Canary Islands Holidays

All eyes are drawn to Mount Teide in Tenerife. The lofty peak holds the crown as Spain’s highest point, and the surrounding national park’s got a UNESCO tick to its name. Big-hitting beach resorts like Costa Adeje, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Playa de las Americas score highly with holidaymakers, and the island’s home to one of the best waterparks in the world – Siam Park.

At first glance, the island of Lanzarote resembles another planet. Dark rock formations and charcoal-tinted sands populate the centre, and the seafront’s a mixture of light and dark stretches. Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise play to a tourist crowd, and the Timanfaya National Park covers natural sights on the opposite coast.

Natural scenery and nightlife are Gran Canaria’s two standout traits. The Maspalomas dunes ripple across the coastline between buzzing Playa del Ingles and upmarket Meloneras. Puerto Rico falls into the party category, with hotels stacked on a pair of hillsides that meet in a beach-brushed centre. In the north, the island’s capital, Las Palmas, showcases Colonial architecture and an enticing old quarter.

Beaches are the beginning, middle and end of holidays to Fuerteventura. It gives Spain’s mainland Costas a run for their money, with a hundred-strong catalogue of sandy sweeps. They range from secluded spots that are fringed by vast natural parks to waterfronts backed by beach bars, seafood restaurants and souvenir shops. Corralejo‘s got a foot in each camp, with a vast shoreline that’s just a short cab ride from a modern town centre.