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Garachico's few landmarks aren't exciting sights, though the walk around its small centre is well worth it for a closer look at old fishermen's houses as well as ostentatious town houses with ornate and typically Canarian balconies.

One of the town's oldest and most striking buildings is the stocky little harbour-side fort Castillo de San Miguel . Built in the sixteenth century to protect Garachico from pirates, the fort was one of the few buildings to survive the 1706 eruption and is now home to a vaguely diverting rock and fossil collection (daily 10am-6pm; ¬0.60). More engaging are the views from the castle ramparts across the village and out to the Roque de Garachico, a lone rock monolith in the bay.

One of Garachico's unique attractions is a series of rock pools behind the Castillo de San Miguel. The lava here is part of that which closed off the harbour and ruined the town in 1706, but locals have made the best of it by creating paved walkways between the natural bathing pools. Formed as lava cooled on contact with the sea, these are fed and cleaned by the tidal action - making bathing possible only at low tide during calm seas.

Parallel to the main coastal road is the inland Calle Esteban Ponte. This narrow road separates out rows of elegant and mostly wooden town houses and runs to Plaza de Juan Gonzalez de la Torre , which includes a small park whose centrepiece is the Puerta de Tiera , a one-time gate to the town's harbour. There's also an old wooden winepress on display in the park.

To the west of the plaza and park are several narrow streets lined with traditional fishermen's cottages, while to the east is the town's main square, Plaza de la Libertand . The centrepiece of this square is a statue of Simon Bolivar, the nineteenth-century South American freedom fighter. His tenuous connection to Garachico was his grandmother, who emigrated from here after the 1706 disaster.

On the western side of the plaza stands the grand Iglesia Santa Ana , the town's main church, destroyed and rebuilt after the tragedies of 1706, with a fine wood ceiling. On the opposite side of the square, the Convento de San Francisco (Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm; ¬0.60) houses the town's small and ramshackle museum. Its collections include a number of shells, stuffed birds, and an exhibit of locks and keys through the ages. More interesting is the scant information on Garachico's history, particularly its role as a major port. Most rewarding of all, however, is the wander around the extraordinarily pretty old wood balconies and atriums of these former convent buildings.

Finally, fans of the elegant and accomplished woodwork on balconies around Garachico might like to visit a small museum at the western end of the seafront, the Museo Capinteria Antigua at Avda República de Venezuela 17 (daily 9am-7pm; ¬1.50). Old artisans' tools have been beautifully displayed here alongside photos of their craft around town.