Hidden Gem of the Canaries

A wonderful holiday! La Gomera is indeed a hidden gem. The trails were full of interest and quite challenging but there was a good mix of soft options for 'rest' days. As older walkers, aged 67 and 70, we were really chuffed that we could do the tougher walks. It was a total treat to arrive at the Parador at the end. The whole experience was great fun and we would happily try another Inntravel holiday in future.

HIGHLIGHTS: The views from high points - spectacular; the mist pouring over the ridges - magical; and the pulpo [octopus] at El Carraca - fantastic. 

'Hidden Gem of the Canaries' walking holiday lives up to its name and is worth the extra travelling to find such an unspoilt island. The 'old world' charm of villages and towns is matched with varied landscapes and wonderful high level views with the sea never far away. A contrast to the commercialisation and bustle of Tenerife in particular: you get much more of an idea of traditional Canarian life. 

This was a challenging and rewarding walking holiday with fantastic scenery around every corner. It also provided a fascinating insight into a fast disappearing way of life on a remote island.

Charming accomodations in Vallehermoso and Agulo with very welcoming hosts. Excellent walks with very varied scenery from the green and sometimes cloudy north to the red-sanded and more sunny south. We especially enjoyed the walk through Barranco de Erques with its magnificent views. We recommend that you try Restaurant La Vieja Escuela in Agulo, a small and cozy place with excellent service and delicious fresh fish. We also recommend Tasca la Restaurante El Carraca in Vallehermoso - great atmosphere and delicious typical spanish food. A very enjoyable walking holiday.

The walks around San Sebastian were our least favoured but only because it's much drier there compared to the other areas we stayed in. They were still very good though. The walks around Valle Hermosa were the most demanding physically but well within our capability. The countryside here is astonishingly beautiful and it's fantastic to have a well researched opportunity to undertake the varied walking routes. Everything worked like clockwork organisationally.

We all throughly enjoyed our holiday with good food at excellent restaurants. Everyone very friendly. Organisation was excellent and would recommend Inntravel, but this trip is perhaps more challenging than it looks.

La Gomera was a lovely island and a pleasure to walk around but our personal highlight was reaching the summits of El Teide and Pico Viejo and walking in the national park. Some parts of the National Park in Tenerife are off limits due to animal culls on certain days so plan your walking in advance with this in mind.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Hidden Gem of the Canaries holiday on La Gomera with our To the Teide extension on Tenerife.

Overall the trip was fantastic, we both really enjoyed the whole experience. We are both in our sixties but relatively fit, however we found some of the walks both physically and mentally challenging but gave a great sense of achivement and most of all great fun. We will definitely go back again to this awesome place.

PLEASE NOTE that if you are walking to AGULO on SATURDAY that you will need to pick up your supplies FOR THE WHOLE DAY INCLUDING THE EVENING beforehand at Vallehermoso.

1. THE SUPERMARKET IN AGULO CLOSES AT 1.30 pm on Sunday

2. THERE ARE NO RESTAURANTS OPEN ON SUNDAY EVENING IN AGULO (despite what is implied in the notes and on the internet) La Molina and all others including ones not mentioned in your notes were closed - this was also attested to by 3 sets of locals whom we asked. The only bar that was open (El Mio) was appalling and only served a toasted sandwich and we wouldn't go there becasue the hygiene looked appalling. There were several other sets of tourists in the same predicament.

Apparently La Molina is in the habit of shutting at a whim anyway. We cannot be expected to fork out on additional taxi fares to Hermigua where it was not clear anyway that anything was open on that Sunday. This needs to be critically addressed.

La Gomera is a wonderful Inntravel destination - rural, mostly undeveloped but with excellent paths and epic views. The walking is definitely not a stroll, with plenty of ravines and one day dropping 5700 feet, you definitely need poles for that. The only change I would suggest is for Day 3, if you wish to shorten it from 19kms, rather than missing out on the villages earlier on the walk, arrange for a taxi to come and pick you up just after the recommended picnic spot in the woods, at the bus stop on the road before the long, long descent.

A great trip!  Thnaks Inntravel, you did it again.  The walking on La Gomera was quite challenging, in part due to the many ascents, but more due to the uneven footing and terrain. Having said that we had a blast and would recommend this trip to anyone.

