Travel Long Haul: The land that tourism forgot

La Gomera has it all - unspoilt landscapes, wild parties and farmers with their own strange language. You'd hardly believe you're in the Canary Islands.

I took a lot of persuading to go to La Gomera last winter. I have always been a bit snooty about the Canary Islands, basing my prejudice on horror snaps of unfinished high-rises and beaches staked out at 6am by rows of human kippers on their sun-beds. But when I discovered that La Gomera has no international airport, no high-rises (finished or otherwise), and few beaches to speak of, I was seduced by the prospect of sunshine in January and decided to give it a whirl.

This is how I came to spend last New Year's Eve in the cheerful fishing port of Playa de Santiago on the south coast of the island, salsa dancing in the courtyard of a gloriously ramshackle local restaurant, and popping grapes, Spanish-style, in the run-up to midnight. Fireworks were exploding all around us, and the local wine was getting better and better, the closer the hour got to midnight. La Gomera had definitely turned up trumps.

Part of its attraction is the friendliness of the people. Because the island is comparatively undeveloped and so small (only about 15 miles in diameter), there's a genuine "local" feeling to it.

Interestingly, there's quite a strong Latin American influence, due to the fact that La Gomera was Christopher Columbus's last port of call before arriving in America, and many islanders now have family links with Venezuela or Cuba. The Gomeros certainly know how to throw a party.

But the key attraction is the endless fascination of the island itself. Although La Gomera is a wonderful place for chilling out, for luxuriating in the warmth of winter sunshine amid blue skies, blue seas and birdsong, even the laziest of visitors should be sure to hire a car and explore at least part of the island beyond their home base.

The variety of scenery across such a small land mass is quite staggering - a product of the myriad micro-climates that prevail from area to area. A walker's paradise, the north has lush green valleys laden with date palms or given over to vineyards and fruit plantations (bananas are La Gomera's only exported crop).

In the drier south, you'll find virtual moonscapes of volcanic rock. Here, the barrenness of the valleys - or barrancos - and the steepness of the slopes have created the unique acoustic conditions that have led to the development of the island's famous whistling language, El Silbo. Allegedly, this allows farmers to chat to each other over distances that can run into miles - although I won't pretend to have personally witnessed the phenomenon in practice. The centre of the island is different again. Because La Gomera rises dramatically out of the sea - even the small settlements and narrow beaches that fringe the coastline butt almost immediately on to sheer cliffs - you'll find that any journey inland will take you higher and higher. And, as you approach the misty mountains and silvery woodlands of Garajonay National Park, the scenery (and climate) shift into that of tropical rainforest, with a dense woodland of rare laurisilva and fabulous jungles of unique flora and fauna.

Most visitors to La Gomera stay close to the coast, where the weather is sunnier and less changeable than inland. Even though the island isn't really the obvious choice for a beach holiday, the best black sand beaches are at Valle Gran Rey on the west coast. This is La Gomera's most popular tourist valley - a spectacular cascade of cultivated terraces, studded with palm trees, which spill down to the sea.

San Sebastian, the island's capital, is on the east coast and has two reasonable beaches, but is a bustling working port rather than a seaside resort. Playa de Santiago, south-coast host to our New Year revels, is much smaller, with a pebble beach, reputedly the best climate on the island and, for travellers reluctant to rough it, the convenience of a nearby luxury hotel.

Accommodation options on La Gomera are limited, with only three main hotels. There is a large, fairly standard hotel at Valle Gran Rey, and an attractive Parador at San Sebastian, furnished traditionally and with a pleasant garden, a courtyard and a swimming-pool. But the main and, almost unarguably, the best hotel on the island is the Jardin Tecina, a mini-village of low-level Canarian-style houses, set amid wonderful gardens on a clifftop overlooking Playa de Santiago.

If hotels are not your thing, you can rent an apartment or a casa rurale. The apartments are mostly based on the coast (the Apartamentos Tapahuga at Playa de Santiago, which include a roof-top solarium and swimming-pool, are especially attractive) and the casas rurales are all inland. Vallehermoso in the North and Alajero in the south are both convenient locations.

But wherever you choose to stay, since part of the delight of La Gomera is its colourful village culture, keep an eye out for local fiestas. Each of the main settlements lets its hair down at least once a year, and an exuberant annual carnival is held every February in San Sebastian - so brush up on your salsa techniques, and go and investigate.

Fact File

Charter flights: Numerous airlines fly to Tenerife. La Gomera can be reached by ferry from Los Cristianos, a 20-minute, pounds 12 taxi ride from Tenerife airport. The ferry from Los Cristianos to San Sebastian takes 75 minutes and costs about pounds 4.

Hotels: A number of mainstream operators offer hotel holidays in La Gomera. For holidays at the Parador at San Sebastian or the Hotel Jardin Tecina at Playa de Santiago, try Prestige Holidays (01425 480400). Bonaventure (0181-780 1311) also handles Hotel Gran Rey.

Self-catering: Casas Canarias (0171-485 4387) is the main specialist for self-catering lettings in La Gomera (although you'll need to make your own travel arrangements). Travellers' Way (01527 836791) also offers attractive, independent accommodation, as well as hotels.