Canary Islands 2026 | FindPenguins

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Trip start
February 12, 2026
Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Travel Day
February 12 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 19 °F
Had a heck of time getting trip started today. Originally was supposed to fly out of O'Hare with a layover in Montreal. Plans changed because an hour before we had leave for the airport, the O'Hare fight got cancelled! 😡
After 3 hours of playing phone tag with the airlines, finally made our way to Montreal via Detroit for the long leg of our departure.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Day 2
February 13 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Landed in Madrid about 8 AM from Montreal. got to the hotel around 9:30 AM. We were fortunate enough that the hotel let us in our room early after a long night of traveling. It was good to get some rest before we started our actual day. At 2 o’clock. We had a tour booked for the Royal Palace of Madrid. This was about a two hour tour. I didn’t know that Spain has a monarchy, similar to the UK. The king does not live in the royal palace full-time he’s only there for high-level visits and meetings. He has another compound offsite, which is his primary residence. So when he is not entertaining at the palace, it’s open for tourist to visit. Lots of fine arts lots & great detail each room. We had a tour guide that gave us the history of Spain monarchy. There is a painting of the royal family however it’s a bit outdated as the son who is pictured in the painting is now the new king and is 57 years old. There is also a cathedral on the campus which was formally blessed by the Pope for the first time in 1996. The engraving on the front door commemorate that historical day and has the pope sculpted in the door along with the royal family as witnesses.

After the tour, we explored the area of Madrid that we were in luckily the Royal Palace and our hotel are within walking distance of each other. There is a highly trafficked area and we were able to see lots of stores and restaurants. The bellhop recommended a top of place a few blocks away and we enjoyed a nice dinner there. Called it an early night as our bodies were pretty beat down. Adjust into the time zone change..Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Madrid Centro
February 15 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 39 °F
Spent the afternoon doing some site seeing in Madrid Centro region. Walked the town to different shopping districts and explored a few markets. They have many little markets around town for locals to socialize, have meals or do a little grocery shopping. Oh and few pastry shops as well.
In the evening we attended a flameco dance show. It's an indigenous routine that's been happening for centuries. The show was small, quaint and intimately held in a underground cavern type place. The uniqness of the environment made the acoustics sound amazing. No microphones or speakers required. Show was quite impressive.
Afterwards we had dinner at another tapas place and went back to our hotel restaurant for a valentine's night cap ♥️Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Hike in Tenerife
February 15 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 64 °F
Flew into Tenerife early am. Our cruise ship is embarking from here but before we borded the ship, we rented a car and drove into the mountains to do a hike. The trail is Mirador Roque De Taborno. It's about a 4 mile hike round trip. Intermediate difficulty, some spots were easy but most of it had some tough terrain. The views were amazing and the wind was quite strong coming off the ocean. I was hot and I was cold simultaneously. Never had that before. I would be hot for hiking a tough incline but when I got to the top of the incline and was exposed to the wind whipping off the ocean, it became cold lol.

All in all, was nice activity. Took about 2 hours all in. The drive from the airport to the trail was also a nice surprise. Wining roads but lots a great views and you escalated higher up in elevation.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Carnival Fest, Santa Cruz
February 15 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
After our hiking excursion, we moseyed down the mountain tops and headed to Santa Cruz, the port city in Tenerife where our boat was docked. Since the ship was leaving late at night, we had some time to stop downtown Santa Cruize where we attended the local Carnival festival. Basically the Spanish version of Mari Gras. It happens every year around the same time of the year.
This was a very vibrarious party, it was as if the whole community came downtown to celebrate. Very friendly, lots food and drink vendors. The party went on for blocks and blocks with loud music everywhere. It's like they had different DJ's or bands spread out through the whole downtown area.

After the hanging out for an hour or so, we made our way to the ship. We boarded in the evening. Didn't try to do too much as we already had an exhausting day. So we essentially had dinner, explored the ship for a little bit and eventually called it an early night for some much needed rest.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Arrecife
February 16 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
Arrecife is nice costal town on the island of Lanzarote. We had an excursion planned for today but the night before we got a notification that the excursion was cancelled due to lack of participants. So with that off the agenda, we didn't really have anything planned. We ended up at this pretty cool cafe off a pier with a great vibe and swimming pool setting. A little too chilly to swim but I could see this place being a local party party spot during the hotter season.
We eventually just walked around for a few hours visiting thier local shopping districts. Had some yummy empanadas at the local mall.
Afterwards headed back to the ship for dinner. I had risotto and Rebecca ended up with this enormous T-Bone!!
After dinner, we learned how to Mambo 💃🕺🏽Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
island Fuerteventura
February 17 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F
Our next island stop was Fuerteventura. Seemed to be a very laid back island. Not too much going on here. Lots of open land, lots of mountains. Definitely a place to chill if you needed a spot to "get off the grid". The ship docked on the east side of island in Puerto del Rosario. Seemed like a small city at first but as we traveled the island, it actually was probably one of the biggest cities on the island. Unfortunately we arrived on a national holiday for Carnival so most of the town was shut down.
We opted for a tourbus tour which brought us to the west side of island. First stop was this tiny quaint town called Ajuy. The town is a tourist attraction due to its unique black sand beach. It was very cool looking. The beach sits in a cove carved into between two limestone cliffs. We climbed up one-sided for some cool looking views of the beach and the town. It was suggested that you don't swim here as the water is very choppy on this side of island.
From here we made headed back to the main port but first the guide brought us to two other small towns for exploring. Along the way however are these rollings hills that go on for days, super high elevation with amazing views. Lots of peaks and valleys and scenic overlooks. Roads are tight and in some spots we only had enough space for our bus. No two way traffic up that high.
The other small towns have very simple living. Very tiny homes. Probably 1000 square feet on average. Everything is within walking distance. I'm sure everyone knows all their neighbors. Cute and quaint. Very limited internet connection. Had to pay in cash in most places as their credit card machines are offline. You wouldn't end up living in these towns by accident. Its lifestyle choice for sure.
Back on the ship, they threw their own Carnival festival. They provided face painting, glitter and party hats. We decided to participate and enjoyed the festivities.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Volcán de San Antonio
February 19 in Spain ⋅ 🌬 63 °F
La Palma island had a more tropical feel yet weather was mild enough to where you still wanted to wear something other than shorts and a t-shirt.
Our first adventure was to hop and city bus and head 45 min south towards the southern tip of the island to a town called Fuencaliente. This town is known for its coastal views and volcano visitors center. They volcano "San Antonio" has a crater that has been dormant for 300 years. So the city built a tourist attraction around it which allows you to walk the ridgeline of the crater. We hung out here and the town for about 2 hours. This place is located high up in the mountains with strong wind breezes around the crater (see video).
After the visit here, we had another 45 min or so until the next bus came around, so we walked around the small town. Very quaint, clean and hilly. Inclines everywhere.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
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La Palma
February 19 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
After the volcano adventure, we headed back into town for some shopping and walking. Town is very nicely put together. Cobblestone sidewalks and streets. It's also got nice beaches but too cold this time of year to enjoy. I could see this place being a summer hotspot though.
This town has roots to Cuba and the Caribbean islands (Los Indianos), so you can see that they embrace that heritage which is kind of cool. Sounds like we may have just missed the Los Indianos celebration which takes place right after the Carnival festival. There was still rembrandts of both celebrations around town and the presence of Havana Cuba is definitely around.