A fantastic holiday. Clearly a lot of work went into the planning of this trip - the notes/maps & information provided were excellent. The travel arrangements/transfers were seamless, and the friendliness of staff and choice of hotels was perfect. I will definitely use Inntravel again

We very much enjoyed our eight days on La Gomera and found the arrangements made by Inntravel to be precisely what we expected. The accommodations were clean and neat, and improved at each stop. The walks were beautiful, and we very much enjoyed the landscapes, small towns, and diversity of plant life. We found the La Gomera landscape to be very challenging - incredibly steep and difficult at times. While we regularly walk, we were not ready for the difficulty of the long hikes, which often took us almost double the suggested time. Much of this was due to the descents that were on uneven, rocky, and often slippery (we had a good deal of rain in March) terrain, where we needed to carefully pick each and every step so as not to fall. If you're used to hiking in the mountains, this may not be an issue, but for us, the days were often too much, and on several days we hired a taxi to shorten the route either at the beginning or the end of the hike.  

Just a great holiday - great walking, accommodation, food and scenery.

We have visited La Gomera at least a dozen times on our own but found tis holiday the perfect way to get to know more about the island it's customs and the food and meet delightful, caring people - thank you Inntravel!

We very much enjoyed our holiday and it definitely lived up to expectations. Everything went smoothly, and it was lovely to have all the arrangements made for us, and a choice of walks some days. 

This holiday was a fascinating delight. The walks were demanding and rewarding. Each day we saw something new: different landscapes, beautiful vegetation and geology. Each hotel was welcoming and good. We have been interested in visiting La Gomera for some time and we were not disappointed. The mixture of mountains and coast, alongside the unspoilt and undeveloped nature of the island made it a perfect destination for us. Arriving and leaving by ferry was especially enjoyable.

A great 10 days walking on La Gomera and in Teide national park. 

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Hidden Gem of the Canaries holiday on La Gomera with our To the Teide extension on Tenerife.

Really enjoyed the entire trip. Perhaps we were "lucky" with the weather. Sunshine makes all the difference!

We were so impressed with every aspect of our Inntravel holiday. We loved La Gomera, as tourism hasn't really arrived here and this added greatly to its charm and attraction. It would have been difficult to better this holiday. I would certainly recommend your company to my friends and family, and would love to go on another Inntravel holiday.

We loved the walking around Vallhermoso, the changing vegetation was a constant joy. Agulo is magical - we loved the village and could happily have spent more time there. Although we coped with the ever ascending slopes it might be an idea to highlight the steepness of the ascents and descents more. We found we enjoyed the linear walks most and the ones where you retrace your route least - that could of course be us! Had it been any hotter we would have wished to start walking earlier in the day - might it be possible for walkers to have a larger food pack and skip breakfast?? Throughout we felt that the arrangements were excellent and would be very happy to book with Inntravel again.

I really loved La Gomera. I was much less impressed with Teide. I wanted a 9 or 10 day holiday, but would have preferred to stay on La Gomera for the whole period and seen the rest of the island than going to Tenerife. Just too busy and impersonal in Tenerife. The accommodation on La Gomera was very good and the island very beautiful.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer combined our walk Hidden Gem of the Canaries with our Tenerife add-on at Parador las Cañadas del Teide

We picked a particularly wet and stormy week, but this didn’t stop us enjoying the walks every day... this time of year bring very good wet weather jacket and over-trousers. Lightweight walking poles a good idea for the long ascents and descents. Worthwhile getting hold of a better quality and larger scale detailed map. Rough drawings of routes in notes folder would be a nice addition. Route Agulo Circuit on Day 4 - La Caleta beach restaurant not open this time of year, and the “there and back“ route repeats a major part of the route on return. An alternative choice of routes would be welcome, or a continuation to another accommodation.

An excellent holiday that we really enjoyed. Although it is a small island the landscape is in fact very varied with the centre of the island green and lush while the coasts are much drier and almost desert like in places. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming and the food/cooking was excellent - we particularly enjoyed the meals in the local bars/restaurants in Vallehermoso, Agulo and San Sebastian. The paths are well-signposted and well-maintained however the walking is hard and although the routes are not that long according to distance, it is often slow going because care needs to be taken on the very uneven surfaces - this applies in particular when descending in wet conditions, as we found many of the rocks to be slippy. Walking poles are helpful.

