Tenerife

The largest of the Canary Islands and just four hours from the UK, Tenerife is the perfect all-rounder, with everyone from confirmed sun worshipper to ardent hiker guaranteed to find just what they’re looking for.

Most of Tenerife’s luxury and boutique hotels cluster around Costa Adeje in the sandy south-west of the island, an area also great for dolphin and whale watching. Yet as hard as it may be to leave the comforts of resort life, it’s well worth discovering what else the island has to offer.

The capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, hosts the second-largest carnival in the world (after Rio) for two weeks every February. Fans of Spanish food and old-time charm should head to La Orotava, an unspoiled town perched on a steep hill above Puerto de la Cruz, blessed with stately mansions, cobbled streets, ancient churches and an abundance of beautiful local restaurants.

Inland, lush pine forests sweep over ravines and valleys in Corona Forestal Natural Park, while Spain’s tallest mountain towers over you as you hike past dormant lava flows and flowering foliage in UNESCO-listed Teide National Park, the slopes of which are also home to Europe’s highest vineyards.