Short answer: pick Fuerteventura for beaches, Tenerife or La Palma for hiking, Tenerife or Gran Canaria for families and nightlife, Lanzarote for volcanic scenery and design, and La Gomera or El Hierro if you want peace and quiet. Each island has its own character, and they differ far more than most first-time visitors expect.
The four big holiday islands
Tenerife
The largest island and the one with the most of everything. The south (Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas) is sunny, resort-heavy and served by Tenerife South airport, where most flights from the UK land. The north is greener and more Spanish: Puerto de la Cruz, the old university town of La Laguna and the Anaga mountains. In the middle rises Teide, Spain's highest peak at about 3,715 m, inside a national park described on the official Tenerife tourism site. The final trail to the summit needs a permit booked in advance through the Cabildo's Tenerife ON platform; a cable car ticket does not include it, according to the national park's booking page.
Gran Canaria
Often called a continent in miniature: the Maspalomas dunes and the big resorts of Playa del Inglés and Puerto de Mogán in the south, a mountainous interior around Roque Nublo, and Las Palmas, a real city with an urban beach, Las Canteras. Good for travellers who want both a beach and a lively town.
Lanzarote
Black lava fields, white villages and the influence of the artist César Manrique, whose work you see at Jameos del Agua, the Mirador del Río and in strict building rules that kept high-rises off most of the coast. Timanfaya National Park shows the landscape left by the eruptions of the 1730s. The best beaches are the coves of Papagayo in the south, and from Órzola in the north a ferry of about 25-30 minutes crosses to La Graciosa, an island with sand tracks instead of tarmac roads.
Fuerteventura
The beach island: long stretches of pale sand, the dunes of Corralejo in the north, the lagoons of Sotavento in the south, and steady wind that makes it a top spot for windsurfing and kitesurfing. It is flatter and drier than the others, with less to do away from the sea.
Beaches
Fuerteventura has the longest and emptiest beaches. Gran Canaria's Maspalomas and Lanzarote's Papagayo coves are close behind. Many of Tenerife's beaches are dark volcanic sand or man-made, and the western islands have few sandy beaches at all. The Atlantic is cooler than the Mediterranean (see our weather and best time guide) and currents can be strong, so choose beaches with lifeguards.
Hiking
Tenerife (Teide, Anaga, Masca) and La Palma (the Caldera de Taburiente and the volcano route) are the classic hiking islands. La Gomera's laurel forest in Garajonay National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and very different from the dry south of the bigger islands. Gran Canaria's interior is excellent too and much less visited than its beaches.
Families
Southern Tenerife and southern Gran Canaria are the easiest choices: many family hotels, calm hotel pools, short airport transfers and big attractions, such as the water and animal parks on Tenerife. Fuerteventura suits families who are happy to spend most days on the sand. Lanzarote is compact, so day trips stay short, which helps with small children.
Nightlife
Playa de las Américas on Tenerife and Playa del Inglés on Gran Canaria are the two main party areas, with late bars and clubs mostly aimed at visitors. Las Palmas and La Laguna have a more local scene. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura have livelier corners in their main resorts but are quieter overall.
Peace and quiet
La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma get a fraction of the visitors of the bigger islands, with no large resorts and plenty of walking. La Graciosa, off Lanzarote, has sand tracks instead of tarmac roads. Our guide to La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro explains how to reach them and what to do.
Combining islands
Island hopping is easy with fast ferries and short inter-island flights: Tenerife pairs well with La Gomera, Lanzarote with Fuerteventura. Our guide to airports, ferries and getting around covers routes and car hire.
Staying connected
Between ferries, hire cars, hiking trails and booking a Teide permit, you will use your phone a lot on any Canary Island trip, and some British tariffs charge for roaming in Spain. A data eSIM for Spain gives you local data from arrival without removing your own SIM; see how much data you need.