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I’m staring up at the sky at a blanket of stars and planets. Mars has just disappeared out of focus. Above, I can begin to make out Orion Nebula, a cloud of gas and dust where stars are born.

Admittedly, I’m quite the novice stargazer. The only constellations I tend to have any luck identifying in the UK — if I can get away from the light pollution and clouds — are Orion’s belt and the Plough. But here the sky sparkles. With this view I could easily be on the other side of the world in star-gazing hotspots such as Hawaii or Chile but I’m closer to home than that. La Palma, the north-westernmost Canary Island, just happens to be one of the best places in the world for stargazing — and it’s only a short flight from London.

La Palma is fertile and lush. Here waves thrash against black volcanic sand beaches, verdant ravines filled with banana plantations dot the landscape and laurel rainforests sit alongside sub-tropical, succulent-filled terraces, expansive carpets of pine trees and giant craters. Everything grows in abundance, too: heather takes the form of giant trees, avocados swell and droop in the sun and 80 types of potato thrive. Even the southernmost point of the island, pockmarked by volcanic basins and lava remnants, has salt pans and vineyards. It’s no wonder the entire island became a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 2002.

La Palma’s skies are every bit as pure — and protected — as the island’s terroir. Great efforts are made to keep light pollution low and preserve its dark skies; in 1988, a Sky Law was passed to safeguard the quality of the night sky against air and light pollution for the sake of astrophysical research. In 2012, La Palma became the world’s first Starlight Reserve — so planes now can’t fly at night over the island, while lights are typically orange, not white, to prevent glare. Most streetlights face downwards for similar reasons.

To really get an understanding of why the island’s skies are so strictly protected, you need to go up a series of winding, vertiginous roads to access the island’s highest point, the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (iac.es).

Sitting high above the clouds at 2,400 metres, this leading centre of astronomy, which opened in 1985, is home to some of Earth’s largest telescopes — including the world’s biggest optical one: The Gran Telescopio Canarias is an almighty dome comprising 36 hexagonal segments, with a diameter of 10.4 metres.

The observatory benefits come not only from the protected skies and minimal light pollution but also a clear and stable atmosphere ensured by its altitude.

At night, this otherworldly observatory is closed to the public while astrophysicists conduct all manner of research, from peeking into distant galaxies to observing planets outside our solar system. It’s certainly impressive work; the William Herschel telescope is so powerful that it could see a candle on the moon, our guide explains.

By day, the public can book morning visits to the observatory, weather permitting — the telescopes have to shut for fog, rain and wind, with the island typically experiencing these conditions 40 days out of the year. While we did encounter some rare cloud and rain on our trip, which meant one of our stargazing tours was cancelled — we’re dealing with mother nature here, after all — it didn’t hinder the experience of catching glimpses of a sky filled with more stars and planets than I could have possibly imagined.

Observatories aside, La Palma can be considered as one big viewing point. Away from moonlight, it’s possible to see up to a staggering 3,000 stars with the naked eye, and there are plenty of easily accessible places across the island to tune into this starry display.

Each of La Palma’s 14 municipalities has its own viewing point, complete with information boards and signs detailing constellations to look out for (plus indications of how many light years away they are, which is incredibly humbling).

Some of the observation sites are connected by the island’s 620-mile network of hiking trails, should you be feeling particularly active. There are also group or individual tours to book onto for expert guidance (cielos-lapalma.es).

Still relatively underdiscovered, La Palma is full of surprises. They include the compact but bustling capital Santa Cruz, packed with historic buildings and colonial architecture — look out for the brightly coloured, wooden-balconied homes along the seafront.

Looking up at the night sky, it’s easy to draw comparisons with Caliban’s moving speech in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which describes an island “full of noises … and a thousand twangling instruments”. In fact, the Bard’s favourite wine was said to be “malmsey”, the sweet, fortified wine also known as ​Malvasia, which hails from La Palma.

Just be careful how much of it you drink: George, Duke Of Clarence (also a character in Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 3 and Richard III), is reported to have died in a vat of the stuff.

Details: La Palma

easyJet (easyjet.com) flies directly to La Palma from London Gatwick from £69 return. H10 Taburiente Playa Hotel (h10hotels.com) offers seven nights from £480, B&B.

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