Canary Islands

Travel Guide Europe Spain Canary Islands

Introduction

Teide, Tenerife

The Canary Islands are special autonomous community of Spain and are located off the northwest coast of Africa, about 100 kilometres (Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are the closest to the mainland) from Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canary Islands, although technically coming under Spain and part of the EU, are autonomous with their own government and taxation systems. The total population is roughly 2.1 million with most of them living on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

Each of the Canary islands (and their satellite isles) are very different in feel. Some people love one island, but hate another. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder and your island experiences may be totally different to the experiences of another. While some of them are real beach destinations, like Fuerteventura, others combine culture and nature, like Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Whereas La Palma is very beautiful with a tropical feeling.

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Geography

All the islands of the Canary Islands have a volcanic history, which explains the black beaches of the islands. All the sandy beaches you will find on the islands are man made. The islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean, about 100 to 400 kilometres from Morocco and Western Sahara. The Teide vulcano on Tenerife is the highest mountain of Spain, topping the Mulhacén in the Sierra Nevada by more than 200 metres. El Hierro saw the last volcanic activity on 2011, when an undersea volcano erupted just of the southern coast.

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Regions

The Canaries are split into 2 different communities: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The following islands are part of Santa Cruz de Tenerife:

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The following islands are part of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria:

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Cities

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Sights and Activities

lanzarote

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Events and Festivals

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Weather

The Canary Islands' climate is perfect for a week of enjoying the sun and making trips across the islands. Summers are mostly between 25º and 30º during the day and still above 20 °C at night. Winters are about 6-8 °C colder on average though it's still quite warm, even at night. Note that the north of the islands generally are somewhat cooler and wetter than the south, but still fine.

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Getting There

By Plane

Most of the islands have direct flights from Europe, you can check the islands' articles for more information. The busiest airports are those on Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria Airport (LPA) is the busiest of the Canary Islands and dozens of airlines serve the island.

Budget airline Ryanair has flights to a number of cities in Europe, while German based Condor and Air Berlin have flights as well. TUIfly, Thomson Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines serve a significant number of destinations as well.

Only a few cities in Africa are served, though Mauritania Airways started flying to a number of Mauritanian cities from 2009 onwards. Binter Canarias, has flights from Marrakech to the islands.

Tenerife
Tenerife is serviced by two airports: Tenerife North (TFN) and Tenerife South (TFS).

These airports receive a lot of flights from all over Europe, Tenerife South Airport having by far the most possibilities. Lowcost airlines like Easyjet (from London and Manchester) and Ryanair have found their way as well, the last having most flights, including to/from Brussels, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, Madrid, Porto and Weeze (near Düsseldorf).
Numerous other airlines serve Tenerife South though, the choice is wide.

Tenerife North Airport (TFN) is located about 10 kilometres from the city. Tenerife North mainly serves other Canary Islands, cities in mainland Spain, and several cities in Germany. Also, two airlines fly here to/from Caracas in Venezuela.

Lanzarote Airport (ACE) is the third busiest airports of the islands, follwed by Fuerteventura Airport

By Boat

Mainland Spain
Trasmediterránea provides ferries from Cadiz in Spain to and from the Canary Islands.

Portugal/Madeira
Naviera Armas runs weekly services between Portimao in mainland Portugal to Madeira and on to Tenerife, with connections to other Canary Islands, like Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

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Getting Around

By Plane

The Canary Islands are connected by a smaller airline called Binter Canarias, which also has a flight to Marrakech from a couple of the islands.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Trasmediterránea and Fred Olsen, are the main operators between the Canary Islands of Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera.

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