2/28/2024 0 Comments Canary islandsGran Canaria earns the epithet “a continent in miniature” with a vast variety of terrain, and - with a large local population - has a more authentic atmosphere. Nearby La Graciosa, a tiny island with a smattering of sleepy fishing villages and no paved roads, offers tranquillity and traditional guest-house stays. Lanzarote’s design aesthetic will appeal to the seriously stylish, with a clutch of tasteful resort hotels and chic boutique properties alongside simpler, good-value stays. You’ll find all tastes catered for in the hotels too - deluxe to basic, adults-only to family-friendly, lively to laid-back. The sustainable traveller’s choice is remote, undeveloped El HierroĪll-rounder Tenerife is an island of two halves the bustling, sandy south and the bucolic, calmer north. Green, hilly La Gomera is a hiker’s paradise, with smaller, characterful hotels more common than chain-owned options. The diverse characters of the different islands mean that there’s a Canary to suit everyone, and accommodation on the islands is just as varied.įuerteventura’s fresh winds and uninterrupted stretches of sand suit water-sports enthusiasts and committed beach bums, and stays range from surf camps and good-value aparthotels to large all-inclusives. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a thriving capital too, with avant-garde architecture and a sprawling food and flea market.Īlthough the Canary Islands were once best known for their fly-and-flop holidays, almost every conceivable outdoor activity is on offer, from water sports, including kitesurfing and scuba diving, to extensive hiking trails across many islands, with mountainous La Gomera particularly packed with routes. Gran Canaria’s Las Palmas is the biggest city on the islands and it has a delightful historic core, packed with colonial architecture and Columbus history - the explorer is said to have stayed here. Miles of golden sand dunes roll at Fuerteventura’s Corralejo beach, famous for its windsurfing, but you’ll find mirror-calm waters to bob around in at Charco Azul, a natural pool eroded into the inky cliffs of El Hierro.Īlmost every conceivable outdoor activity is on offer The coastline of the Canaries is equally diverse, with white and black sand beaches. In lush La Palma, the Caldera de Taburiente’s fertile volcanic soil nurtures miles of pine forests, pockmarked with dramatic rock pillars to hike between. Lanzarote’s underground lava caves have been transformed by the native architect César Manrique into exquisite spaces where nature and art harmonise. The tallest mountain in Spain towers over you as you walk among the dormant lava flows and flowering foliage of Tenerife’s Teide National Park. Magma modelled the Canary Islands and you can explore this geological legacy everywhere. ![]() Main photo: Teide volcano, Tenerife (Getty Images) And on the little-visited islands of La Palma, El Hierro and La Graciosa the striking topography comes with seclusion in spades. ![]() Its big, bustling resorts still offer straightforward beach breaks and boisterous nightlife but you don’t have to venture far beyond the tourist strip to see evidence of the archipelago’s jaw-dropping volcanic beauty. Year-round blue skies welcome you, whether you’ve come for Gran Canaria’s hiking trails, Fuerteventura’s surf breaks, Lanzarote‘s unique architecture, La Gomera’s whale watching or Tenerife‘s family-friendly hotels.ĭon’t be distracted by the Canaries’ package-trip past. Just four hours from the UK, this clutch of eight Spanish islands off the Moroccan coast are an easy holiday hit, with a host of direct flights to the larger islands from many UK airports and accommodation options that run the gamut from butler service by the beach to rustic and rural. The Canary Islands’ enduring appeal is down to a heady combination of four virtues: beauty, variety, simplicity and sunshine. This article contains links from which we may earn revenue. These links are signposted with an asterisk.
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