Anyone been to more than one of the Canary Islands?

[finallypregnant]

Would love to hear what you thought - good and bad of each island. Still looking for a December holiday - off the beaten track as we're not really into Las Americas type places.

Thanks

Fuerte - nothing there except sand, good if you like watersports and wind

Tenerife - not great, highrise buildings, assume there must be nice bits

Lanza - lots to see and do, good beaches, only low rise buildings

Gran Can - similar to lanza

Ive been to tenerife and gran can - preferred gran can - better for the kids i thought, was lucky had a fab resort

OBOG - which resort in Gran Canaria did you go to? What specifically did you like about it? Am curious as, like OP would like to take DCs on winter hols to Canaries but worried it will be high rise hell.

Lanzarote very windy - take a look a some pictures before you go. The trees grow side ways due to the constant wind. We stayed in a lovely hotel, adn the beach/resturants were great.

Fuerte - I lurve the sand on the beach - amazing.

Tenerife - have only done Las Americas in a drunkan stupor. Probably wouldn't go with kids, to Tenerife, but a posh friend has a villa there, so maybe some parts are OK.

If you want to go to Gran Canaria, I can recommend Maspalomas (the huge dessert like sandy beach) and Puerto Rico. Stay away from the older resorts such as Playa des Ingles and Playa de las americas, etc. There are some lovely resorts north of Puerto Rico too.

I've been to Fuerteventura - absolutely loved it.
We are going to Lanzarote tomorrow ( ) so shall let you know what it's like in a weeks' time!!

Fuerteventura - very hot in summer, very sandy beaches, lots of dunes and windswept (good for water sports). Old volcanic craters can be climbed.

Lanzarote - interesting volcanic landscape inland, short ferry hop from Fuerte.

I really enjoyed Lanzarote - it's a tiny island and there was a lot to see. We went up into the mountains where they were cooking fish on a huge grill over a volcanic crater. Visited in December.

The weather was hot but got a bit windy in the afternoon, beaches were good.

Feurta - not mcuh there, beaches Ok and weather hot. Visited in December.

Gran Canaria - lots of nightlife.

Tenerife - The only island I've been to with children and we had a great time. Beaches were good, black sand was interesting to the dc.

I think you will enjoy any of them in December after the weather we have had!

Been to lanz 3 times and gran can once, also went to fuerte but can't really remember that as was young with parents.
Gran can was nice but things to do spaced out so a bit of walking involved to get to something to do.
Lanz is my favourite, lots to do and good beaches etc

i also loved gran canaria as someone else has mentioned ,the sand dunes at mas palomas are fabulous ,and its a great walk along the beach to playa del Ingles.A lovely place to visitis the little village of Mogan.You can get there by bus ,wether you stay in puerto rico ,mas palomas or anywhere near there,but i must point out the bus ride is a bit hair raising,but its worth it.I prefer it to lanzarote and tenerife,which i didnt like so much .i didnt like the black sand.

we used to go to Fuerta when we were kids I loved it the sand dunes are amazing but you have to watch out for nude Germans lol my mum and dad nearly had a heart attack when we had set up on one of the beaches then an old german with hid dingaling out walked passed we made a hasty retreat

Sorry, only just seen the post.

I cant remember the exact name of the resort, will ask hubby and see if he can remember.

We did a last minute booking and were really lucky as we didn't know where we were going until we got there.

It was in a little village, about 30 mins on the bus or 10-15 taxi to the main town.

But the resort was really family based with everything we needed to entertain the young children within the resort or a short walk to the beach.

In tenerife i found a lot of young couples without children or group holidays where as gran canaria i think is more family orientated.

Just come back from Anfi beach club, Gran C..Lovely.

Tenerife a bit rough in parts but out of season think its quieter and in partic the North.My Parents go every year so it cant be too rowdy

we also at one time had a holiday in Gran canria and didnt know where we would end up ,it was an area called playa del cura and this was about 20 mins on the local bus from puerto rico,the drawback was we had to walk up quite a steep hill to get to the hotel ,but have to say the views were stunning from our hotel.This was an up and coming new tourist area and they had just started building into the cliffs.But there was a good bus service,and a couple of little shops there.

There is one thing you need to know about Gran Canaria, if you go there. You HAVE to bring those health cards which has replaced form E11, even if you have travel insurance. If you dont, you have to go private, and you wont be seen at a "normal" practice.

Beware of "private ambulances", ie waiters, or hotel staff calling an ambulance on your behalf. A private ambulance is not necessary, the island is small and there are clinics everywhere, and a 5 minute drive will usually set you back £500 which will NOT be covered by your insurance.So better to take a taxi. Waiters and hotel staff are usually on commision from these private ambulances. So dont let them call you an ambulance unless you have a broken leg, or a heartattack or something which you would go in an ambulance for back home. Insist they call a STATE emergency service and not a private ambulance.

I know this because my sister lives there. It is a well known tourist rip off.

Been to Las Americas in Tenerife year ago on a girls holiday.

Been to Lanzarote - Costa Teguise pre children, Playa Blanca I was there this time last week!

Love Lanzarote - till brill and not too hot because you have a nice breeze all the time. Perfect.

Tenerife seems to get a bad rap here, so I'm using my first post on mumsnet to defend it. The yob culture areas of Tenerife have given the whole island a reputation it doesn't deserve. I haven't visited any of the other Canaries yet, but Tenerife has much to recommend it.

Disclosure: My parents retired to Tenerife and then decided to come back to the UK. We enjoyed the area they were living in, and most other parts of the island, so much that we brought their apartment off them when they moved back. It's based in Golf Del Sur which is a quite resort with golf, horse riding, and sailing to hand. It's away from the clubbing areas, and tends to be more for the old-timers and families with young children.

Tenerife as a whole has some fantastic places to see and visit. For the kids the south has many amusement / theme park type venues, and if you're willing to take the 45 minute drive to the other side of the island, Loro Parque is a world-class Zoo that I can't recommend highly enough for families. The volcano caldera is an amazing spectacle for adults, but won't necessarily hold a child's attention for long. The forests on the higher regions of the mountain are gorgeous with great walks / hikes and spectacular views across the island and the sea.

The best parts of Tenerife for me though are the "Spanish" towns and villages. Every one has a park for the children to play in, and every time we've been to one, the Spanish children play really well with our kids. Sunday evening in every town Plaza is a lovely experience. The Spanish love to get the whole family out and eat, chat, and play together. It really is all about family and something I think the Spanish have right and we have wrong! And if you get the chance to have a visit when the festivals are on you in for a real treat.

The weather in Lanzarote can be dodgy in winter. My Mum went there in January and got cloudy, rainy weather, so did my friend and so did I.
Whereas, Puerto Rico in Grand Canaria is usally sunny all year round.