Choose Tenerife for volcanic hiking and the widest range of resorts; choose Gran Canaria for dunes, an easy city break by the beach, and shorter drives. They’re a 30-minute flight or a fast ferry apart, so you can also do both.
Quick decider
Want Teide, whale-watching and big scenery? Tenerife. Want dunes, a real city and less driving? Gran Canaria. Torn? Combine them, they’re close enough to hop.
Three ways we’d do it
Island hopping · 10–14 days
Canary Islands Island Hopper
Four islands, one trip: volcanic Tenerife to green La Gomera, then the dunes of Gran Canaria and lava-carved Lanzarote, by ferry and short flight.
Tenerife → La Gomera → Gran Canaria → Lanzarote
Cruise · 7–14 days
Canaries by Sea
Sail between Tenerife and Gran Canaria, winter sun from the deck.
Tenerife → Gran Canaria