The Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are one of the main tourist destinations in the world.  The reason is lots of winter sunshine, lots of  beaches and scenery ranging from desert to thick forest. The old colonial towns are also full of charm.

 

 

 

 

 

The Canary Islands are made up of seven islands. Each one is the tip of hundreds of volcanoes which errupted from the sea millions of years ago and created the dramatic scenery that these islands are famous for.

The Canary Islands are divided into two, the Western Isles and the Eastern Isles. The Western Isles include perhaps the most well-known island, Tenerife. Tenerife is a mountainous island as are the other three, La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera. Tenerife is the main destination for holiday makers in the Western Isles. The Eastern Isles are Gran Canaria, the biggest of the Eastern Islands,  Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

The Western Islands ( Santa Cruz)

La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera are tiny islands without much tourist activity but they are being discovered by people who like walking, mountains and being away from it all. Tenerife is the most popular of the Western Islands.

La Palma

The worlds steepest island and worth visiting because of the lush vegetation and massive volcano crater, La Caldera de Tabureient. This area is a national park and is truly beautiful.

Santa Cruz de la Palma - the main town on the island has many elegent buildings and a life size replica of Columbus's flagship the Santa Maria

El Hierro

A small, hilly island perfect if you like a quiet holiday surrounded by nature.

Valverde - the island's capital is a small town though quite attractive.

La Gomera

 It is possible to get to La Gomera for a day trip from Tenerife which makes it the most visited of the three small Western Islands. The scenery is beautiful with lovely terraced hillsides and deep ravines. Great for walking holidays and the Western side of the island, the Parque Niacional de Garajonay (the Garajonay National Park) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

San Sebastian - the main town of La Gomera

Tenerife

Dominated by Mount Teide, a dormant volcano and the highest peak in Spain, Tenerife is another mountainous island. Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and is sunny and dry in the south and lush and wet in the north offering a great variety.

Garachico - lovely jewel of a town, tiny but very elegant with colourful stucco buildings, elegant plazas, convents and mansions.

La Laguna - originally the capital of Tenerife this inland town remains the cultural capital of Tenerife. There are several good museums and the perfectly preserved Casco Antiguo  is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

La Orotova - wide streets, handsome squares and lovely churches and like Puerto de la Cruz beautifully situated at the foot of Mount Teide.

Montes de Anagu- a lush green though rugged mountain range popular with walkers.

Puerto de la Cruz - a lovely little harbour town situated at the foot of Mount Teide. Colourful stucco buildings, tropical gardens of Loro Parque and the beautiful Lago Martianez designed by Cesar Manrique.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife - plenty to see in this the capital of Tenerife. Local beaches are black sand but the most popular is Las Teresitas made by importing tones of Saharan sand. One of the biggest carnivals in Europe takes place here each year in Feb/March.

Teide National Park - Mount Tiede rises out of an enormous volcanic crater and is surrounded by an eerie volcanic landscape. The crater can be visited by foot or by cable-car. If you can,  stay at the Parador de Canadas del Teide

 

The Eastern Islands(Las Palmas)

The Eastern Islands of Gran Canaria, Guerteventura and Lanzarote each have spectacular and very different scenery.

Lanzarote

The island has around three hundred volcanoes and the contrast of the volcanic landscape and  the sea makes this island the most unusual and perhaps the most attractive. It is a UNESCO  World Biosphere Reservation for its protection and conservation.

Costa Teguise - a purpose built resort near the island's old capital, Teguise.

Haria - valley of 1,000 palms! a lovely village with great views of Monte Corona nearby.

A rural community, cut off from much of Lanzarote, the town is starting to recover it’s golden past.

Parque Nacional de Timanfaya - the Mountanas de Fuego or Fire Mountains are eerily beautiful.  At the entrance you can take a camel ride up a volcanic slope.

Playa Blanca - a small fishing village which has been expanded into a family based resort.

Puerto del Carmen - the largest of Lanzarote's resorts but overfilled with tourist hotels etc.

Teguise - the island's capital until 1852, visit the town on Suday, market day.

Yaiza - voted prettiest village in Spain several times though lucky to still be here as it is very close to  the volcanoes at Timanfaya.

Gran Canaria

With mountains, forests, volcanic craters and sand dunes this island is a real gem. It is the most popular of all the Canary Islands and is very beautiful with a rather exotic feel due to its great diversity. The north is cooler and lusher but most tourists head for the large resorts in the south.

Agaete - to the wetter, cooler north, Agaete is a small resort on a rocky bay nestled amongst the banana plantations.

Maspalomas - a wonderful area of sand dunes with nearby beaches and resorts but also with a proteced area which can only be crossed on foot or by camel!

Playa del Ingles - the largest resort on the island, situated near the Maspalomas dunes.

Puerto de Mogan - An attractive resort based around a small fishing village. More tastefully developed than the much larger Playa del Ingles.

Puerto Rico - A resort which is becoming ever more popular due to its lare cresent-shaped golden sandy beach. A great place to practise your watersports aswell.

Tafira Baja and Tafira Alta are suburbs of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and many of the more wealthy residents of the city live in beautiful villas in these suburbs. The very exotic botanical gardens of Jardin Canario are also here and are dedicated to the plants of the Canary Islands and the other islands in the vicinity.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - this is the largest town of the Eastern Canaries and its historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was the first city to have a main square with the main religios and administrative buildings of the town built around the square. A model which was later widely used in Latin America.

Fuerteventura

An island with very good beaches but the overall scenery is less spectacular and less attractive than the other islands.$

Betancuia - this pretty village is built on the edge of a small volcano in the centre of the island, surrounded by a dry arid landscape of plains and extinct volcanoes.

Corralejo - a tourist resort built around a fishing village and with a long stretch of sand dunes.

Peninsula de Jandia - Great beaches and lots of modern tourist complexes on this peninsula.

Puerto del Rosario - the main town of Fuerteventura.

Paradors of the Canary Islands

Parador de San Sebastian, San Sebastian de La Gomera, La Gomera

Parador El Hierro, Valverde,  El Hierro

Parador de Canadas del Teide, Canadas del Teide, Tenerife

 

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