Santa Cruz de La Palma is one of the more attractive small capitals in the Canary Islands. The old town, tucked between the waterfront and steep hills, has a compact grid of 16th-century streets lined with Canarian timber-balconied houses — the characteristic wooden galleries painted in bright colours that distinguish the architecture of these islands from anything on the mainland.
The Avenida Marítima runs along the seafront and is the main focus of the paseo, the evening stroll. The old harbour area has some good bars and seafood restaurants. The Iglesia de El Salvador, built in the 16th century, is the main church and worth looking at for its Mudéjar ceiling. A replica of one of Columbus's ships, the Santa María, is now a small naval museum on the waterfront — an odd but pleasant attraction that acknowledges the island's role in the Age of Exploration, when Santa Cruz de La Palma was one of the most important ports in the Atlantic.