Isabella is without doubt one of the writers on the model new Canary Islands guidebook. Right here she helps you determine which of the island is true in your good vacation.
Spain’s far-flung Canary Islands are deservedly considered one of Europe’s hottest journey locations, however there’s far more to them than the well-known “winter-sun” tagline suggests.Eight splendidly assorted islands make up this entrancing volcanic archipelago off Morocco’s Atlantic coast, the place eerily stunning lava-sculpted landscapes sweep from black-sand seashores and glowing sea swimming pools to misty laurisilva (laurel forests), scented pine groves and curiously craggy peaks.
You could possibly go to yr after yr (like many vacationers do), exploring a unique island every time, and nonetheless be blown away by the Canary Islands each single journey.
First-timers are sometimes drawn to the bigger, better-known Canaries, significantly Tenerife and Gran Canaria, however every island has its personal character. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura on the east aspect really feel beachier, surfier and extra laid-back, whereas the three western islands – La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro – are a lot much less touristed than the remaining.
You don’t have to stay to only one island both, as wonderful flight and ferry hyperlinks make it straightforward to plan an extended island-hopping journey. Regardless of your journey model, right here’s a information to discovering the Canary Island that is finest for you.
1. Tenerife
Finest island for epic hikes, mountain surroundings and household journeys
The archipelago’s largest and most-visited island combines sun-baked golden seashores and a flourishing gastronomic scene with seemingly limitless actions, from cetacean-spotting in Europe’s first Whale Heritage Web site to next-level browsing, kitesurfing and mountaineering. Tenerife is a massively well-liked choose for holidaying households, however has sufficient selection to entertain a variety of holiday makers, particularly past the primary south coast seashore cities.
There’s the spectacular Parque Nacional del Teide, the place Spain’s tallest peak looms 3718m tall and strolling trails thread by a moon-like high-altitude valley. Catching a glimpse of El Teide – initially generally known as Echeyde by the island’s indigenous Guanche communities – right here is definitely one of many Canaries’ wow moments. Extra thrilling hikes await within the biodiverse Anaga mountains, the place laurel forests carpet the northern landscapes, or throughout the wild, secluded Parque Rural de Teno within the northwest.
Tenerife’s culture-packed capital Santa Cruz is an enticingly laid-back metropolis dotted with subtropical gardens, inventive galleries and daring avenue artwork, and likewise hosts Spain’s most fantastic Carnaval every winter. The less-developed north coast, in the meantime, has a wealth of pure sea swimming pools, sloping volcanic vineyards, natural banana farms and historic villages like Garachico to discover.
Planning tip: In case you’re planning to hike to the highest of El Teide, you’ll must guide a free allow as far forward as potential.
2. Gran Canaria
Finest island for coasts, tradition and metropolis buzz
Essentially the most populous of the eight islands, Gran Canaria is finest identified for its energetic southern seashore resorts, particularly sun-dappled Maspalomas, which is a hub of Europe’s LGBTIQ+ scene and has a much-loved stretch of gold-tinged dunes. The island famously has its personal microclimate, which varies from one pocket to the following.
There’s heaps extra to find right here past the seashores and events although, beginning with the soulful island capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain’s ninth-largest metropolis and residential to one of many world’s nice winter carnivals. With its architecture-loaded previous city of Vegueta, lagoon-like Playa de las Canteras and unmatched city meals scene, it makes a rewarding metropolis break if you happen to solely have a couple of days.
Elsewhere throughout the island, swirls of mist-cloaked mountains give method to desert-like fields and plush laurel and pine forests, whereas intriguing pre-Spanish-conquest websites like Gáldar’s Cueva Pintada inform the story of Gran Canaria’s indigenous communities. Discover additional on a twists-and-turns street journey by the island’s high-altitude middle, whose drama peaks on the astonishing Roque Nublo and Roque Bentayga monoliths. Then drop into elevated villages like Artenara and Tejeda, and top off on creamy queso de flor (flower of cheese) and different native goodies at one of many buzzy farmers’ markets.
3. Lanzarote
Finest island for artwork, seashores and wineries
With brooding volcanic cones, glinting black-pebble seashores and the odd palm-spangled valley, Lanzarote seems like an enormous color-shifting pure canvas. So it is sensible that the easternmost of the Canaries captured the center of the domestically born Twentieth-century artist and environmental campaigner César Manrique, whose impossible-to-miss affect and works await all around the island – from the whitewashed, sky-blue-windowed houses of coastal villages to the inimitable lava-field home on the Fundación César Manrique.
Lately Lanzarote has grown right into a tempting vacation spot for artwork, design and structure lovers, nevertheless it’s additionally filled with outside enjoyable and has a blossoming, local-rooted meals scene. You may’t miss the sprawling volcanic expanses of the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, which performed a key function in creating Lanzarote’s revered wine area, La Geria, the place vines develop in mineral-rich volcanic-ash sands.
The seashores right here rank among the many Canary Islands’ loveliest, too, significantly round southern Lanzarote’s Papagayo nature reserve and wild Famara, which is considered one of Europe’s high surf spots.
Planning tip: Lanzarote, particularly the north, has a number of the most magical lodging within the Canaries, together with restored mansions like Lodge Palacio Ico and design-forward havens like Alava Suites.
4. La Palma
Finest island for nature, stargazing and offbeat mountaineering
It’s unattainable to not fall for gorgeously inexperienced La Palma. Deservedly nicknamed “La Isla Bonita”, the complete island is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with steep rainforested hills and round 850km of mountaineering routes. Journey sports activities abound, from kayaking to kitesurfing, and the beautiful capital Santa Cruz de la Palma is full of elaborate Sixteenth-century mansions.
