How to island hop in the Canary Islands
Isabella is one of the writers on the new Canary Islands guidebook, spending weeks researching on-the-ground.
Scattered in the Atlantic around 1400km (870 miles) southwest from mainland Spain, the eight beautifully different Canary Islands require some effort to reach. Once here though, getting around this sun-washed, lava-sculpted joy of an archipelago is a breeze thanks to its reliable local bus and ferry networks, its array of handy interisland flight routes and its long-established tourism infrastructure.
When planning a trip to the Canaries, many people pick just one island to focus on, but hopping between them is perfectly possible too – and a wonderful way to discover how richly varied the archipelago is. For active souls, hiking and biking trails thread between remote villages and lively cities, offering the chance to travel around entirely vehicle-free. No matter how you choose to explore, glimpses of jagged peaks above the clouds, eerily misty laurel forests, sparkling volcanic-sand beaches and other spectacular lunar-like landscapes are guaranteed.
