THE Canary Islands are a favourite holiday hotspot and with some of Europe’s best beaches, superb year-round weather conditions and otherworldly landscapes it’s easy to see why. Here are just some of the things you should check out during your next visit.
Get to the top of the Teide Volcano
Just after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii, Mount Teide is the third highest volcano in the world.
Located on Tenerife, it’s one of the most visited natural parks in Europe and the eighth most visited in the world.
If you opt to take the cable car, which travels within 500 meters of the summit – prepare yourself for some simply breathtaking views.
Climbing Mount Teide is also an option as well as a dream for many. Ascending the crater and smelling the sulphur emitted from volcanic fumaroles is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
There’s a bar and restaurant area, and even a hotel and a refuge at 3.270 meters.
As the highest peak in Spain, it has been a World Heritage Site since 2007, and the park encourages visitors not to stray from the marked paths, enjoy the native flora and fauna of this geological treasure, and not to take stones as a souvenir.
Sunbathe at Maspalomas Beach
With wind-sculpted golden sand dunes and clear, crisp ocean Maspalomas truly is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Canary Islands.
Stretching just over 3km, the beach makes for the perfect place to sunbathe, to take a relaxing stroll or to simply soak up the sunset in the evenings. One of the best spots to see the sunset is the first set of dunes by the Charco de Maspalomas lagoon.
The beach stretches from the beautiful lighthouse to La Punta, the most southern point of the Island. But, it doesn’t end there! It then transforms into the Playa del Inglés, another four kilometres of the finest sand in the east.
Visit the fascinating architectural legacy of César Manrique
César Manrique was an artist, architect and environmental activist from Lanzarote. He did not create in nature but rather with it, and his relationship with the landscape was not simply aesthetic but also a commitment to defending the environment.
Jameos del Agua is a volcanic tube opened on the surface where you can admire a natural lagoon of transparent emerald waters which is home to a native species of the island – a minuscule, albino, blind and gleaming little crab of unknown origin.
Mirador del Rio is a building located at 500 meters in altitude at the top of the Risco cliff, hidden beneath the rock and barely visible from the outside, with large windows and exterior balconies that provide a stunning view of Lanzarote.
Visitors can see traditional ceramics and a range of sculptures. The domed main room and cupolas are not to be missed.
Taste volcanic wine in Lanzarote
The Canary Islands have become an exceptional wine-producing region due to the volcanic nature of their soils and almost desert-like climate. The ash coating retains moisture, protects buried soils from erosion, inhibits evaporation, and traps solar input.
Partially ringed by almond shaped stone walls on tar dark soils, the vine arrays appear hauntingly gorgeous, and many of them are included within Timanfaya National Park in the southwest.
White wines are predominant in the Canaries and are often opulent and full, sometimes with a citric precision.
Whereas red wines often have a Burgundian heft of pepper and complex darkness-leather, mocha, black fruit, caramel and even diesel.
Several wineries across Lanzarote offer wine tastings and visits.
Try an aloe vera wellness treatment in a Canarian spa
The spa centres in the Canary Islands are well-known and make full use of all the natural resources provided by the Canary environment. Plenty of unique treatments are offered such as thalassotherapy, geotherapy, wine therapy or aloe therapy.
The spa of the Iberostar Grand Mencey in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is set over 4,500 sq mts and facilities include everything from a dynamic heated pool with bubble beds, whirlpool sections, and aqua-massage swan necks, to saunas, a foot spa, and a steam room.
