I first travelled to the Canary Islands in 1998, since then I have been back at least twice a year. I never tire of this wondrous Atlantic archipelago. There are many worlds to explore across eight deeply different islands.
The largest, and the most visited, island – with good reason
Beaches: 7/10
The southern resorts tick all the beach boxes with lashings of sand, watersports, sun loungers and a strip of cafés, bars and restaurants. Smaller black-sand wonders tempt elsewhere, around the relaxed northern resort of Puerto de la Cruz, and there are the imported white sands of Las Teresitas.
Hotels: 9/10
It’s all here. Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos have plenty of affordable hotels, there’s the classy world of Ritz Carlton, a five-star hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant, and places such as San Roque boutique in the laidback town of Garachico. Given the competition, Tenerife‘s hotels tend to offer the best value in the archipelago.
History and culture: 8/10
The world’s second largest carnival is the cultural highlight in February. Santa Cruz’s epic Auditorio, an 1,800-seat concert hall, and the Unesco World Heritage site of La Laguna – the Canary island’s first city – are among the other bright spots.
Food and drink: 9/10
Superb. From world-class seafood best enjoyed in villages such as Los Abrigos and Tajao, through to eight Michelin-starred fine dining temples.
Getting active: 9/10
Watersports overflow and a world of adventure awaits inland, from brilliant biking to world-class hiking – walking to stay overnight at the Refugio on the 3,715m-high Mount Teide, then to summit for sunset, is a life-affirming delight.
Tenerife’s big rival earns its ‘Continent in Miniature’ epithet with real variety
Beaches: 9/10
The dunes of Maspalomas knock the socks off Tenerife and other beaches abound; even the capital Las Palmas chips in with Las Canteras and its Rio feel.
Hotels: 8/10
Serious strength in depth with something to suit every budget. However, aside from the remarkably reborn Hotel Santa Catalina, a grand, palatial retreat first opened back in 1890, the island doesn’t hit Tenerife’s deluxe five-star heights.
History and culture: 8/10
Las Palmas harbours the most compelling old quarter of the Canaries and the capital many a museum; inland villages tell their own stories.
Food and drink: 8/10
This year’s half dozen Michelin-starred restaurants show Gran Canaria is on the ascendancy. There’s excellent seafood, too, which is best served simply, by the ocean, in the village of Puerto de las Nieves.
Getting active: 8/10
The hiking – from mountain to coast and on to forest – is up there with Tenerife’s. Ascending the distinctive, 1,813m-high Roque Nublo offers sweeping views of the island’s mountainous core.
Mercurial artist César Manrique ensured Lanzarote is the classiest and least developed of the four main tourist isles
Beaches: 7/10
Decent beaches in the resorts, with the best sands in more remote Papagayo, on the island’s southern tip.
Hotels: 7/10
Barcelo have a new five-star resort in Playa Blanca, but the excellent four-star Seaside Los Jameos is more typical. The Finca de Arrieta is a low-impact joy, a family-run oasis in a series of yurts and lodges.
History and culture: 10/10
Lanzarote would be worth visiting for Manrique alone. He worked gloriously with nature to remould the island with lava-cave venues, reborn castles, cacti gardens, elegant viewpoints and his jaw-dropping homes.
Food and drink: 8/10
Wine Tours Lanzarote opens up the celebrated vineyards such as Stratvs, as well as smaller wineries that few other people visit. Lanzarote joining the Michelin firmament in 2025, with Rubén Cuesta’s Kamezí, demonstrates its chefs’ culinary ambition.
Getting active: 7/10
No real mountains, but spectacular hikes around the volcanic landscapes, such as routes within the Parque Natural de Los Volcanes. Decent watersports and cycling.
Sometimes unfairly dismissed as one big beach, this sinewy charmer packs more of a punch these days as tourism has created a viable economy on an arid island
Beaches: 10/10
The Corralejo dunes are divine, but the whole island is blessed with perfect beaches up there with the Caribbean’s.
Hotels: 7/10
Think solid four star rather than glitzy five star – both Barcelos in Corralejo work well – Barcelo Corralejo Bay is adults-only; Barcelo Sands is family friendly.
