5 Things We Love About Spain’s Canary Islands (& 5 Things We Hate)

There are some truly wonderful holiday spots littered around Europe, and Spain's Canary Islands are right up there with the best of them. While they may serve as a pretty popular destination to visit, that doesn't mean it's any less special.

With that being said, we do want to take a look at the Islands in a fair way. As such, we're going to list the things that we love and the things that we hate in equal measure. Some are pretty standard for a lot of these places, but others are a little bit more specific to the region itself.

10 LOVE - Island Variety

Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. Those are the seven main islands, from largest to smallest, that fans of the Canary Islands have to enjoy when they visit. All seven have something for everyone to enjoy both young and old, which makes for a pretty fun dynamic.

It’d take you a while to really appreciate and soak up what they all have to offer, too, which makes it even more of an adventure. You aren’t going to like them all, but the comparing and contrasting is part of the fun.

9 HATE - Underwhelming Architecture

While there are some natural wonders to behold in the Canary Islands, from an architectural point of view, there’s not much to scream and shout about. If you’re ever offered the opportunity to go on an excursion, nine times out of ten, it isn’t going to be that wonderful.

That’s why a lot of people consider some of the Islands to be a little bit tacky because the buildings aren’t much to shout home about. In reality that isn’t actually the case, but such is the nature of traveling and word of mouth.

8 LOVE - Lots Of Waterparks

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a kid or you are in your 50s, waterparks are a lot of fun. It’s great for friends, it’s great for family, and it’s great even if you’re heading there on your own. Adrenaline junkies around the world will be big fans of these waterparks, especially if you head on over to Tenerife.

Siam Park serves as the real main event, with many considering it to be one of the best waterparks in the world. The theming alone means that it qualifies for that award, to be honest.

7 HATE - Salesmen

It’s all well and good asking if you want to buy something when you’re actually inside of a shop, but when you’re walking down the street or you’re on the beach, it can seem a little rude and intrusive.

We understand that these people need to make a living for themselves and we can completely respect and appreciate that, but when you’re on holiday, you don’t want to be worrying about this kind of thing. Do your business elsewhere, or just be a little bit nicer in your approach.

6 LOVE - Great Weather

If you hate the hot weather then you shouldn’t go to the Canary Islands, and it really is that simple. If you love the hot temperatures then this is going to be the place for you, and we mean that sincerely. Very few destinations around Europe are as consistently hot as the islands, and in many ways, it feels like an escape.

We all enjoy the weather and we all enjoy getting a good tan, and you don’t have to worry about rain or cold temperatures 95% of the time over there. When you’re literally on a ‘hot holiday’, that’s all you want to hear.

5 HATE - British Tourists

The biggest issue with the ‘bad’ British tourists is that they feel like they should get priority above everyone else. It’s mainly Brits that go to the Canary Islands out of all travelers, mainly because it’s just a pretty standard holiday destination that is fairly easy to get to.

A lot of Brits abroad are quite loud, they like what they like, and they don’t stray from what they know. If they were a little bit more out there with the activities they decided to partake in on holiday, maybe there wouldn’t be quite so much complaining about it being too hot.

4 LOVE - All Inclusive

There are two parts to this point – the love, and the hate, and they both involve money.

One of the great ‘featured’ offers revolve around the words 'all-inclusive' because it gives you the opportunity to have everything that you desire (food and drink wise) be paid for. It’s not like this doesn’t happen in other places around the world, but it is definitely a trait or a factor as to why so many people enjoy spending their hard-earned money on a holiday like this.

Unfortunately, there’s a negative connotation to this, too.

3 HATE - Overpriced Packages

The prices of the aforementioned all-inclusive holidays, and the packages as a whole are often far too high. When you compare the prices to a city break, that is equally as beautiful and sometimes just a sunny, there’s really no competition.

The flights are one of the big problems, and even when it comes to the accommodation, it doesn’t really matter what kind of quality you’ve got. You’re still going to get screwed out of money, which you should probably just come to expect with destinations such as these.

2 LOVE - Fantastic Beaches

Sit back, relax, get a drink in your hand (or both), and enjoy the sunshine.

The beach isn’t for everyone but if you enjoy going on the beach and everything that comes with it, then you’ll love the Canary Islands. You could quite literally spend half of your entire holiday on one of these select beaches, and the beautiful blue sea will be more than enough to take your breath away.

Plus, it’s often a different kind of environment from your hotel, which will feature a nice enough pool in itself.

1 HATE - Extremely Hilly

This may not necessarily be a bad thing depending on whether or not you like hiking, but there are so many hills in the Canary Islands – to the point where every other street leaves you climbing like your life depends on it. When you combine that with the kind of temperatures that you’d have to be dealing with, it can quickly become an issue.

Again, if you’re into fitness then that’s great, but you go on holiday to relax. Flat surfaces tend to help out with that, and while we sound a bit ‘first world’ here, we aren’t going to apologize for that.

NEXT: Most Affordable Cities For A Romantic Valentine’s Getaway