Experience Canary Island Leisure Like a Local

Warm and wonderful and not a million miles from the UK, the Canary Island region of Spain is a little piece of paradise. Spend a holiday there for relatively few pounds in travel terms. Each island boasts their own natural riches for visitors to enjoy.

Canary Island Holiday Ideas

Here’s a selection of the islands you can visit and how you can do something a little more out of the ordinary while you’re on them.

Tenerife

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and, despite the competition from its counterparts, you should place it first on your travel wish list for this Spanish archipelago. The best time to visit is September or October: the days are long, the skies are at their clearest, and the weather is warm but just the right temperature to relax.

Of course, you’re not short of a water park or a beach here, but if you want to take a dip somewhere that little bit different, stay in Puerto de la Cruz, step out of the resort hotel and head for the Lago Martiánez complex. There you can soak in one of the seven saltwater swimming pools or in the central lake. And if you want to have a go on the inflatables on the lake, then why not? It is a good base if you want to take time Island hopping around las Islas Canaries.

Lanzarote

If you decide to go island hopping, you might want to make Lanzarote your next port of call. The resort of Playa Blanca, in the south of the island, welcomes visitors with open arms, but if you’re looking to do something outside of the typical tourist experience, try climbing Montaña Roja, the Red Mountain.

It may not seem so high up when you’re gazing up at it from the beach, but looking down from the top of this volcano it’s a different story, with view stretching over the beach and all the way to Fuerteventura. While you’re walking round the crater, don’t forget to spell your name out in stones on it. This is a local tradition. Oh, and the volcano’s not active, for the record.

Fuerteventura

Sitting some 100 kilometres off the coast of north Africa is the Canary Island of Fuerteventura, which receives a little less attention from the tourists than Lanzarote or Tenerife. The beach is always an option of course if you’re not sure what to do while you’re here, although they can get busy around April or May, which is one of the best times to visit the island.

For something a little more exciting than just lazing around, though, book somewhere to stay in Costa Caleta. Then you get on a quad bike and experience the Lanzarote coast on four off-road wheels.

Top tip:  Don’t wear white (unless you wish to show off how you’ve been on an off-road adventure!)

All three of these islands are little gems in the Canary Island archipelago, but remember that there’s also Gran Canaria if you’re wishing for extra, low cost options.

Images by Mataparda, used under CC license 2.0, and lilli2de, used under CC license SA 2.0