The Canary Islands, winter in the sun
Villages of wooden balconies, volcanoes, dunes, lava pools and starry skies: the islands to escape the cold from November to March.
From the team
When the cold sets in
While half of Europe wraps up warm, in the Canary Islands people are still strolling by the sea in short sleeves. This issue travels the islands for the cold months: the most beautiful villages in Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, and the small islands where time moves more slowly.
Volcanoes, laurel forests, dunes, natural pools and some of the best skies in the world for stargazing: there is an island for every kind of trip.
Every destination comes with its full guide. When you choose, we plan your trip in under a minute. We travel together.
The Bagintravel team
The islands
Eight islands, one sun
From the dunes of Fuerteventura to the forests of La Gomera and the silence of El Hierro: which island to choose to escape the cold.
A mild climate all year round, beaches in the middle of January and volcanic landscapes like nowhere else: the Canary Islands are one of Europe’s closest winter-sun escapes. Each island has its own character, so here they are, one by one, depending on what you’re looking for.
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01 Spain
Tenerife
Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, sometimes snow-capped in winter, the Anaga laurel forest and beaches in the south. It is the island with the most variety for a week.
Read the guide -
02 Spain
Gran Canaria
The Maspalomas dunes in the south, Las Canteras beach right in the city and, inland, Roque Nublo and mountain villages: a continent in miniature.
Read the guide -
03 Spain
Lanzarote
The volcanoes of Timanfaya, César Manrique’s work built into the lava and coves such as those at Papagayo. The whole island is a biosphere reserve.
Read the guide -
04 Spain
Fuerteventura
Endless white-sand beaches, the Corralejo dunes and wild Cofete. A biosphere reserve and a paradise for windsurfing and kitesurfing thanks to its constant wind.
Read the guide -
05 Spain
La Palma
La Isla Bonita: the Caldera de Taburiente, damp forests, the landscapes of the 2021 volcano and one of the best skies in the world for stargazing.
Read the guide -
06 Spain
La Gomera
The Garajonay forest, a World Heritage Site, ravines with palm groves and Silbo Gomero, the whistled language still taught in schools.
Read the guide -
07 Spain
El Hierro
The smallest of the seven main islands and the quietest: a biosphere reserve, juniper trees twisted by the wind and diving in the Mar de las Calmas, near La Restinga.
Read the guide -
08 Spain
La Graciosa
A small island off Lanzarote with no tarmac roads, sandy streets and almost empty beaches. You get there by boat from Órzola.
Read the guide
More in “The Canary Islands in winter: which island to choose”
Tenerife
In the shadow of Mount Teide
Lava pools in Garachico, wooden balconies in La Orotava and a hamlet clinging to a ravine.
A stone village with lava pools, a town of wooden balconies below Mount Teide, a hamlet clinging to a ravine and giant cliffs above the sea: the most beautiful villages in Tenerife, an island to visit at any time of year.
From almost any corner of the island, Mount Teide rises on the horizon.
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01 Spain
Garachico
A stone village where the lava of 1706 left behind natural rock pools.
Read the guide -
02 Spain
La Orotava
Stately houses with wooden balconies and gardens in the green valley below Mount Teide.
Read the guide -
03 Spain
Masca
A hamlet clinging to a ravine in the Teno massif, reached by a road of impossible bends.
Read the guide -
04 Spain
Los Gigantes
Cliffs hundreds of metres high above the sea and boat trips to see dolphins and pilot whales.
Read the guide -
05 Spain
Puerto de la Cruz
The Lago Martiánez, the botanical garden and Mount Teide in the background, in the island's most classic resort town.
Read the guide - 06
Spain
Teide
The highest peak in Spain, lava flows and one of the best skies in the world for stargazing.
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Gran Canaria
A miniature continent
Uplands with almond trees, villages of balconies, a harbour of canals and dunes by the sea.
A white village in the uplands facing Roque Nublo, wooden balconies around a basilica, a harbour of canals and bougainvillea and a valley where coffee is grown: the most beautiful villages in Gran Canaria.
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01 Spain
Tejeda
A white village with views of Roque Nublo and Roque Bentayga, surrounded by almond trees.
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02 Spain
Roque Nublo
The volcanic monolith that is the symbol of the island, reached by a short trail.
Read the guide -
03 Spain
Teror
Wooden balconies around the basilica of the island's patron saint.
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04 Spain
Agaete
The harbour of Las Nieves, natural pools and a valley where coffee is grown.
