Canary Islands
Year-round warm weather, volcanic landscapes, easy from Europe.
The Canaries get unfairly dismissed as a package holiday cliché — they're more interesting than that. Each island has a different vibe: Tenerife and Gran Canaria for variety, Lanzarote for volcanic art-installation landscapes, La Palma and El Hierro for hiking and quiet, Fuerteventura for surf and dunes.
At a glance
- Best time
- Most of the year
- Climate
- Warm
- Budget
- Budget – Mid-range
- Trip length
- 1–3 weeks
- Language
- Spanish
- Currency
- EUR (€)
Best time to visit
- January: peak
- February: peak
- March: peak
- April: peak
- May: peak
- June: fine
- July: fine
- August: fine
- September: fine
- October: peak
- November: peak
- December: peak
Peak Fine Avoid
Highlights
-
Tenerife
Mt Teide, surf in the south, hiking in the north.
-
Lanzarote
Volcanic landscapes shaped by the artist Cesar Manrique.
-
La Palma
The greenest, quietest island — hiking heaven.
-
Fuerteventura
Endless beaches, wind, surf.
Practical info
- Visa
- Schengen — visa-free for most Western passports (90 days).
- Currency
- EUR (€)
- Language
- Spanish. English in tourist areas.
- Safety
- Very safe.
- Getting around
- Hire a car on each island. Ferries or short flights between islands.
- Tap water
- Tap water generally safe but locals often use bottled.
- Plug type
- Type C Type F 230V
- Money
- Cards everywhere.
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Start the quizLast updated 2026-05-04