Spanish Islands Guide

1. Mallorca: the all-rounder. A real city in Palma with its cathedral and old town, the UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana mountains with Valldemossa, Deià and Port de Sóller, east-coast coves, and family resorts at Alcúdia and Port de Pollença. Choose your area carefully: Magaluf and Playa de Palma are party strips.
2. Menorca: coves and calm. A UNESCO biosphere reserve with little high-rise building. The south-coast coves (Macarella, Macarelleta, Turqueta, Mitjana) are the best in the Balearics, and the Camí de Cavalls path circles the whole island. Ciutadella and Maó are the two towns.
3. Ibiza: clubs and more. The superclub season runs from May to early October, but the island also has the walled Dalt Vila of Ibiza Town, quiet north-coast coves around Portinatx and Benirràs, and yoga and boutique-hotel retreats inland.
4. Formentera: the beach island. Thirty minutes by fast ferry from Ibiza, flat, small and best explored by bike or scooter. Ses Illetes and Llevant have white sand and shallow turquoise water; Sant Francesc Xavier is the main village.
5. Tenerife: the big Canary. Mount Teide (3,715m, Spain’s highest peak) in Teide National Park, the resort strip of Playa de las Américas, Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje in the dry south, and the greener north with Puerto de la Cruz, La Laguna and the Anaga mountains.
6. Gran Canaria: dunes and a city. The Maspalomas dunes and the resorts of Playa del Inglés and Puerto Rico in the south, the city of Las Palmas with Las Canteras beach in the north, and mountain villages around Roque Nublo.
7. Lanzarote: volcanic design. The lava fields of Timanfaya, César Manrique’s caves and houses, vineyards in black ash at La Geria, and calm resorts at Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise.
8. Fuerteventura: beaches and wind. The longest beaches in the Canaries, the dunes of Corralejo, the wild Cofete beach and the kitesurf lagoons at Sotavento near Costa Calma. Day trips to Lobos island leave from Corralejo.
9. La Palma: hiking and stars. Steep, green and quiet, with the Caldera de Taburiente crater, the 2021 eruption lava fields and some of the clearest night skies in Europe at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory.
10. La Gomera: the walking island. A day trip or a week from Tenerife: the laurel forest of Garajonay National Park, deep ravines, the Valle Gran Rey beaches, and the whistled language silbo.
11. El Hierro: the remote one. The smallest and least visited main Canary, with diving in the marine reserve at La Restinga and very few tourists.
12. La Graciosa: a car-free island of sand tracks off northern Lanzarote, 25 minutes by ferry from Órzola.

Mallorca rewards a car and at least a week. Spend two days in Palma, visiting the cathedral, the old town lanes and Bellver Castle, then ride the 1912 wooden train from Palma to Sóller (about an hour) and the tram down to the port. The Tramuntana is Spain’s best road-cycling and hiking area outside the Pyrenees; the GR221 Dry Stone Route crosses it in about a week. On the east coast, the coves around Cala d’Or, Cala Mondragó and Caló des Moro are beautiful and very crowded in summer, while Cala Millor and Alcúdia have long family beaches. The Coves del Drach at Porto Cristo host a lake concert inside the cave. Boats run from Colònia de Sant Jordi to the Cabrera National Park archipelago.

Menorca is Mallorca’s quiet neighbour, an hour by ferry from Alcúdia to Ciutadella. The best coves on the south coast are reached by foot from car parks that fill early (Macarella and Turqueta have paid parking and summer bus links from Ciutadella). Walk sections of the Camí de Cavalls, eat lobster stew (caldereta de llagosta) in Fornells, and drink Menorcan gin in Maó, which has one of the largest natural harbours in the Mediterranean.

Ibiza splits into two islands. From June to September, the south and west run on clubs: Playa d’en Bossa for Ushuaïa and Hï, Sant Antoni for sunset bars and the West End, and Ibiza Town for Pacha and the port. Our Spain nightlife guide has prices and the drinking rules. The rest of the island is calm: the UNESCO-listed walls of Dalt Vila, the hippy market at Es Canar, the coves of Cala Comte and Cala d’Hort facing the rock of Es Vedrà, and the north around Sant Joan and Portinatx. Rent a car to see it.