A great holiday on an island which felt a million miles away from tourist spots on Tenerife. Great walking routes with a fulfilling amount of challenge and variety and interesting accommodation in the heart of villages.

Absolutely stunning landscape. A sea of wild flowers and exotic vegetation - and the occasional inquisitive goat.  Beautifully peaceful - we bumped into only 10 walkers during the whole week.  A truly beautiful island.

This was truly a hidden gem, a faraway escape from the tourist side of the Canary Islands. The people were so friendly and the walks were well way-marked. The scenery changed around every corner from cactus', to forests, beaches, banana trees and rocky outcrops. In April, we were unlucky with the weather/views for the majority of the walking days, but this kept us cool for the long walks. Our last few sunny days in the Parador were heavenly. All the transfers works perfectly and the optional walk through the National Park is recommended.

Despite advising I was gluten free and checking all the hotels had this info I was told by the first hotel that after the first breakfast they had no more gluten free products and couldn’t get any .... as none of the 3 supermarkets had them!!! I was given half packet of rice crackers for the other breakfasts and had no bread on the packed lunch. Given the walking was quite challenging I needed more carbs!!! This hotel also stank of sewage, inside the building, a large proportion of time and nothing was done about it. Most if the time there is no one at reception. In my opinion Inntravel should not continue to use the Tamahuche hotel .... the experience was a disappointing 3 nights of a 7 night holiday. 

The walking is challenging and we loved it .... but it is steep and high so not a stroll!! Big winds all week meant we needed all the kit for warmth and wet! 

The parador is beautiful and the food and service lovely. 

We had the most fantastic holiday. Everything went according to plan and the organisation by Inntravel was faultless. La Gomera is a gorgeous island with very friendly people. The scenary was spectacular with varied walks each day. Good challenging hiking but with plenty of time at the end of the day for rest and relaxation. Would thoroughly recommend Inntravel and La Gomera as a holiday destination for walkers. 

The barrancos are very steep and a decent level of fitness is required to complete the walks comfortably and enjoy the stunning views.

The food at the first hotel was of the highest quality and the breakfasts and packed lunch were excellent at the second hotel.

La Gomera, in late-February, was delightful, ignoring a day of torrential rain (the weather in early 2018 was bad everywhere). Warm, good walking weather. Having done both El Hierro and La Gomera as early walks to get the system going for the year ahead, they are each excellent early season ventures. One or two of the walks on each can be quite, but enjoyably, stretching (but then I am in my 70s); the views are terrific, the climbs and descents puffingly enjoyable and one only needs to add perhaps half an hour to the longest walks to have comfortable timing. Excellent start to the year. Good hotels, Parador excellent. Inntravel standard throughout.  

The island is spectacular and we enjoyed an amazing holiday courtesy of the excellent organisation of InnTravel. In fact we enjoyed it so much that we are already in the process of booking our next trip with InnTravel within a week of our return.

This holiday is definitely not suitable for anyone with vertigo or a fear of heights, but is stunning !!

Regardless of what the weather says take wet weather gear as this can change in minutes !!

Inntravel ensured that our brief (5 nights) winter escape was full of interest and variety with great walking and good accommodation on an unspoilt gem of an island.

An amazing place for walking but you do need to be very fit and used to climbing in hilly country.

Fantastic but challenging walking with stupendous views. A lot of the paths are rugged and exposed so a good head for heights and surefootedness required. 

Definitely considered one of our best family holidays. The walking was perfect for us all although my husband had a bad back and did not do all of them. Although I was a little critical of the hotels they were all charming and did not pretend to be any more luxurious than they were. 

