Fuerteventura holidays

Popular holidays

When it comes to sunny Spanish getaways, Canary Island escapes are hard to beat. And Fuerteventura holidays promise world-class coastlines by the bucketload. The diverse beach landscapes here make it a top pick for sea and sand.

Fantastic beaches and rolling dunes

With over 150 beaches across the island, holidays here are all about the white-sand coastlines. If there’s one spot not to miss, it’s Corralejo Natural Park’s 10 kilometres of sand dunes – the biggest dune spread in the Canaries. If you’re after quiet sweeps, make a dash for Cofete. Or, if it’s bar-lined strips you’re after, Jandia will tick the box.

Corralejo and popular island resorts

Corralejo balances old and new – its old town is home to traditional tapas restaurants, while the resort centre’s home to the likes of karaoke bars. Further down the coast, family favourite Costa Caleta lines up watersports and international restaurants. The Jandia peninsula in the south, meanwhile, teams national park-protected beaches with duty-free shopping centres and a clutch of cocktail bars. It’s also where you’ll find a crop of All Inclusive hotels like the TUI Magic Life Fuerteventura.

World-class watersports

Fuerteventura’s coastline isn’t just for beach bathing, though – you’ll also find some of best watersports in Spain. So, if active holiday attractions are your thing, the island will be right up your street. There are kite surfing and windsurfing hubs galore, including Playa de Sotavento on the south coast, which plays host to the windsurfing World Championships each July.

Volcanic landscapes and traditional villages

You might wonder why you’d ever leave the seafront during your Fuerteventura holiday, but exploring the island’s interior is a must. In fact, the attractions beyond the beach are some of the best in the Canaries. Wind-whipped lava fields and valleys of cactus-like fauna called euphorbia give way to centuries-old traditional villages – like the whitewashed Betancuria and Vego de Rio Palmas – that have missed the march of mass tourism.

Popular hotels in Fuerteventura

Top things to see and do in Fuerteventura

Beaches

Diverse sandy stretches

There are more than 150 different options when it comes to beaches in Fuerteventura. The island’s stretches of sand range from deserted bays to well-equipped family bases, and a fair few of the coves and bays are held in such high regard, they’ve been given natural park status.

Parque Natural de las Dunas

Parque Natural de las Dunas wins the title of Fuerteventura’s biggest beach by some way. It’s 10 kilometres long and protected as a natural park, so the soft, white sand has largely been left exactly as nature intended. You can hire sunloungers on some stretches, though, and there are a couple of nearby restaurants and ice-cream kiosks for when you need to fuel up between sunbathing stints.

Cofete Beach

Cofete Beach, a secluded bay near Jandia, has managed to stay under the tourism radar. There’s a short walk down to the beach and no facilities at all, so you’ll get a real castaway feeling when you’re here. And if you visit outside the peak summer months, you can have this spot, with its untouched mountain scenery, pretty much all to yourself.

Shopping

Bargain buys

Brush up on your bargaining skills at one of Fuerteventura’s markets. Corralejo’s jewellery markets on Mondays and Fridays are stocked up with – you guessed it – handmade jewellery. You can pick up pottery in Jandia and Puerto del Rosario. And the Sunday markets in Costa Calma are the place to go for crystal glass and silver.

Mid-range buys

Visit the old town in Corralejo to pick up pieces of local art, homemade jewellery and local aloe vera products like hand cream. You can also buy photography at the harbour – local photographers have prints for sale in a few of the stores.

Designer buys

Fuerteventura’s a great place to stock up on duty-free perfumes and watches. You’ll find the best buys at the 30,000-square-foot Las Rotondas shopping centre in Puerto del Rosario. Or, for more retail therapy, try the Comercial Atlantico in Costa Caleta, which has over 40 stores under its roof.

Nightlife

Laid-back evenings

Fuerteventura’s less of a wild child than Tenerife and Lanzarote. Here, evenings out tend to revolve around cocktails and long, leisurely meals. Head to the pedestrianised area near Corralejo’s harbour, where acoustic music’s often the backdrop to your dinner. Jandia Harbour has its fair share of restaurants, too, while Costa Caleta’s main bar hubs are the Happy Centre and Castillo Centre.

Lively evenings

You’ll find some of the island’s liveliest nightspots in Centro Commercial Atlantico, in Corralejo. Puerto del Rosario’s town centre gets in on the act, too. Both these places have karaoke bars, Irish pubs and a few discos where you can dance the night away. And if you’re staying in Jandia, the Centro Comercial de Jandia is the place to go to paint the town red.

Food & drink

Majorero goat cheese

This cheese is a tapas table crowd pleaser. It’s made from the milk of Fuerteventura’s indigenous Majorera goat and it’s got a buttery, nutty flavour. It goes well with Parma ham and crusty bread, and for a real treat, order it with a bottle of oaky Rioja.

Pejines

This tiny fish snack is like Fuerteventura’s version of a bag of pork scratchings back home. The tiny fish in this finger-food dish are dried and cooked in flaming alcohol, and they’re best paired with a glass of Rioja.

Gofio amasado

The centuries-old Canarian recipe for gofio amasado consists of a grain-based gofio flour, milk, water, potatoes and honey. It’s mixed together until it’s got a pate-like texture. It’s often served in slices as a snack at festivals.

Papas arrugadas

Papas arrugadas are absolutely everywhere in the Canary Islands. These wrinkly potatoes are more appetising than they sound, thanks to crunchy skins and fluffy centres. They’re usually dusted with coarse sea salt and lashings of spicy pepper sauce.