Getting in touch with the Gomeran culture
Nature, outdoor activities, gastronomy… La Gomera offers a wide variety of choices for the tourist. You can also learn about La Gomera’s culture and identity through the buildings, galleries, traditional shops and museums.
La Gomera, due to its isolation, is the island that has best preserved its traditional customs and habits. Rich in nature, its inhabitants have only survived through heroism, carving the rocks and harvesting the most inaccessible places.
PEG Los Telares
The Ethnographic Park of La Gomera
While in order to understand and appreciate the Garajonay National Park, it is necessary to visit the “Juego de Bolas”, its visitor centre, in order to understand the culture, history and valleys of La Gomera, a visit to the Ethnographic Park of La Gomera is essential.
In addition to enjoying the views of the Pedro and Petra rocks and the Chorro de El Cedro, we can visit its traditional farmhouse with audio guides, information panels, exhibition areas and a restored water mill. The PEG Los Telares is a classic on the island’s tourist circuits, as it not only offers a wide variety of local products and handicrafts in its shops, but also houses the island’s largest private collection of antiques in its exhibition rooms. Visits from 4,50€/adult. Enjoy its audio-video guided tour and immersive experiences!
A balcony over the Ocean
In the north-east of the island, between Hermigua and Vallehermoso, lies Agulo, one of the most emblematic places on the island of La Gomera. Called the "balcony over the sea", due to its strategic position in a natural depression, it offers visitors views of the Teide volcano on the island of Tenerife. A signposted route invites us to visit its streets on foot.
The Convent of "Santo Domingo"
This convent gives its name to the neighbourhood of El Convento and is also the heart of the village of Hermigua. This is the historic centre, built in the 17th century. Several old houses are still standing and inhabited, as well as the church, built in a late Romanesque style. Part of this nucleus of old buildings is our emblematic old manor house Los Telares (access only for our complex guests).
La Torre del Conde (Count's Tower)
Declared to be of cultural interest. It is the best preserved medieval fortress in the Canary Islands. Built around 1470, although reformed in the 16th century, its main function was to combat internal insurrections on the island. It currently houses an exhibition of historical cartography of the island of La Gomera.
The Davit of Hermigua (natural pool)
Now a natural swimming pool, the columns of the old davit of Hermigua still stand. Of the many davits in the north of La Gomera, this four-columned structure over the sea is perhaps the most striking. It was here that bananas were loaded for shipment to the UK via London's Canary Wharf. If you approach it off-season, please beware the strong waves.
Archaeological Museum
This small museum shows how the aborigines lived on the island, their way of life and how they used the natural resources to live; their settlements, the characteristics of their social system, their culture, politics and religion.
Casa de Colón (Columbus House)
17th century villa designed around a courtyard with an upper corridor. Inside is a permanent exhibition of indigenous Latin American figures. It is said that Christopher Columbus came here on one of his first voyages to America, although there is no documented evidence of this.
Potery Centre "Las Loceras"
This small gallery was opened through the joint effort of the potters of El Cercado, where most, if not all, of the island's traditional pottery is made. Here you can see and buy traditional Gomeran pottery, made by hand using ancient aboriginal techniques without a potter's wheel.
Palm Syrup Information Centre
Like aboriginal ceramics and the whistle, palm honey extraction is one of the legacies that have remained in use in La Gomera since pre-European times. For this reason alone, it also deserves its own visitor centre.