A Holiday Guide To The Canary Islands

Located around 100 miles east of the coast of Africa, the Canary Islands boast what has been described as the world’s best climate. Average temperatures vary little throughout the seasons, falling to a winter low of about 21 degrees, and peaking in the summer months at around 27 degrees.

The islands are the most popular winter holiday destination in Europe and attract self catering holidaymakers throughout the year. Although the Canary Islands are a part of Spain, English is widely spoken and tourism is the largest industry.

There is also a large ex-pat population with mostly British, German, and Swedish people moving there to retire or to make a living in the tourism industry. The coastlines of all the islands are fully developed with hotels, apartments and villas. Many of the villas and apartments have been bought by absentee owners who occupy their property for part of the year and let the accommodation for self catering holidays; so there is a wide choice of rental accommodation available.

Tenerife is triangular in shape with a dormant volcano and mountains splitting the island into two distinct areas. The south is warmer and drier and is the home of most of the tourist areas, whilst the north is greener and cooler. Tenerife is the most popular of the Canary Islands with tourists.

The largest population live on the island of Gran Canaria which is also home to Las Palmas, a shopper’s paradise. Like Tenerife, Gran Canaria is also split into two distinct halves with mountains separating the north from the south of the island. here too, the south is drier and warmer than the lush green of the north.

The most popular beaches (Maspolmas, El Ingles, and Casa de los Coroneles) are in the south of the islands. The fishing villages of Puerto Rico, Puerto de Morgan and Pasito Blanco enjoy picture-postcard scenery and are a ‘must’ for your holiday itinerary.

The Canary Islands are volcanic and nowhere is this more apparent than on Lanzarote where the landscape is almost black. The island hosts the fantastic scenery of the National Park of Timanfaya, and the beaches are of fine sand.

Fuerteventura hosts the longest beaches in the Canaries. Perhaps the best is a near 4 mile stretch of untouched golden sand which runs between the towns of Jandia and Pajara. The spectacular underwater world along that coast attracts divers from all over the world. The island is also popular with golfers.

The three other islands in the Canaries group are less popular with tourists and there are few hotels or self catering apartments or villas available. They are, however, worth a visit if only for the day. The island of La Gomera is connected to Tenerife by ferry and is home to large banana plantations. It has small, sandy bays. La Palma, also known as Green Island because of its lush vegetation and forests, has a wild landscape, huge waterfalls and tall pine trees. El Hierro is the smallest of the islands and is popular with divers.

The popularity of the Canary Islands results from a climate that is close to perfection, and varied and spectacular scenery. Tenerife and Gran Canaria take this variation to an extreme with the north and south of each island experiencing different local climates and vegetation. Visitors to these islands return time after time, as each experience is a different one.