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05 Spain
Puerto de Mogán
The little Venice of Gran Canaria: white houses, canals and bougainvillea.
Read the guide -
06 Spain
Maspalomas
Golden sand dunes by the sea, a lighthouse and a lagoon full of birds.
Read the guide
Lanzarote
The island of volcanoes
Lava fields, white villages, the valley of a thousand palms and the mark of César Manrique.
A former capital of white houses, a valley of palm trees, an island without paved roads, lava fields and the spaces César Manrique created inside the volcanoes: the most beautiful places in Lanzarote.
In Timanfaya the ground still holds the heat of the volcanoes.
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01 Spain
Teguise
The former capital, of white houses and convents, with a castle on a volcano.
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02 Spain
Haría
The valley of a thousand palms, with the house where César Manrique lived.
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03 Spain
Timanfaya
Lava fields from the 18th-century eruptions, where the heat underground can be felt just a few metres down.
Read the guide -
04 Spain
Jameos del Agua
A lava tube turned by César Manrique into a space with an underground lake and an auditorium.
Read the guide - 05
Spain
La Graciosa
An island without paved roads, with sandy streets and almost unspoilt beaches.
Read the guide -
06 Spain
Arrecife
The castle of San Gabriel and the Charco de San Ginés, in the island's capital.
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February
Carnival in the streets
Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas hold two of the most famous carnivals in Spain, and Cádiz brings the satirical songs.
The chirigotas of Cádiz, the carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the masks of Venice or Rio’s Sambadrome: the most famous carnivals and what makes each one special. Almost all of them take place in February, before Ash Wednesday.
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01 Spain
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
One of the biggest street carnivals in the world, with the election of the Queen and Tuesday’s grand parade.
February
Read the guide -
02 Spain
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Another of the great carnivals of the Canary Islands, with the Drag Gala and a party in Santa Catalina park.
February
Read the guide -
03 Spain
Cádiz
The carnival of wit: chirigotas, comparsas and choirs in the streets, and the competition at the Gran Teatro Falla.
February
Read the guide
In the kitchen
Canarian flavours
Three recipes from our guides to keep the trip going at home: wrinkled potatoes with mojo, rabbit in salmorejo and almogrote from La Gomera.
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Papas arrugadas con mojo (wrinkled potatoes with mojo)
Small potatoes boiled with lots of salt until the skins wrinkle, with spicy red mojo and green mojo: the Canary Islands dish you’ll find everywhere in Las Palmas.
Ingredients
- 1 kg small potatoes
- 150 g coarse salt
- Red mojo: 2 dried red peppers or ñoras, 4 garlic cloves, cumin, paprika, oil, vinegar and salt
- Green mojo: coriander, 2 garlic cloves, green pepper, cumin, oil, vinegar and salt
Method
- Wash the potatoes and boil them in their skins in just enough water to cover, with the coarse salt, for about 20 minutes.
- Drain off almost all the water and leave them on the heat until they dry and the skins wrinkle and turn white.
- Blend the ingredients for each mojo with the oil and vinegar.
- Serve hot with both mojos.
Tip: Shake the pot at the end so the salt sticks to the skins.
Recipe in its guide
Tenerife, Spain
Conejo en salmorejo
Tenerife’s festive dish: rabbit marinated with garlic, chilli, thyme, paprika and wine, fried and then stewed in its marinade, served with wrinkled potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 rabbit, cut into pieces
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 chilli or picona pepper
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- Thyme, oregano and bay leaf
- 250 ml white wine and 100 ml vinegar
- Olive oil and salt
Method
- Pound the garlic with the chilli, salt, paprika and herbs, and mix with the wine and vinegar.
- Cover the rabbit with the marinade and leave it in the fridge overnight.
- Drain, pat dry and fry it in oil until golden.
- Add the strained marinade and simmer, covered, over a low heat for 30 minutes, until the sauce reduces.
Tip: The longer in the marinade, the better: many families leave it overnight.
Recipe in its guide
San Sebastián de La Gomera, Spain
Almogrote
La Gomera’s spread of grated aged cheese with garlic, chilli and tomato, eaten on toast.
Ingredients
- 250 g aged goat’s cheese
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 picona pepper or chilli
- 1 small ripe tomato
- 100 ml olive oil
Method
- Grate the cheese finely.
- Pound the garlic with the chilli and the peeled tomato.
- Gradually add the cheese and oil, mixing until you have a spreadable paste.
- Serve with toast.
Tip: Keep it in a jar covered with oil: it lasts for days in the fridge.
Recipe in its guideDownload the app
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