# A Sunday in the skies of La Palma: Roque telescopes in the morning, La Cumbrecita and guided stars at night

A morning inside a Roque telescope, a walk on the summit and La Cumbrecita without a booking late on; an early dinner in Breña Baja and two hours of guided stargazing.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/canary-islands/la-palma/itineraries/telescopes-by-day-stars-by-night · Revisado: 2026-11-13

## El día
- 09:00 · Salida (From Los Cancajos or Santa Cruz de La Palma via the LP-4; fill up with petrol beforehand)
- 10:30 · Guided visit to the telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Ad Astra · €20, €15 for ages 6 to 11 · book on its website) · Ad Astra La Palma, From €15 €20 from age 12; €15 for ages 6 to 11 and La Palma residents
  - Carry on on foot
- 12:30 · Roque de los Muchachos Visitor Centre (Half price with the Ad Astra ticket)
  - 9 min by car, 4,8 km
- 13:30 · Roque de los Muchachos summit and the path to the Espigón del Roque (Picnic in the car: there is nowhere to eat up there)
  - 1 h 15 by car, 66,8 km
- 16:15 · La Cumbrecita viewpoint, looking over the Caldera de Taburiente (From 16:00 you can go up without booking)
  - 30 min by car, 20,4 km
- 18:15 · Parador de La Palma restaurant (Early dinner; book and ask about hours) · Parador de La Palma restaurant, €€€
  - 7 min by car, 3,9 km
- 19:45 · Stargazing with telescopes from a summit viewpoint (AstroLaPalma · €35, €25 for ages 4 to 11 · the time arrives on the ticket) · AstroLaPalma, From €25 €35 from age 12 and €25 for ages 4 to 11, without transport; €55 adult with transport
- 23:30 · Vuelta (Back in Los Cancajos)

La Palma protects its sky so that the telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos can work, and this plan uses it twice: by day you enter one of those telescopes and at night you look through a small one with a guide. It is designed for a Sunday, because Ad Astra usually runs its visits on Thursdays and Sundays and because the works on the LP-4 at Mirca cut the road on weekdays. You set out from Los Cancajos, next to the airport, and return there.

## The day, hour by hour

9:00 · Up to the Roque. On the LP-4 from the east coast: about 47 km of bends that cross the sea of clouds when there is one. Fill the tank beforehand, since there is no petrol station up there, and bring the day's lunch.

10:30 · Inside a telescope. You meet Ad Astra in the visitor centre car park and drive up in convoy behind the guide. Almost two hours among the domes, with entry to one of the telescopes that are available: the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the MAGIC telescopes or those of the CTAO. Bring a cap and a coat.

12:30 · The visitor centre. Three rooms on why the Canary Islands are a window on the universe and on Garafía, in about 45 minutes. With the Ad Astra ticket you pay half.

13:30 · The summit. Nine minutes by car to the Roque car park, a picnic and the 600 m trail to the Espigón, looking out over the Caldera. No vertigo and take it slowly: you are at 2,400 m.

16:15 · La Cumbrecita. You go down to El Paso and climb the 7 km to the viewpoint. From 16:00 no booking is needed for the car, and the afternoon light enters the Caldera from the side.

18:15 · Dinner at the Parador. Canarian cooking with Tenerife and La Gomera across the sea. Book and ask for an early table.

19:45 · Stars with a telescope. From the AstroLaPalma office in Los Cancajos, in your car behind the guide or in their transport (€55). Two hours at a mountain viewpoint, chosen that night according to the clouds.

23:30 · Head back.

## Cómo llegar

### By car
Essential: no bus goes up to the Roque and the stars are at night. Hire it at the airport, three minutes from Los Cancajos. It is about 130 km in the day, almost all of it mountain road.

## Consejos

### Book the observatory first
It has the fewest dates. With the Sunday fixed, book the stars and dinner.

### Check the Moon before choosing the Sunday
With a full Moon, the day telescopes are just as good, but the Milky Way disappears at night.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Can you do this plan in winter?
Without the telescope visit, which the IAC suspends from December to March. The visitor centre and the stars carry on.

### Can children come?
From age 6 at the telescope; the night observation has a children's rate for ages 4 to 11.

### What if it is cloudy?
AstroLaPalma offers another date or refunds the money if it cancels because of the weather. Leave a free night in your trip just in case.

### How much does the day cost?
Between €100 and €150 per person: €20 observatory, €7.50 visitor centre, €35 stars and dinner.