We enjoyed walking independently and it was great to arrive at the next accommodation and discover that our bags were already there! We also enjoyed meeting other Inntravellers staying at various hotels throughout our holiday.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined the walks Hidden Gem of the Canaries and Canyons, Caves & Coast of Gran Canaria

This was overall a truly enjoyable holiday. It's an amazingly beautful place, the walks are varied with spectactular views. If you enjoy days out in the hills here in the UK, if you like peace and quiet to enjoy nature, you will love the experience. Be prepared for some challenging walks, but be reassured that there are always options since you're never far from roads and taxis are easy to arrange. The first hotel we stayed at in Villehermosa (Hotel Rural Tamahuche) is a really nice building but don't expect a warm welcome and if you get one it'll be a bonus. Hopefully Inntravel will find a better option. Even though you'll get a meal included, don't bother - you'll get better, have more fun and pay relatively little at one of the excellent tapas bars nearby. But our stay with the Fawlties did give us some laughs, I guess, although not at the time. The other places are totally wonderful, with warm friendly hosts. The Parador is very luxurious and the food is excellent with attentive professional waiters. But the place in Hermigua wins for the sheer joy of being with people for whom nothing is too much trouble and is run by one of the funniest, jolliest chef/owners I've ever met. 

Excellent walking. Well-organised. The holiday delivered all that was expected. A really great holiday.

A simply stunning, superb hiking holiday. Thoroughly recommended! Challenging, but incredibly rewarding if prepared, which we were. This is no stroll. The highlights were probably on days 2 (circuit around Vallehermoso) and 3 (Vallhermoso to Hermigua), although each day was so enjoyable. We were blessed with glorious weather (over Christmas), and to walk high above the coast and to look across the sea was incredbly therapeutic. The views were wonderful, the hoteliers so warm, welcoming and friendly, the accommodation first class, and included food very generous. It was also good to try out the very local little restaurants in the towns. We had an extra day at the Parador at San Sebastian, so were able to have a rest day between 5 days of continuous hiking, and the last, not so strenouous 6th walk. Well worth it! Do take the time to walk to the Mirador de Abrante (day 3) the views are stunning - especially down to the village of Agulo - which, quite amazingly (or bonkers, depending on your view!) you end up walking down to. We took elasticated knee braces, which we didn't use, but we did end up with a few bruised toe nails between us due to the steep descents. Tape for the tops of toes might be useful. I can't imagine doing the walk in walking sandals as a previous customer suggested - not enough ankle support for uneven surfaces. We have been walking with Inntravel for the past 20 years, and this walk (hike!) has to be one of the best!  Many thanks to Inntravel for all of its support and organisation. And congratulations and thanks to its Canarian partners!

Magnificent views throughout on testing walks that showed the variety of La Gomera’s landscape. 

Hotel Tamahuche and Hotel Rural Casa de los Herrera are both wonderful choices, for their friendly service and the quality of the rooms and public spaces. We would not fault them. On our second walking day, we chose Option 4 - Igualero to Vallehermoso and, although it is long it is full of interest as it passes through extremely varied and beautiful landscape. I would recommend it. Overall, I would rate this as the best Inntravel holiday we have sampled to date. Walking on La Gomera in early December is probably the closest one will come to Paradise for those of us who dwell in the chilly north of the UK!

A very interesting holiday and pleasantly warm and sunny (around 22C) in late November. Parts of La Gomera are run down and scruffy but the wild and beautiful mountain landscape makes up for that. The people were really friendly. Our highlights were the walking, the lovely welcome at the Hotel Rural Herrera in Hermigua (Jordi was in charge, a lovely man), the restaurant Tasca Telémaco across the road from that hotel (we went twice) and the unexpectedly exhilarating landscape of mountainous Tenerife (the very short 1.5hr walk you recommend from the parador is truly stunning).

La Gomera is a delight: the hotels and food good, the people were friendly and happy to chat briefly in my bad Spanish. I loved it and am thinking of returning to do other parts of the island. The walking is a pleasure but tough in parts - don't take it too casually. I was glad of my heavier boots and thick socks for the rough paths and a pole for the tricky descents.  Being somewhat out of season, I had a couple of walks almost to myself in the peaceful barrancos - a real zen/meditation period of almost total silence. There are places where experience on mountains helps - tracks can merge with naked rock in places - I always carry map/compass etc and was occasionally glad of a cross-check.

The weather was forecasting 22-23degC so I took my British summer gear and did not take shorts - error - the humidity (and long ascents!) meant it felt like 26-27. Other people had reported being cold so I took some warmer gear too (unused) I think one needs to treat late/early season walks here as having every possibility!

