Spain: Canary Islands: Overview

Why go?

You’re 100 kilometres west of the Moroccan coast. It’s a short-haul flight from London (four hours) and winter sun is guaranteed. Sun-starved English and Germans have been coming here for years, some to lounge by the pool, others to prop up the bar. Quite a lot of misinformation circulates. Take the following fact: there are no high-rise developments on Lanzarote. Not one. There are only two resorts on the island, neither of them particularly big. You do not encounter rampaging hordes of drunken English men at every turn. We found gorgeous beaches to the south, lava lakes and volcanoes to the west, an extraordinarily productive wine-growing industry in the centre and Cesar Manrique’s exhilarating architecture to the north (don’t miss the Mirador del Rio, a viewing platform stuck on the side of a 400-foot-high cliff giving sublime views across the sea to Isla de Alegranza).

All in all, the islands offer unique, diverse and strikingly beautiful landscapes to explore. Tenerife has incredible Masca, an impossibly remote mountain-side village that looks out to sea. Gran Canaria has rugged mountains inland and golden beaches in the south. Fuerteventura is flat with vast areas of sand dunes. La Gomera is a hidden gem, as green as a Welsh valley, with deep gorges and fine hills for intrepid walking. La Palma is the lushest of the lot, with the most beautiful coastline, while El Hierro, a UNESCO biosphere, is rocky, rugged and utterly remote, the most western point of Europe. It may not make great headlines in the tabloids, but the truth about the Canaries is this: if you want to escape the pool or the beach (or the bar, for that matter), each island has something wonderful to offer. The archipelago’s history, culture, communities and natural beauty remain, on the whole, undiscovered, and those who delve further are richly rewarded.

Any Downsides?

OK, so some of the bigger islands do play host to the bare-chested, beer-swilling lager louts that you’ve heard about, but will you come across them? Not unless you seek them out. The resorts are pretty depressing – fast-food chains, Irish pubs, lots of beer and fags. It is not 24-hour carnage; far from it. The resorts are quiet during the day (unless there’s football on TV), but drop by after 10pm and you’ll witness the touristic equivalent of watching a car crash. Most people come by at some time in search of a newspaper.

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In Tenerife:

Activities

Top Ten Canary Islands ‘Must Do’

Boogie down in the party town of Santa Cruz, home to the best Carnaval north of the equator
Say you’ve been to the top of Spain (minus 200 metres) by swooshing up Pico del Teide
in a cable car
Play Lawrence of Arabia in the sweeping grandeur of the Maspalomas, 400 hectares of Sahara-like sand dunes
Fill your shopping basket with the juiciest fruit, freshest veggies and yummiest cheeses at the Vega de San Mateo farmers market
Grill your supper over a volcano-powered BBQ in the eerie outerspace-scape of the Montanas del Fuego
Sunbathe like a baby on the private sandy expanse of Playa de Papagayo – not a sunbed hawker in sight!
Surf where the pros fling their boards: off the coast of El Cotillo, where you can also try kitesurfing if the waves aren't wild enough
Gaze at the stars from the heavenly vista of Roque de los Muchachos, home to Europe’s largest telescope
Get your mojo rising by dipping into this classic Canarian spicy salsa sauce that livens up the ubiquitous papa arrugadas (wrinkly potatoes)
Topple up for a tipple at a bodega – the wineries might not be world-class but they make up for it in charm and cheerful eats to accompany your bottle

	Overview
	Places to Stay
	What's Where
	Tenerife
	Lanzarote
	Gran Canaria
	Background Info
	Travel Tips
	Getting There
	Getting Around
	When to Go
	Visas/Money
	Health/Safety