Attractions

Mariposario del Drago (Butterfly Park)

Casa del Plátano (Banana House)

Palmetum

Siam Park

Drago de Icod de los Vinos

Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín

Calatrava architectural icon by the sea in Santa Cruz.

Parque Marítimo

Monkey Park

Jungle Park

Teide National Park

Loro Parque

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria

Seafront Marian sanctuary, patron saint of the Canaries.

Cuevas de Ajuy (Monumento Natural de Ajuy)

Sea caves and a black-sand beach after a short coastal path.

Parque Nacional de Timanfaya

Living volcanic landscape with the bus Route of the Volcanoes.

Playa de las Arenas

Playa de las Teresitas

Punta de Teno

Masca

Fundación César Manrique

César Manrique museum and foundation in his former Tahíche home.

Casa de Colón

History museum in the Vegueta old town, Las Palmas.

Museo Arqueológico de La Gomera (MAG)

Archaeology museum on the pre-Hispanic culture of La Gomera.

Museo Arqueológico Benahoarita (MAB)

Archaeology museum on the Benahoarita culture in Los Llanos de Aridane.

Jardín de Cactus

César Manrique's cactus garden in Guatiza, Lanzarote.

Mirador del Río

César Manrique viewpoint over El Río and La Graciosa.

MUNA - Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología

Nature and archaeology museum in central Santa Cruz.

Playa de Santa Cruz de La Palma

An urban beach of volcanic sand beside the capital's Avenida Marítima, at the foot of its historic seafront.

Jardín de Orquídeas Sitio Litre

Historic garden in Puerto de la Cruz, set around an old estate in the Orotava Valley, home to the oldest orchid collection in the Canary Islands.

Área Recreativa Presa de las Niñas

A Cabildo recreation and camping area beside the Las Niñas reservoir in Tejeda, inside the Nublo Rural Park, with pine woods, walking trails and barbecue spots.

Parque Rural de Anaga

Protected area and Biosphere Reserve covering the mountain massif at the north-eastern tip of Tenerife, some 14,500 hectares of ridges, ravines and hamlets linked by footpaths.

Finca de Osorio

A 204-hectare public estate of the Cabildo in Teror, inside the Doramas Rural Park, with laurel forest, educational trails and visits by prior permit.

Parque Natural de Tamadaba

A 7,538-hectare Natural Park in north-west Gran Canaria, spanning Artenara, Agaete and La Aldea, protecting one of the island's best preserved natural pine forests.

Museo del Queso Majorero

Museum dedicated to Majorero cheese in Antigua, Fuerteventura.

Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente (Centro de Visitantes)

National park and visitor centre in the heart of La Palma.

Museo Histórico Militar de Canarias (Fuerte de Almeyda)

Military history museum in the 18th-century Fuerte de Almeyda in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with rooms of flags, weapons, uniforms and dioramas.

Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós

Birthplace of novelist Benito Pérez Galdós in the Triana district of Las Palmas, now a house-museum with guided visits and free entry.

El Museo Canario

Archaeological museum in Vegueta with the largest collection on the pre-Hispanic Guanche culture of the Canaries.

Poema del Mar

One of Europe's most spectacular aquariums, home to the world's largest curved viewing window onto the deep sea.

Pirámides de Güímar

Six stepped pyramids surrounded by gardens and the enigma that fascinated Thor Heyerdahl.

Aqualand Costa Adeje

The largest water park in the Canary Islands, with slides for every age and one of Europe's few dolphinariums.

Parque Arqueológico El Tendal

A Benahoarita site in the final stretch of the Barranco de San Juan, in the Los Galguitos district of San Andrés y Sauces, inside the Las Nieves natural park. Its core is a huge natural cave more than sixty metres wide that was lived in for at least two thousand years. Around it lie dozens of caves, three burial grounds and a small station of rock engravings, together with a visitor centre completed in 2019.