La Palma’s most thrilling strolling routes revolve across the unmissable 50-sq-km Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente, the place a miles-wide despair was created by a volcano collapsing in on itself. And following the 2021 eruption of the Tajogaite volcano within the south of the island, native companies have now bounced again, providing new volcano-viewing experiences on this devastated space.
La Palma additionally occurs to be one of many globe’s prime places for stargazing, and was named the world’s first Starlight Reserve again in 2012. Visiting the famend Roque de los Muchachos observatory and considering the darkish, clear skies on a guided stargazing expertise with native specialists (reminiscent of Astro La Palma) is a Canaries-wide spotlight.
Planning tip: It’s finest to consider some flexibility for stargazing experiences, as climate adjustments may cause last-minute rearrangements.
5. Fuerteventura
Finest island for seashores and water sports activities
A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2009, the second-largest Canary (after Tenerife) lures guests with its dazzling seashores, year-round sunny local weather and uncooked lunar-like magnificence. Wind-lashed and evocatively arid, Fuerteventura has the archipelago’s dreamiest sands: from the honey-gold dunes of the protected Parque Pure de Corralejo within the north, to the secluded, undeveloped expanses of Playa de Cofete on the island’s southern tip (catch it at sundown and also you’ll see).
The island rivals Lanzarote’s Famara because the Canaries’ high browsing vacation spot, with a laid-back wave-riding scene – for every kind of ranges – centered on the previous northern fishing villages of El Cotillo (with surf-whipped sands under cliffs) and Corralejo (extra resort-like). You can too go crusing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, paddle boarding and diving, or enterprise out on under-the-radar hikes, together with across the Isla de Lobos nature reserve off Corralejo.
Native tip: Don’t miss Fuerteventura’s greener inside, dwelling to the previous capital Betancuria and a number of the finest eating places on the island.
6. El Hierro
Finest island for diving, strolling and getting away from all of it
Anybody who makes it to the Canaries’ small westernmost island rapidly realizes they’re onto one thing particular. Ringed by impenetrable volcanic cliffs, El Hierro has been a UNESCO Geopark since 2014 and feels far more off the overwhelmed observe than the remainder of the archipelago, although it’s solely a 40-minute flight (or 2.5-hour ferry) from Tenerife. That is largely right down to its sturdy, ongoing efforts to restrict tourism growth and develop into the world’s first energy-self-sufficient island.
The previous couple of years have seen El Hierro gently emerge on the journey map for Spanish guests, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a spot for distant journey, native legends and conventional Canarian delicacies. A large number of quiet mountaineering paths culminates within the 27km-long Camino de la Virgen, which weaves throughout the complete island following the path of the four-yearly Bajada de la Virgen procession.
The jagged coast, in the meantime, is sprinkled with bewitching pure sea swimming pools, reminiscent of La Maceta in La Frontera. And the glassy Atlantic waters off El Hierro’s southern shoreline have arguably one of the best diving within the Canaries, with the Mar de las Calmas marine reserve now slated to develop into Spain’s latest nationwide park.
Planning tip: The most effective months for mountaineering in El Hierro are March to Could (for flower-filled landscapes) and September/October (normally good climate).
7. La Gomera
Finest island for quiet hikes and inexperienced havens
Lushly forested hillsides, dramatic volcanic valleys and a string of pastel-painted villages make bohemian La Gomera a hiker’s dream. Regardless of its location simply off southwest Tenerife, the island has, to date, stored large-scale tourism at bay, with most lodging in small rural resorts, refurbished farmhouses or self-catering flats.
The 40-sq-km Parque Nacional de Garajonay on the coronary heart of La Gomera bursts with trails monitoring by misty ancestral laurisilva forest, whereas elsewhere rewarding paths cling to sheer valley partitions or meander alongside the blackened volcanic shoreline. Once you’re all hiked out, stroll across the colourful coastal capital San Sebastián de la Gomera and chill out on its pretty shaded plazas, maybe over basic specialities like potaje de berros (watercress stew), papas arrugadas (wrinkly potatoes) and recent goat’s cheese. There’s additionally a mellow seashore scene, largely round Valle Gran Rey and Playa Santiago on the south coast.
Planning tip: La Gomera has a wealthy heritage of native crafts; Gomera Corazón Verde affords workshops on making mojo sauces, weaving palm-leaf baskets and extra.
8. Isla Graciosa
Finest island for off-the-beaten-track seashores
Named the official eighth Canary Island in 2018, serene La Graciosa is only a half-hour ferry trip north of Lanzarote, however feels blissfully distant. On this small, low-lying island, wild golden-white seashores wrap round scorched volcanic cones, and the one method to discover is on foot, by bicycle or by jeep tour. It’s all a part of the otherwise-off-limits Chinijo archipelago, a protected parque pure the place you would possibly spot dolphins, turtles and a wealthy number of birds. Hike or bike over to remoted Playa de las Conchas or Playa Francesa overlooking Lanzarote’s cliffs, earlier than enjoyable at one of many easygoing seafood eating places within the tiny sand-dusted “capital” Caleta de Sebo.
Planning tip: Most guests discover La Graciosa on day journeys from Lanzarote, however staying an evening (or a couple of) is an ideal offbeat escape. From Órzola in northern Lanzarote, ferries run each half hour to Caleta de Sebo (and again) with Líneas Romero or Biosfera Categorical.