We loved the terrain and varied vegetation. The steep, steep ascents and descents were challenging but gave us wonderful views of the sea and Tenerife in the distance. We ate wonderful paella at La Tasca in Vallehermoso, delicious chicken at the Tamahuche, great local rabbit at Tasca Telemac in Hermigua but the star was the wonderful fresh fish at El Faro Hermigua. Definitely worth the gentle walk to and from the restaurant but you must book. After all this great food, we were so disappointed by the food at the Parador. But the local wines were good and very refreshing. The red served chilled went well with fish. A great 'full-on' walking holiday.

This was a challenging but really enjoyable walking holiday with stunning walks every day and great accommodation with friendly people and delicious food.

Overall this was a great holiday. La Gomera is largely unspoilt and on several of our walks we hardly saw a soul - in the 11km from Las Casetas to San Sebastian we did not see another walker. The terrain is rugged and the ascents and descents challenging, but provides a great feeling of achievement at the end of the day. The accommodation and food was much to our liking. Sold but repeatable!

We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks in the Canaries. In Tenerife we really liked the two hotels and the areas nearby.

The highlight was La Gomera - a lovely island, which is quite unspoilt and doesn't feel very touristy. The walks were challenging but well worth it because the views and scenery were outstanding.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Timeless Tenerife walking holiday followed by our Hidden Gem of the Canaries holiday on La Gomera.

La Gomera is an unspoilt island and a delight for walkers. The routes are challenging (but not uncomfortably so) and they are well marked and easy to follow. We really enjoyed the mix of terrain and the chance to see the mark that has been left on the landscape by generations of farmers gone by.  This is our second holiday with Inntravel and like the first, all the arrangements were thoughtfully considered and went very smoothly without us feeling like we were being too 'organised'. We are already planning our next trip! 

For us, the best walk was the one from Vallehermoso to Hermigua and the best hotel was the Casa Los Herrera in Hermigua. The walk had a good variety of views over different terrain. The hotel was simply lovely and the hosts were so friendly.  he honesty bar is a nice touch and being able to sit by the pool looking over the roof-tops with a cold beer was a great way to spend the hour or so before dinner relaxing after our walk to the hotel.

We did do the walk from Igualero back to Vallehermoso (option 4, I think) but unfortunately the weather wasn't kind to us that day and all the spectacular views we read about in your notes were hidden behind a wall of cloud. We did get a very good lunch at Casa Efigenia though and the bits of the walk through the forest were lovely.

La Gomera has the most amazing scenery, topography, rock formation and colours and vegetation we have ever seen. It was as if we were walking through botanical gardens from countries all over the world, all on one island. Well worth the challenge. The holiday was brilliantly organised to the last minute by Inntravel. 

This was our second Inntravel holiday and it was absolutely wonderful. La Gomera is stunning and a walkers paradise. There is a network of mainly clearly defined and well maintained paths. Having said that the walks were definitely challenging with some steep climbs and descents. As others have mentioned, the walk from Igualero to Vallehermoso is spectacular, but the descent is steep and relentless. Even though we both have well worn in boots we both suffered from bruised toes. However, We would not have missed that walk. We did not have any rain so after the first walk I opted to wear my walking shoes which I prefered to boots. All the hotels are lovely. Maria, at Hotel Tamahuche is so friendly and welcoming and cooked us a fantastic meal on the day we arrived. The Parador is a special hotel as well. It has a colonial feel and we just felt really comfortable and relaxed there. I'm glad we booked an extra two nights to have longer to relax.

I would say that if walking is your thing La Gomera is the place to go. We shall definitely be returning to the island. There are not many places where you can walk for hours and hardly see another person.

As tips I would say:

1. To check the laces on your boots will stand up to the downhills - I found my feet slipping forward no matter how tightly I laced the boots.  Be aware of the long consistent slope of path going down to Agulo.

2. Consider to go off piste and do your own thing, depending on the weather and how tired you are.

3. Learn some basic Spanish before you go - very few people speak any English but they are very friendly - it would be nice to be able to chat more with them.

Highlights:

Me - the countryside and views around Vallehermoso

Husband - the tranquil gardens, inner garden courtyard and pool at the La Gomera Parador (although I loved that too).

Highlights: Restful patio area at Tamahuche Hotel. Camaraderie with other travellers, not only from Inntravel but those from other countries too.

Do not expect beach cafes to be open until May.

Wonderful views on a variety of walks.