"Balcones de la Avenida Marítima." These are 16th-century colorful houses with flower-draped wooden balconies. Very cool looking. They have these built-in selfie stations so you can set your phone on a timer and take a picture!Read more
Adam Hernandez Taken with the selfish station!
2wReply
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
February 20 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
Next Canary island was Grand Canaria. This island definitely has more hustle and bustle compared to the other islands. You can tell there is a lot import and exports happening. For this stop, we took a city bus to the old town, Vegueta.
Buildings and streets in the area date back to the 14th century. The highlight of this historical area is the Casa De Colón. This is an old governor's mansion now museum and history states that Christopher Columbus stayed here on his journey to discovering America.
Also in this areas is very old cathedral with a open square across the street with unique dog statues.
From here we walked about 1/2 mile to Calle Trina - Shopping and Restaurant district. Grabbed some lunch and desserts for the evening.
After enjoying the afternoon here, headed back to ship as we had an early disembark. But on the way, passed this super yacht in Marina.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Funchal Portugal
February 21 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
Our last island visit for the week was the island of Mederia Portugal. This island was very tropical, busy and the town we ported in was Funchal. A blue collar town fueled by it's fishing community, farming community and tourism. The city has steep inclines. The marina area is flat for walking but if you want to see anything in the upper regions, you'll need to find some transportation. The inclines are too steep for walking.
We opted for a private taxi tour 🚕. There was some guys waiting right outside the cruise ship and for 130€, we felt it was worth it for 2 people with all the steep hills.

This town has beautiful views everywhere! The cab driver brought us to all the top stops!
Our first stop however was Carreiros do Monte - Partida (Wicker Toboggan ride).

Originally developed in the 1850s, these sledges were the primary means of "downhill" public transportation for residents of the hilltop village of Monte. Perched about 550 meters above Funchal, Monte was a popular health resort for Europe's wealthy elites, who used these wicker baskets to travel quickly and comfortably down the steep, narrow streets to the city center. The tradition is still alive today through tourism.

We later indulged in some local scabbard fish. Very good white fish when eaten as a fish & chip style. We also enjoyed some local fresh fruits from the market before heading back to ship!Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Disembark day
February 22 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Jumping on a plane and heading back to Madrid for a night.
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Madrid Salamanca
February 22 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
Spent the last night of our vacation in Madrid one last night before we headed back home. We're stayed in the Salamanca district. Lots of good walking available there. The weather was much nicer than it was the week prior. About 10 degrees warmer which made a big difference. There was a lot more people out and about enjoying their day. Lots of coffee shops were busy with folks congregating & socializing.
We accidentally had tapas at the same restaurant we ate at the week prior although it was at another location. It was a pleasant surprise however since they were equally as good the second time as they were the first time. This time, we did opt for desert 😋Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
🚨Trip Extended 👀
Feb 23–25 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Due to Winter Storm Hernando (a.k.a Hernandez) - the east coast of the US has a travel ban which resulted our flight home being cancelled. So we are stuck in Madrid for 2 more days!
After spending all morning rebooking flights and making new hotel accomodations, we went for a jog in El Retiro Park which was a couple blocks from our hotel. This park is very large, this is Madrid's version of Central Park. Lots going on here, great landscaping and architecture. There's restaurants and gardens galore. We ended up jogging about 2.75 miles all inside the park and probably didn't see half of it yet. So we decided to return later in the afternoon/evening to explore some more. We ended up having a late lunch here.
From here, we walked to some new areas of town we hadn't seen yet and just took in all great architecture.Read more
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Canary Islands 2026 Adam Hernandez
Time to go home.
February 25 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F
Our journey home began early this morning. Flew into Germany from Madrid. Now we're boarded on this United 9-hour international flight to D.C. C-yall on the other side of the pond ✌🏽
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Trip end
February 25, 2026