Isla de la Gomera my fav more laid back prettier

great mountains tropical rain forest park with hiking

400 species of strange new animals plants kids love it...

www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Spain/Canary

Thompson Holidays decent packages some times...

This was a recent thread on this topic:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/canary-islands-anyone-been-there.cfm

Click on my screen name for a report on Fuerteventura earlier this year.

Anyone else? Need to book plane tickets soon and still cannot figure out which two islands we should chose? Thanks-

Where would you want to spend Christmas-Gran Canaria or Tenirife?

Neither really, this is a package holiday destination for the British with cheap hotels and charter flights. La Gomera, Fuerteventura, maybe Lanzarote.

With a choice of only those two? Then Gran Canaria every time. Otherwise Fuerteventura.

Using Easy Jet out of LGW and they are only flying to Tenerife,Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. I thought that we would fly into one island and out of another island with possible use of the ferry between the two islands.

Then Lanzarote and ferry to Fuerteventura. They are quite close to each other and you can take a car across. I seem to remember that we paid about €70 earlier this year. Each additional passenger is about €45.

Just got back from our family trip to the Canaries and had a wonderful vacation! We spent the first week in Gran Canaria at Puerto Mogan at a private apartment which we loved. Then took the ferry from Gran Canaria over to Tenerife. We spent our first four days(Christmas weekend) in Puerta de la Cruz(staying at a great hotel on a small mountain overlooking the sea and city) and then the last days in Los Gigantes at an unbelievable 3 bedroom/3 bath private apartment with two floors of balconies over looking the cliffs and sea.
I cannot say enough about Los Gigantes-it is the PERFECT place if you want to be in Tenerife without the massive crowds with lots of things to do and see.
Kinda sad to see people go to the Canaries and never see the various parts of each island as there is so much natural history and scenery! Rent a car;DON'T do a package tour or stay at hotels/resorts with thousands of people and find places where the locals eat and hang out.

I agree. I went to Tenerife on a package tour expecting nothing but a bit of sun in winter, and was quite amazed at the beauty of the place once you get away from the tourist centres.

Hi Dutyfree - Glad to hear your trip went well; we are considering a very similar itinerary over Xmas/New Years 2012/13 - do you have any additional info on the apartment you rented in Los Gigantes? What kind of activities did you do? We are also Floridians (Naples) so some beach is good but isn't the main reason for the trip... and travelling with 17 & 19 year old daughters. Any advice appreciated!