Castillo de La Virgen

The Castillo de La Virgen crowns the cliff above the Barranco de Las Nieves, on the northern edge of the old town of Santa Cruz de La Palma. It was never a working military fort. It grew out of the town festival, and its battlements are the stage for the Dialogue between the Castle and the Ship during the Bajada de la Virgen. The rest of the time it serves as a quiet balcony over the rooftops, the harbour and the Atlantic.

Bodegas Teneguía

Fuencaliente winery known for its volcanic Malvasía wines, with visits in southern La Palma.

Maroparque

Zoological park and animal refuge in Breña Alta, with birds, primates and reptiles amid greenery.

Salinas de Fuencaliente

Working sea salt flats and nature reserve in Fuencaliente.

Charco Azul

A natural volcanic pool in El Golfo (Frontera, El Hierro), with a turquoise basin beneath a basalt arch, parking and a wooden sun deck.

Parque Nacional de Garajonay (Centro de Visitantes Juego de Bolas)

Laurel-forest national park (World Heritage) and its visitor centre.

Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo

Spain's largest botanical garden, in Tafira, Gran Canaria.

Mirador La Llanía

A viewpoint on the central plateau of El Hierro, inside the Frontera rural park, looking out over the escarpment of the El Golfo valley. From the rim you take in at a glance the huge landslide that dropped half the island's flank and left the valley at the foot of the wall. It is reached on a circular trail through a south-facing laurel and heath forest of tall tree heathers, ferns and lichen.

Mirador de La Punta

The Mirador de La Punta looks over the valley of Hermigua from the GM-1 road, roughly halfway between Hermigua and Agulo. Below lie Playa de Santa Catalina, the pillars of the old loading crane and a carpet of banana plantations climbing the terraces. Montaña del Hueco and the headland of Hermigua close the background, and across the water Tenerife appears with Teide on a clear day.

El Tamaduste

El Tamaduste is a natural pool set into a coastal village in the municipality of Valverde, in the north-east of El Hierro. The inlet forms a sheet of clear, sheltered water that is good for swimming, and at its far end opens the so-called boat cave, tied to the island's oral tradition. The village has for generations been the summer place of the herreños themselves, and it remains one of the liveliest bathing spots in the municipality.

Merenderos Barranco De Los Cernícalos

The Barranco de los Cernícalos in Valsequillo is one of the few watercourses on Gran Canaria that runs all year round. One of the island's best wild olive woods grows on its slopes and a willow grove thrives on the bed; the water comes channelled down from the summits and forms small waterfalls. The name comes from the kestrel, the bird of prey that nests in the ravine. The picnic area marks the start of the easiest walk, about three kilometres long.

Playa de Las Alcaravaneras

A golden-sand city beach on the eastern edge of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, facing the harbour. At around 550 metres long and almost 100 wide it is the capital's second largest beach, and the one locals actually use. The sheltered water stays calm, which makes it an easy swim for families.

La Casa del Carnaval

Museum centre devoted to the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, opened in 2017 in the barranco de Santos park, with an interactive permanent room.

Chorros de Épina

A natural spring with seven heather-wood spouts in the laurel forest of north-west La Gomera, beside the hamlet of Épina and the start of several walking routes.

Faro de Maspalomas

An 1890s lighthouse beside the Maspalomas dunes, open daily from 10:30 to 17:00 with free entry.

Área Recreativa de la Laguna de Valleseco

A former seasonal lagoon among chestnut trees, with trails, barbecue picnic areas, a playground and a viewpoint; dogs allowed.

Caldera de Los Marteles

Volcanic crater on the Gran Canaria summit, its farmed floor visible in full from the rim beside the road.

La Fortaleza de Ansite

Aboriginal site and natural fortress where the last Canarian resistance took place.

Centro de Interpretación del Barranco de Guayadeque

Museum carved into the rock explaining the life of the native Canarians in the spectacular Barranco de Guayadeque.

Barranco del Infierno

Guided trail through a protected nature reserve in Adeje, with mandatory helmet and limited daily access.