Canaries

Holidays by Destination Europe Spain Canaries Where to Go 

The main resorts are not particularly tatty, though you may spot the likes of a tattoo parlour for example, and slot machines are popular. However, you only have to go three miles from the tourist zones to find a different world - where pine and palm trees grow virtually side by side. Here there are attractive accommodation options, especially now the islands are trying to increase rural tourism and are renovating old farmhouses and fincas, some with facilities like a swimming pool, (the odd one in a cave). On Gran Canaria alone there are already around 60 self-catering properties and about eight rural hotels.

Cheaper options like albergues - youth hostels originally for groups - are now welcoming families (around Pta3,000 a head b&b). These, like rural hotels are more peaceful than the resorts, increasingly elegant, and offer children a glimpse of fruits like bananas and papayas still on the plant.

Disadvantages are few facilities within walking distance (you would need a car) and less reliable weather than in the resorts.

While the islands offer a range of styles and landscapes (Gran Canaria a particularly wide range all in one), there are some broad similarities. Almost always greener and wetter inland and to the north where the weather arrives, the volcanic origins mean sometimes spectacular scenery with high mountains, rugged cliffs and often intriguing colours.