Tag: Observatorio

Road Access to the Observatory in La Palma If you want to get the Observatory Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma for a visit or just to enjoy the fantastic views, here we explain how to get to the Observatory. There is only an access road, the LP4 road, that goes from Santa Cruz de La Palma to the municipality of Garafía. This road is a mountain road as the Observatory is virtually on the highest point of the island, at an altitude of 2400m. From Santa Cruz on the LP4, there are 36 km of road of sinuous curves. However, the road is beautiful and offers spectacular views, but since it is a mountain road, you have to climb slowly and carefully. It usually takes between 1:15h to 1:30h to get up with a few minutes to rest and to take pictures. The access by Garafía has a shorter patch on the lp4 road, but first you have to get to Garafía, on the north of the island via the LP1 road. From Los Llanos de Aridane to the Observatory, on the west of the island, it takes about 1:30h without traffic and, from Santa Cruz de La Palma, by the LP1 to Garafía and then to the Observatory (12 kms on the LP4) it takes approximately 2 hours (on the east of the island). Also the road is very beautiful. We recommend to access the Observatory via Lp4 road from Santa Cruz and then leave the observatory via Lp4-Garafía-Lp1 to Los Llanos or to Barlovento. Once in the Observatory you may access the Roque de Los Muchachos summet (inside the National Park). This last stretch of road is open during the day. At night, the road is closed to the public. If interested