Formentera is reached only by ferry from Ibiza Town to La Savina, a 30 to 35 minute fast crossing for about €30 to €50 return. It has no airport, the beaches are protected, and in summer the island limits the number of visitors’ cars, so many people rent a bike, e-bike or scooter at the port. The posidonia seagrass meadows are why the water looks so clear; anchoring on them is banned.

Tenerife has two climates. The south, around Playa de las Américas, Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje, is dry and sunny almost every day, which is why most resorts are there. The north is greener and cloudier, with the colonial town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, the old resort of Puerto de la Cruz and Loro Parque. Everyone goes up Teide: the cable car climbs to 3,555m (around €40 return; book ahead), and the last 160m to the summit crater need a free permit from the national park, booked weeks in advance. Siam Park near Costa Adeje is one of Europe’s biggest water parks, and whale and dolphin trips leave from Los Cristianos.

Gran Canaria is round, with a mountain centre and a coast of resorts in the south. The Maspalomas dunes are a protected reserve next to the resort, and Las Palmas is a real Spanish city of 380,000 people with a 3km urban beach, Las Canteras, and a growing community of remote workers. Drive up to Roque Nublo and the village of Tejeda for the views, and to the fishing port of Agaete for the ferry to Tenerife.

Lanzarote is the best island for scenery and design. In Timanfaya, a coach route crosses the lava fields from the visitor centre; nearby, César Manrique’s Jameos del Agua, Mirador del Río and his house at Taro de Tahíche show how the artist shaped the island’s look of white houses and green shutters. Base yourself in Playa Blanca for calm beaches and the Papagayo coves, or Costa Teguise for windsurfing.

Fuerteventura, 25 to 35 minutes by ferry from Playa Blanca to Corralejo, is drier and emptier, with the best beaches in the Canaries and constant trade winds for kite- and windsurfing. Cofete, on the remote west side of Jandía, is reached by dirt road.

The western islands are for walkers. La Gomera is 50 minutes by ferry from Los Cristianos in Tenerife, and its Garajonay forest, terraced ravines and Valle Gran Rey make a good three-day hiking base. La Palma has the Caldera de Taburiente, the volcano route along the island’s spine and stargazing tours. El Hierro is for divers and people who want no crowds at all.

The Canaries are the only part of Spain with a year-round beach climate. Daytime highs on the coasts run about 20 to 23°C (68 to 73°F) from December to March and 26 to 29°C (79 to 84°F) from July to September, and the sea stays between about 19°C in winter and 23 to 24°C in late summer, cooler than the Mediterranean in summer. Trade winds blow from the northeast, so north coasts are greener and cloudier and the south coasts of Tenerife and Gran Canaria are the sunniest. In winter, Teide and the high peaks can get snow while people sunbathe below.

Two things catch visitors out: calima, when dust from the Sahara turns the sky orange and the air hazy for a few days, and the wind, which is strong on Fuerteventura and Lanzarote all year. The Canaries are one hour behind mainland Spain, on the same time as the UK. The Balearics, by contrast, are only for beaches from late May to early October; in winter they are mild (14 to 17°C), quiet and good for walking and cycling, but many resort hotels close.

Flights are the main way in. Palma, Menorca (Maó) and Ibiza airports have direct flights from most European cities in summer and from Madrid and Barcelona all year (about 1 hour). Tenerife (two airports, North and South), Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma have flights from mainland Spain (2.5 to 3 hours from Madrid) and much of Europe. Binter flies between all the Canary Islands, usually in 30 to 50 minutes, and Air Europa and Binter link the Balearic islands.

Ferries to the Balearics run from Barcelona, Valencia and Dénia with Baleària, Trasmed and GNV. Barcelona to Palma takes about 7 to 8 hours (overnight ships have cabins), Dénia to Ibiza 2 to 4 hours, and Alcúdia to Ciutadella about an hour. Bringing a car makes sense only for longer stays. There is no practical ferry from the mainland to the Canaries for travellers: the weekly ship from Huelva or Cádiz takes well over a day. Between the Canaries, Fred. Olsen and Naviera Armas link Tenerife with La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro and Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote with Fuerteventura. Book summer ferries a few weeks ahead.