The short answer
- Choose Tenerife if you want big days out: Mount Teide, whale and dolphin watching, Siam Park and Loro Parque, and the dramatic cliffs of Los Gigantes.
- Choose Gran Canaria if you want huge beaches and sand dunes, an easy mix of resort and real city in Las Palmas, and quiet mountain villages in the middle of the island.
For weather alone, there's very little in it. Both have winter highs of about 21 to 23°C in their sunny southern resorts, and both are on UK time.
Weather in winter
Both islands are mountainous, and that shapes their weather. The north-east trade winds bring cloud to the northern slopes, while the south of each island stays drier and sunnier. So on both islands, most winter-sun hotels are in the south.
- Tenerife: the resorts of Costa Adeje, Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos see highs of around 21 to 22°C in December and January. The north, around Puerto de la Cruz, is greener and often cloudier.
- Gran Canaria: Maspalomas, Playa del Inglés and Puerto de Mogán are often a degree or so warmer, and the south-west around Mogán is known for being one of the sunniest corners of the Canaries.
The sea is around 19°C in midwinter on both islands: fine for a swim, if a bit bracing. Nights fall to about 15 to 16°C on the coast, so bring a light jumper. Up in the mountains it's much colder, and Teide often has snow.
Beaches
Gran Canaria wins on beaches. The Maspalomas dunes are a protected area of golden sand that runs down to a long beach, and Playa del Inglés next door is wide and busy. In Las Palmas, Las Canteras is a city beach protected by a natural reef, so the water is often calm.
Tenerife's natural sand is mostly dark and volcanic. Many of its southern resort beaches, like Playa de las Vistas in Los Cristianos, use imported golden sand, and they're perfectly pleasant. Las Teresitas, near Santa Cruz in the north-east, is the island's best-known golden beach, with sand brought from the Sahara.
If beaches are the main reason you're going, Gran Canaria has the edge.
Things to do
Tenerife has more big attractions. Mount Teide, at 3,715m, is the highest point in Spain, and a cable car takes you most of the way up. Permits for the final summit path are limited and need booking well ahead. The south-west coast is one of Europe's best places for whale and dolphin watching, as pilot whales live there all year. Families love Siam Park and Loro Parque, and Masca and Los Gigantes have some of the most dramatic scenery in the Canaries. La Laguna's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gran Canaria is about variety in a smaller space. You can drive from the dunes to pine forests and mountain villages like Tejeda in under an hour, and walk up to Roque Nublo, a huge rock pillar near the island's highest point. Las Palmas is a proper city, with the old quarter of Vegueta, good food and a surfing scene. Puerto de Mogán, nicknamed Little Venice, is a pretty harbour town with small canals.
Getting there
Both islands are about four to four and a half hours from most UK airports, and both are served by lots of direct flights in winter from Jet2, easyJet, Ryanair, TUI and others.
- Tenerife has two airports. Most UK flights land at Tenerife South, about 20 minutes from Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos.
- Gran Canaria airport is on the east coast, about 30 minutes from Maspalomas and 20 from Las Palmas.
Tenerife usually has more flights from more UK airports, which can mean more choice of dates and prices. It's worth comparing both before you decide.
Which suits you?
A few quick ways to decide:
- You want to see a volcano: Tenerife, for Teide.
- You want long walks on golden sand: Gran Canaria, for Maspalomas.
- You like a city with your sun: Gran Canaria, for Las Palmas.
- You want theme parks and boat trips: Tenerife.
- You want walking and mountain scenery: both are excellent. Tenerife has Teide National Park and the Anaga mountains, Gran Canaria the central peaks around Roque Nublo.
- You're going for a week or less: Gran Canaria is a little more compact, so you can see more of it without long drives.
If you're split, add both to an ideas list on somewhere.party, give each a few points, and let the draw decide.
Other islands to consider
The other Canaries are worth a look too. Lanzarote has volcanic landscapes and stylish, low-rise villages. Fuerteventura has the longest, emptiest beaches. La Palma and La Gomera are quieter and greener, and great for walking.
For a non-Canaries comparison, our post on Madeira or Tenerife weighs flowers and levada walks against beaches. For more ideas, see winter sun with no jet lag, where to go in January, or our guides to Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