This was a wonderful holiday in a beautiful if challenging landscape. The accommodation and support provided were excellent. We would particularly recommend anyone contemplating taking this holiday to go in early April if possible, the weather was ideal and the wild flowers, appearing in the spring warmth and before it gets too dry, were stunning. During all of our walks we were accompanied by a chorus of small birds which had been noticeably abscent on previous visits to Tenerife.

La Gomera is a fantastic island for walking. We enjoyed all the walks, especially the Vallehermoso to Hermigua day. The views were amazing and incredibly varied. We had been slightly worried we might find the walks too challenging, but in fact enjoyed them very much, although the uphill stretches took us longer than the walking notes suggested. We enjoyed walk option 1 on our first day, and then had an easier day on the shorter option 3 walk before the long linear walk. We also spent a lovely day exploring Hermigua and enjoying the hotel pool/terrace, rather than going on the suggested walk. This made the holiday a nice mix of walking and relaxing. There was only one restaurant open in Vallehermoso (El Carraca), but thankfully it was very good, as were Tasca Telemaco and El Faro in Hermigua. 

This was our third InnTravel holiday and after a cold and wet start turned out to be just as good as the others.  Interesting and challenging walks in varied and beautiful scenery.  La Gomera is very unspoilt and the food and wine were excellent. An added bonus was the good company of our fellow travellers whom we met each evening. I would definitely recommend this holiday but would suggest you try and avoid a 5 hour wait for the ferry in Tenerife.

Delicious lunch at El Faro in Hermigua and great fillet steak at Tasca Telemaco in Hermigua.

Excellent fresh sardines at a small cafe on the front in San Sebastian.

We loved the varied landscape and amazing views. The laurisilva forest scenery and plants were especially interesting and atmospheric (Vallehermoso option 4).

Your notes suggest a taking light waterproof. We had 2 days (the first 2) on which rain and strong winds meant that we were very glad we had brought gore-tex jackets, waterproof trousers and gloves! It seems from what I've since read that rain and mist/ low cloud are quite usual in the north of the island.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week walking on La Gomera. This is a small island but it offers a range of stunning and varied scenery and walking that's nicely challenging through some beautiful areas. We got stunning views out to the wide Atlantic and toward Tenerife and El Teide and the lovely landscapes of this wonderful island. All the arrangements and walking notes were perfect and we loved the three hotels. Each was very different but all 3 so friendly, comfortable and welcoming. We found everyone we met very friendly and we loved the relaxed and low key ambience of La Gomera enchanting. We have walked now on three of the Canary Islands and continue to be amazed by the sheer variety and difference both on the individual islands, as well as between them. We are planning our next one already! 

Spectacular scenery. Wonderful walks on a beautiful quiet island away from the normal tourist crowds. Loved the local restaurants El Carraca and Telemaco. Pleased we extended our holiday by spending 2 additional nights at the Parador as this was a welcome treat after all the walking. Will certainly be using Inntravel again in the near future...just so many choices!

Walking in the mountains was excellent. The hotel at Hermigua was superb and the huge picnic lunch provided was enough for two days.

We loved the walks through the forests, especially when we went from the dry forest to the cloud forest (amazing difference!) on the long walk. We were really glad of an extra day at Vallehermoso to recover from that long walk! - and it gave us time to explore the town and the beach. We liked the geology, all those dykes, volcanic plugs, basalt columns and the impressive erosional features on the ridge walk to San Sebastian (though the scenery is probably not everyone's cup of tea).

Take some tea bags!

An excellent holiday which I would highly recommend. The only downer was the last line of the route to Hermigua which clearly states 1.7km road walk to finish. We should have been wise to this but the SPs Seem to measure to the beach and lulled us into a false sense of achievement.

This is our second trip with Inntravel and will not be our last. Thank you.

Excellent holiday, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the beautiful island of La Gomera on foot and look forward to going back to do some more exploring!

On both La Gomera and El Hierro the walking is really excellent, and both are extremely interesting islands: not perhaps conventional winter sun (you spend a fair bit of time in cloud!) but really fascinating and enjoyable. 

The real highlight was the morning at the Parador Nacional del Teide. The scenery was breathtaking.

Perhaps it is worth stressing the length and steepness of some of the gradients. Despite undertaking what I believed was 'reasonable' preparation I fell way behind on the timings of several of the uphill sections.