The GR131 is a long-distance trekking route that crosses all seven of the Canary Islands. On all the islands except Tenerife it offers coast-to-coast traverses, generally favouring the high mountains. The trail includes national parks and other important protected areas, and a variety of landscapes that include sandy deserts, rugged lava flows, awesome mountains, pine forests and intriguing laurisilva cloud forests. Towns and villages feature at intervals, but there is a need to plan ahead wherever services and facilities are sparse.

The trail starts with an easy five-day traverse of Lanzarote, generally following quiet roads and dirt tracks, with only a few rugged paths. After a ferry to Fuerteventura and a brief visit to the Islote de Lobos, the trail encounters higher hills, more remote terrain and a few more rugged paths. After another ferry to Gran Canaria, it is important to note that the GR131 hasn't yet been completed, so the guidebook offers a splendid, high-level coast-to-coast route, passing though mountainous terrain and extensive pine forests.

The trail through Tenerife starts high and passes through an extensive area of forest, eventually reaching an impressive national park. There is an option to climb El Teide, the highest mountain on Spanish territory, otherwise the GR131 takes a rather gentler route, though it still includes some rugged mountain terrain. After a long descent and a bus ride to a ferryport, it is important to look carefully at timetables in order to continue across the last three small islands.

La Gomera is small and it can be crossed in one or two days. There are some steep and rugged slopes, but also some gentle walking through high-level 'cloud forest'. After taking a ferry to La Palma, trekkers need to be pretty self-sufficient as the trail takes an arduous high-level route along the crest of the island, where facilities are notably absent. Getting ferry connections between La Palma and El Hierro involves returning to Tenerife, otherwise flights can be taken which reduce the time spent travelling. Two days is all that's needed to cross El Hierro, and the GR131 ends at a point that was once considered to be the end of the world!

GPX tracks are available for this route. They can be downloaded from the Cicerone website.