, which serves the Canary islands plus mainland Spain.  
For inter-island flights - check out Binter or Islas airways - www.bintercanarias.com or www.islasairways.com.  The flight from Tenerife (north airport) to La Palma takes 25 minutes and from Gran Canaria, 50 minutes. 
Both Binter and Islas use the ATR 73 twin-engine turboprop which carry up to 78 passengers.  If you enjoy small (ish) planes, you'll love this - it's a lot fun! 

For ferries to La Palma, look at www.fredolssen.es or www.navieraarmas.com.  There is a fast ferry from Los Cristianos in Tenerife with Fred Olsen lines which takes around two and a half hours and with Armas which take a couple of hours longer.  By boat from Gran Canaria takes considerably longer.  View it as a mini-cruise - just sit back and enjoy!

The Titsa

The 'Titsa,' in case you were wondering, is the name of the bus company in Tenerife.
You see the Titsa buses everywhere, very distinctive in green and white and if you arrive in Tenerife en route to La Palma for your holiday, then these buses will come in very useful.

You see, the interesting thing about Tenerife is that it has two airports, the Reina Sofia airport in the south and Los Rodeos in the north.  Most international flights arrive/depart using the south airport and inter-island flights almost always use the north airport.  So ... if you come to La Palma via Tenerife, the chances are you will need to change airports.
It's quite simple really - but here are a few tips ...
From the south airport, there are several buses that you can take:
the number 343 is the express bus between the airports
the number 111 bus is the next best alternative and goes to Santa Cruz leaving the south airport every half hour on the hour/half hour.  It takes fifty minutes to get to Santa Cruz (the bus station/terminus) from where you can catch the number 102 bus to the north airport.  
And that's it!  Just sit back and enjoy your tour of Tenerife courtesy of Titsa.

To laptop or not?

I think we can all agree that security at airports has changed in recent years. And not only that but it seems to change every year and at every airport.

It can certainly be frustrating but the more you are aware of the latest requirements, the easier it is to comply - and still stay in that happy holiday frame of mind!

My latest finding was at Manchester airport. Not only was it a case of belts off and liquids out - see the rules on liquids here - but also laptops have to be taken out of the cabin luggage. Not easy when they are packed safe and sound in a rucksack or carry-on!

However, if you do decide to bring a laptop or similar, then you will find that some holiday homes and apartments offer WiFi. Here at the finca in Franceses, we have been offering free WiFi for some time and have seen an increasing number of people wanting or needing to connect to the internet. So if you do think it's worth bringing your laptop - keep it handy in your cabin luggage when coming through security!

If you are not sure what other regulations apply to what you can take on a plane, either in the hold or cabin luggage, you can check here.