Visit the Canary Islands, Spain; a visitors guide to the Eastern Canary Isles
Visit Canary Islands - The Eastern Isles
The Canary Islands are one of the main tourist destinations in the world and most visitors head for the Eastern Isles with their long sandy beaches and large resorts.
There is also a magnificent range of scenery from Sahara-like 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 Eastern Isles are Gran Canaria, the biggest of the Eastern Islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
(For information about the Western Isles of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro visit The Canary Islands - The Western Isles.)
The Eastern Islands (Las Palmas)
The Eastern Islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura 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. Lanzarote's dramatic volcanic scenery is perhaps along with some great beaches mean that the island attracts lots of visitors each year.
Places to visit
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 most popular of Lanzarote's resorts.
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.
Places to Visit
Agaete - to the wetter, cooler north, Agaete is a small resort on a rocky bay nestled amongst the banana plantations.
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.
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.
Fuerteventura
An island with very good beaches but the overall scenery is less spectacular and less attractive than the other islands.
Places to visit
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.
Map of Canary Islands - The Eastern Isles & places nearby
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