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The Canary Islands are famous for year-round sunshine, but there are many more reasons to visit besides the weather.
This enchanting archipelago is full of captivating contrasts: lush forests meet volcanic landscapes, and fields of golden dunes lie beside thriving seaside resorts. Plus, with the Canaries’ rich and unique history, cultural discoveries are as abundant as magnificent beaches.
Each island has a unique character, too; La Gomera entices hikers with misty laurel forests, Tenerife boasts excellent food and the soaring summit of Mount Teide, while Fuerteventura is famous for its sweeping beaches and top windsurfing conditions.
With so much to discover, setting sail on an island-hopping cruise can be a wonderful way to explore the Canaries. So we’ve partnered with Marella Cruises to shine a light on some of the best stops.
Operated by TUI UK, Marella have nearly 30 years of sailing experience under their belts, combining TUI’s proven travel expertise with a dedication to making guests feel at home on every voyage. Marella drop anchor in over 100 destinations worldwide, including a range of Canarian ports, offering a wealth of excursions throughout the islands.
Marella Cruises are also all-inclusive as standard, meaning everything is covered in the initial cost of your holiday – from meals, drinks, and tips to flights, luggage, transfers, and service charges.
To inspire your next adventure, here are 10 memorable stops on an all-inclusive Canary Island cruise.
1. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife
Passengers sailing into the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife are greeted by the jagged silhouettes of the Anaga Mountains, looming over the city like giant defensive walls. But once you stroll into the historic quarter, the tree-lined plazas, church towers, and buzzing markets will steal your heart. Old-world charms are juxtaposed with gorgeous botanical gardens and modern landmarks, like the striking auditorium.
Culture vultures can beeline for historic sites, like the La Concepción Church, and museums, such as the MUNA, showcasing the famous Guanche mummies. Foodies can choose between Michelin-recommended restaurants and traditional eateries serving local flavours. And for some relaxation, there’s the palm-fringed marine park with its sapphire pools, or the golden sands of nearby beaches.
2. Garajonay National Park, La Gomera
The island of La Gomera offers a slice of serenity in the Canarian archipelago. Its crown jewel is Garajonay National Park, a landscape of mist-shrouded peaks and verdant valleys, cloaked in ancient laurel forests and traversed by a labyrinth of hiking trails. Exploring this wilderness is to step into prehistoric times; ferns lean over babbling brooks, and lichen paints boulders and tree trunks an electric lime green.
Wildlife enthusiasts can spot rare flora and fauna (a quarter of the plant life is endemic), and while the park itself remains uninhabited, nearby hamlets, like Chipude and El Cercado, offer rich cultural experiences. Visitors can hear the island’s unique ‘whistling language’, silbo gomero, and sample Gomerón, a sweet local liquor made from palm honey and vinegar brandy.
3. Maspalomas, Gran Canaria
Accessible by transfer from the port of Las Palmas, Maspalomas is a lively resort town on Gran Canaria offering excitement for every traveller. Its southern position boasts the island’s balmiest temperatures, ideal for relaxing on the picturesque beaches or diving into watersports like parasailing, windsurfing, or jet skiing.
Just beyond the town lies Gran Canaria’s most treasured landscape: a rolling expanse of gleaming dunes. History lovers can climb the 19th-century lighthouse for sweeping coastal views or explore the nearby remnants of millennia-old dwellings. After a day of sightseeing, the town’s first-class restaurants and upscale boutiques await.
4. Santa Cruz de La Palma, La Palma
Nestled between verdant hills and the Atlantic shore, Santa Cruz de La Palma is one of the Canary Islands’ prettiest towns. Upon arrival, you might feel as if you’ve been transported to the Caribbean. Colourful colonial-style houses with flower-draped wooden balconies overlook a remarkable black sand beach, while vendors hawk homegrown bananas and refreshing sugar cane juice at the market.
Beyond Santa Cruz de La Palma’s postcard-perfect facade lies a storied past. It was once one of the world’s most important ports, acting as a gateway to the Americas, and travellers can explore this heritage at the Museo Naval and Museo Insular, elegantly housed in a gorgeous 16th-century monastery. Or why not tour the town’s best sights aboard a charming trolley train?
5. Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote
La Gomera is synonymous with lush greenery, but Lanzarote offers a different but equally beguiling landscape. Arriving at Timanfaya National Park can feel like touching down on Mars. Everywhere you look, there are soaring volcanoes, immense craters, and rust-red lava fields, creating a stunning contrast of primary colours against the blue sky.
