To think the canary isles are tacky?

@ElaborateCushion You covered 640 sq miles in half a day? That’s quite a feat!

@luckylavender Sorry, that wasn't meant to come across as aggressive

@RampantIvy - a bit aggressive but Fuerteventura

Which island then?

I think it is very unlucky to get rain. You can get quite a lot of cloud cover - we did in Fuerteventura one May. Cloud every day.

We’ve always had glorious weather in Lanzarote in October half term. We had quite a lot of cloud in July but we were at the sports camp so I wasn’t bothered about wall to wall sunshine.

That was rotten luck especially regarding the rain.
Lanzarote typically gets only 10 or 11 days of rain per year and Tenerife a few more, something like 14 or 15. That's why water conservation is such a massive issue in the Canaries. Obviously you're more likely to see rain in February than August but you were still unlucky to get a whole wet week as the average for February is about 3 rainy days in the month.
Temperature wise the climate is fairly temperate and the average for Feb is around 20c so not massively hot but a lot warmer than the average of around 6c and 13 days of rain that you get in the same month in the UK, and probably about the best you can do without a long haul flight at that time of year.
Obviously you can get unexpectedly or good weather at times anywhere - we had shorts and t shirt weather in Berlin in November a few years ago and I had taken my winter coat and thermals! But one person's holiday doesn't negate years of weather recording and there's loads of freely available data that shows that it's usually warm but not red hot and fairly dry in the Canaries in February. It does vary from place to place of course - it's well known that the climate is quite different in Northern Tenerife compared to the South for instance. Anyone expecting wall to wall sunshine and really high temperatures probably hasn't done their research but it does sound like you were very unfortunate to have such poor weather.

@RampantIvy - I didn't say it was Lanzarote

🙄

Wow, people are baying for blood here, aren't they? People must really love the Canaries to want to defend them to the death 🤣

Doesn't the software also pick up on often used or recently used works and assume that's the one you want to use?

What a bloody hilarious thread. Plenty of posters have been able to make the rational point that a few resorts do no make the whole island, others are absolutely batshit. Great entertainment, I'm sad it's too early for popcorn.

@luckylavender did you do no planning? No research? I can't imagine there are many places in the world with "nothing to see" sounds like competitive ignorance to me.

I'm sure a lot depends on where your hotel is, but there are a lot of architecturally interesting, in some cases important, churches full of art and with historic links to the colonial period. The Canaries' four Unesco-designated World Heritage sites include a cathedral and an archaeological site. There's no lack of culture.

In Lanzarote?

There is loads to see.

@RampantIvy - found nothing to explore. No culture, lack of places to eat, markets etc. Hotel was lovely but not for me.

We go to Club La Santa in Lanzarote. A sports resort in the north of the island with a windsurfing lagoon, three 50m swimming pools plus leisure pool, running track, cycling, racquet sports etc - amazing place. Last time we were there we saw Lucy Charles Barclay (Ironman World Champion) and Olympian Sarah Storey (SPOTY nominee 2024). Not a beer gut or a banana boat in sight.

My kindle fire autocorrects my typing to all sorts of weird and wonderful words. It would have corrected Gran to Grand.

I still think she was a snob though.

@YaWeeFurryBastard funny how the software doesn't autocorrect "Gran" to "Grand" on my phone when I type it out. Just admit you didn't know how it was spelled and we can all move on.

You're getting a bit of a pile on but you definitely could have worded your OP and got useful answers without sounding like such a horrendous snob!

What did you find boring?
Did you not do any exploring?

The winter sun is a bit of a myth. We went in February and it rained most days and the temperature only once got into the 20s.

I went for the first time a couple of years ago. Not Tenerife. I didn't find it tacky but I did find it really really boring.

Gran Canaria is also a bit of a Mecca for road cyclists (and mountain bikers) @notprincehamlet

I was there earlier this year and was impressed by the smoothly tarmacked roads and considerate bus drivers who hung back on hills and gave friendly warning beeps when approaching the many bends.

I went on the public buses up into the mountains and there were many roadies out riding and not once did I see evidence of the 'hatred of cyclists' vibe or constant near misses and worse that's all too common in the UK.

First time I went to Lanzarote was for a triathlon training camp. I'm a sun-dodging teetotal all-round boring bastard and was convinced I wouldn't like the place but it gets under your skin. The sea is vivid bluegreen, clean and warm and you can swim in it in January. And it's great for cycling with its well maintained roads and careful motorists - a revelation after the UK's shitty weather, shittier beaches, road network of interconnected potholes and dickhead drivers. The landscape is spooky and beautiful. If it's tacky you want you'll find it wherever you are.

Not tacky especially, though like anywhere else they have their moments. But I don't love them as a destination, and I've been to three of them. Gran Canaria was the best of the lot for me but I wouldn't be bothered about going back. I loathed Tenerife. I found it really ugly!

absolutely agree about la palma x

I think there are probably parts like this.

Have been to fueteventura- which has parts like this… and la palma- which doesn’t- it does have all inclusives though. La palma was absolutely beautiful, quiet etc- the polar opposite of what you describe tbh x