Activated carbons are widely used as supports for industrial catalysts based on metal nanoparticles. The catalytic performances of carbon-supported catalysts are strongly influenced by the carbon activation method. Notwithstanding this important role, the effect induced by different activation methods have been rarely invesigated in details. This work deals with two carbons of wood origin, activated either by steam or by phosphoric acid, and the corresponding catalysts based on supported Pd nanoparticles. We demonstrate that the catalysts perform in a different way in hydrogenation reactions depending to the nature of the carbon used as a support, being the palladium dispersion the same. We propose a multi-technique approach to fully characterize both carbons and catalysts at the micro- and at the nanoscale. In particular, we investigate how the activation procedure influences the texture (by N2 physisorption), the morphology (by Scanning Electron Microscopy), the structure (by Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Raman spectroscopy and X-Ray Diffraction) and the surface properties (by X-ray Photoelectron spectroscopy, Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy and Inelastic Neutron Scattering) of carbons and of the related catalysts. The comprehensive characterization approach proposed in this work allows to rationalize, at least in part, the role of activated carbons in enhancing the performances of a hydrogenation catalyst.