Visitors will find extraordinary geological formations like gullies and cavernous jameos (collapsed lava tubes) nestled between otherworldly peaks. At the park’s heart is El Diablo, a scenic restaurant atop a volcano, serving delectable meat dishes cooked over subterranean heat. And those wanting to dig deeper into this magical landscape can learn more at the informative Mancha Blanca visitor centre.
6. Playa de Sotavento, Fuerteventura
Of all Fuerteventura’s legendary beaches, Playa de Sotavento is king. This 9km stretch of unspoilt coastline weaves together five beautiful beaches that transform dramatically with the tides. Throughout the day, the shifting sea creates dazzling, cerulean lagoons that marble with ribbons of gleaming sand.
Each summer, the Playa de Sotavento hosts the Windsurfing & Kiteboarding World Cup, but its varied conditions cater to learners and experts alike. Between the action, visitors can paddle peacefully in sheltered lagoons, while strolling along the sandbanks offers a surreal walking-on-water experience. With such a vast coastline to explore, the only problem might be deciding where to lay your towel!
7. Teide National Park, Tenerife
Lanzarote isn’t the only Canary Island boasting lofty Martian landscapes. Tenerife is home to its own volcanic badlands, complete with precipitous gorges, sky-scraping summits, and strange rock formations, like the twisting lava pinnacles of Roques de García. But one natural monument stands out above the rest: the magnificent stratovolcano, Mount Teide.
Soaring to 3,718m, Mount Teide is the Canary Islands’ (and Spain’s) highest point. Visitors can scale it on foot or ride a cable car for stunning views of Tenerife and even other islands, such as El Hierro and La Gomera. You may even witness the famous ‘sea of clouds’, a mesmerising natural phenomenon that looks as if a rolling ocean of fluffy white clouds is washing up on the mountain slopes.
8. Caldera de Taburiente National Park, La Palma
From pretty towns to beautiful black sand beaches, it’s little wonder why La Palma is known as ‘la isla bonita’ (‘the beautiful island’). But its most striking scenes are found in the idyllic hinterland of Caldera de Taburiente National Park. Here, a vast crater, roughly 10km wide and thousands of metres deep, forms one of the Canary Islands’ most magnificent natural wonders.
Far from the barren moonscape you might expect, this enormous basin shelters a thriving oasis of rushing streams, rugged ravines, rainbow-tinted waterfalls, and bushy Canarian pine groves. Picture yourself hiking along lofty ridges, skipping across boulders in crystalline brooks, and gazing up at volcanic peaks from lush valley floors – only then will you begin to sense what this extraordinary place is like.
9. Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria’s cosmopolitan capital, is a haven for culture and culinary enthusiasts. Along the historic Vegueta quarter’s cobblestone alleys, you’ll find sun-soaked squares surrounded by buildings of various architectural styles – from Gothic to Renaissance. Look out for the Santa Ana Cathedral, the first church built in the Canaries, which offers exquisite views of the city from its south bell tower.
Two exceptional museums await history enthusiasts: the Casa de Colón explores the Canaries’ role in Columbus’s voyages, and the Museo Canario reveals the island’s pre-Spanish past. Seaside lovers can easily reach Las Canteras Beach on foot from the city centre. And when you feel peckish, try tapas at the lively Mercado del Puerto, which sits under an impressive wrought-iron arcade.
10. Corralejo Dunes, Fuerteventura
Beside the town of Corralejo, accessible via day trip from Puerto del Rosario, lies one of Fuerteventura’s most extraordinary sights: a vast expanse of undulating dunes rolling endlessly towards the horizon. From the ripples combed into the sandy slopes by the wind to the honey-hued glow cast over them by the setting sun, this billowing desert has an unconventional and mesmerising beauty.
Despite its seemingly desolate appearance, this golden wilderness supports unique flora and fauna, including the rare houbara bustards, the Canary Islands’ largest bird. After exploring, head seawards, where the dunes slip gently into the sea, creating a wondrously wild beach, or check out the bars and boutiques of whitewashed Corralejo town.
Final thoughts…
From La Gomera’s flourishing forests and Fuerteventura’s windswept sands to Tenerife’s lofty volcanic peaks and Gran Canaria’s rolling dunes, this small Atlantic archipelago boasts a continent’s worth of diverse and dazzling destinations.
Whether you’re drawn to cosmopolitan cities brimming with cultural discovery, untamed landscapes offering otherworldly beauty, or sun-drenched coastlines with fluffy golden sands, there’s something for everyone in the Canary Islands.
To set sail on your own island-hopping adventure, why not consider an all-inclusive cruise with Marella? Marella Cruises offer a range of itineraries – from their Canarian Flavours cruise to their Atlantic Islands voyage. So, whether you’d like to focus on the Canary Islands or stop by them as part of a wider trip, the choice is yours.