Guided visit to the telescopes of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory

It is the only way to enter a professional telescope on La Palma. It is led by Starlight guides trained by the Starlight Foundation with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, by day and in small groups, because at night the telescopes are working. You book with one of the authorised companies, each on its own website.

What you see

You meet in the car park of the Roque Visitor Centre and from there you drive up in convoy, in your own car, behind the guide. The guide tells the history of the observatory, what each facility is for and what it has discovered, and enters a telescope authorised that day with the group. It may be the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the MAGIC telescopes or the large CTAO telescopes; it is not chosen or guaranteed, because it depends on what the observations and the weather allow.

Price, days and booking

With Ad Astra it costs €20 from age 12 and €15 for ages 6 to 11 and for La Palma residents; its ticket gives half price at the visitor centre for a week. Its visits are usually on Thursday and Sunday mornings, with 10 to 22 people, and it publishes dates one or two months ahead. AstroLaPalma runs the same visit; on Saturdays, in Spanish only. Both ask for a minimum of 10 people and have a waiting list if the day is full.

From December to March there are no visits: the IAC suspends them because of the weather. The rest of the year they may be cancelled on the day if there is snow, wind or the road is closed.

Getting there

You can only drive or take a taxi up to the Roque. From Santa Cruz de La Palma, along the LP-4, it is about 40 km of mountain road; from Los Llanos de Aridane, about 50. There is no petrol station up there. On weekdays, check beforehand for the roadworks on the LP-4 through Mirca, which close the road from 9:30 to 17:00 according to Ad Astra; the access via Garafía remains open.