History and culture: 6/10
Noticeably less to engage with than its two larger siblings. Mount Tindaya and its carvings are fascinating, though.
Food and drink: 7/10
Fuerteventura doesn’t trouble the Michelin inspectors, but it’s hard to imagine a better place to savour boat-fresh seafood than El Cotillo; nor any better goat’s cheese.
Getting active: 6/10
Fuerteventura lacks high hills, but there is plenty of space for off-road running, hiking and biking. The beaches south of Corralejo tempt kiteboarders, with experienced surfers enjoying the breaks along the wild, undeveloped northern coast.
The Canarios hail it “La Isla Bonita”, with good reason
Beaches: 6/10
There’s a sprinkling of pleasantly quiet black-sand beaches on which to unfurl a towel, like Playa De Los Cancajos and less developed, wilder Playa de Charco Verde.
Hotels: 6/10
La Palma is not about luxury oases, but it does have an excellent parador on the hillside just outside the city.
History and culture: 6/10
The capital Santa Cruz de la Palma is draped in history and grandeur, but the island’s great appeal is the natural world.
Food and drink: 7/10
The wines are increasingly decent; fine dining is rare. Think homely and simple, especially outside Santa Cruz, with the parador an exception.
Getting active: 9/10
La Palma is a Unesco Biosphere, and the Caldera de Taburiente National Park is its lush beating heart. The 2021 eruption added even more drama to the epic walks. Ramble Worldwide Holidays offers a week’s hiking.
Tenerife’s neighbour is a wild, rugged, mountainous contrast
Beaches: 5/10
You don’t come for beaches.
Hotels: 6/10
Most are relatively modest affairs, with the best place to stay again the parador, a graceful dame overlooking the capital San Sebastian de la Gomera.
History and culture: 6/10
Walking around the tower that still stands since Columbus’s 1492 visit is remarkable, as is the ancient whistling used by mountain villagers to communicate.
Food and drink: 7/10
Arguably deserves a 10 for the delicious spicy cheese paste almogrote alone. Decent wines and good seafood, too.
Getting active: 9/10
Thrilling walking in the savage mountains with views back to Tenerife’s Teide. The Garajonay National Park is a highlight.
Three hours from Tenerife by ferry; more Hebridean than Canarian
Beaches: 6/10
It doesn’t have holiday brochure beaches, but they are usually quiet.
Hotels: 6/10
Most accommodation is simple with the parador a highlight, this time spectacularly set down a one-way road standing alone against the Atlantic.
History and culture: 6/10
Valverde is the only inland capital in the Canaries with little to detain you. The Volcanological Interpretation Center at La Restinga delves into the 2011 eruption that came within metres of creating another Canary isle.
Food and drink: 7/10
Valverde offers hearty hinterland fare in its low-fi restaurants. La Restinga and its bobbing fishing boats promise fresh seafood, best washed down with dry local wines.
Getting active: 8/10
El Hierro comes into its own with quiet roads and tracks for cycling and superb hiking. You won’t forget wandering forests all alone, nor the otherworldly juniper trees in the south bent over by the incessant Trade Winds.
Only recognised as an official Canary Island in 2018, this is a real life Treasure Island without tarmacked roads
Beaches: 8/10
Serious white sand wow factor. The southeast has the best beaches, such as Playa del Salado and Playa Francesa.
Hotels: 5/10
Cheap and cheerful is La Graciosa’s laidback style, but you’ll be just metres from the beach.
History and culture: 6/10
There are only two tiny settlements and very little imprint of man. The Museo Chinijo offers more information on the wild and wildly beautiful archipelago in which Graciosa is the largest island.
Food and drink: 6/10
Simple, low-cost cafes and restaurants bathe in the sun in Caleta del Sebo with seafood making its way to the table alongside bone-dry Malvasia wines from neighbouring Lanzarote.
Getting active: 8/10
Hire a bike and bash off on to the sandy trails that crisscross this bijou isle. Savvy visitors stay a few days and yomp up the local volcanoes for their superb views.
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