Sahara-like dunes capture the wild beauty of the Canaries in The Witcher. But what are the islands’ real-life attractions?
Claire Webb - 23 October 2020
After a five month pause on filmimg, Netflix’s hit fantasy drama The Witcher has resumed production. Starring British actor Henry Cavill as a silver-haired, sword-wielding warrior and is set in a Tolkien-type world where giant spider-like creatures lurk in swamps. Many scenes were filmed on the Canary Islands, although viewers won’t get to see the sun-drenched beaches that make the Spanish archipelago a perennial favourite with British tourists. Instead the islands’ wilder beauty spots have creepy cameos: Gran Canaria’s Sahara-style dunes, Tenerife’s rocky ravines, La Palma’s jagged summit and La Gomera’s prehistoric rainforest.
Closer to north Africa than to Madrid, the Canaries are around a four-hour flight from the UK and enjoy a balmy climate year-round. You can fly direct to Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria from major UK airports, and to La Palma from London. To get to La Gomera and El Hierro you’ll need to hop on a ferry from Tenerife. There are ferries between all the main islands – the quickest crossings are Lanzarote to Fuerteventura (25 mins) and Tenerife to Gran Canaria (1 hour 20), while Tenerife to Lanzarote takes over ten hours.
Holidaymakers who venture beyond the Canaries’ famous package-holiday resorts, or to the lesser-known isles, are amply rewarded. Each of the eight main islands has a distinct personality and the scenery ranges from lunar lava fields and desert canyons to soaring peaks and ancient rainforests. Holidaymakers who venture beyond the Canaries’ famous package-holiday resorts, or to the lesser-known isles, are amply rewarded. Each of the eight main islands has a distinct personality and the scenery ranges from lunar lava fields and desert canyons to soaring peaks and ancient rainforests.
BEST FOR VARIETY TENERIFE
The biggest of the Canaries has a dramatic north/south divide: its sprawling hotels and crowded beaches are in the sun-baked south, while the north is rugged, lush and much quieter. It’s divided in two by Spain’s highest mountain, 3,718m Mount Teide, which you can glide up in a cable car. The north is home to the island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife – which has a stunning modern art gallery and a Sydney Opera House-style concert hall – and the pretty colonial towns of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and La Orotava. Tenerife’s best-kept secret is the Anaga mountain range in the north east, where you can hike through prehistoric cloud-forest.
BEST FOR A CITY BREAK GRAN CANARIA
Often described as a “miniature continent” due to its varied terrain, Gran Canaria offers blackand white-sand beaches, desert canyons and epic dunes in the south, arid mountains in the centre and green valleys and craggy cliffs in the north. The island’s most iconic landmark had a cameo in The Witcher: 67m Roque Nublo, the world’s largest freestanding rock. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the archipelago’s biggest city and has a cosmopolitan vibe, delightful historic centre, 3km-long beach and a Christopher Columbus museum – he stopped over in 1492.
BEST FOR WALKING AND STARGAZING LA PALMA
La Palma has more than 600 miles of waymarked footpaths that crisscross a striking array of landscapes ranging from lunar lava fields, pine blanketed volcanos and ravines. Witcher scenes were filmed on one of its black-sand beaches and on top of its highest peak, 2,426m Roque de los Muchachos, where there’s an astronomical observatory – La Palma is the best place in the Canaries for stargazing due to its dark, clear skies. In its picturesque capital, Santa Cruz de la Palma, you’ll find Renaissance churches and brightly painted, flower-draped merchants’ houses.
BEST FOR ESCAPING THE CROWDS LA GOMERA
A 50-minute ferry ride from southern Tenerife, this mist-shrouded, rugged green isle has escaped mass tourism because its runway is too small for international flights. La Gomera’s more popular resort is Valle Gran Rey – a town sprinkled down a vast gorge that ends in black beaches. Some Witcher scenes were filmed in Garajonay National Park, a primitive laurel forest with plenty of magical trails.
BEST FOR VOLCANIC WONDERS LANZAROTE
Away from its popular resorts, this desert island is a place of stark beauty: the volcanic wasteland of Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, glittering coal-black sand, vineyards made up of row upon row of moon-like craters containing a single vine. Many of its otherworldly attractions are complemented by the fabulous 1960s buildings of the late artist and architect César Manrique, such as the underground concert hall at the cavern lake Jameos del Agua, and his lavabubble house has been turned into a museum.
BEST FOR ROAD TRIPS FUERTEVENTURA
Parched, wind-sculpted and sparsely populated, Fuerteventura is the second biggest of the Canaries and has the best beaches, which are beloved by wind- and kite-surfers. Its other big draw is a spectacular desert reserve, Corralejo National Park. The island’s roads are long, straight and empty, so it’s easy to explore its rugged interior and wild west coast.
BEST FOR PEACE AND QUIET EL HIERRO
The least-visited of the Canaries is a two-and-a-half hour ferry or 30-minute flight from Tenerife. There’s not much nightlife, but there’s plenty to keep outdoorsy types entertained: Yorkshire Dales-esque highlands, lava moonscapes, thick forests, craggy clifftops and natural seawater pools to cool off in. El Hierro is set to become the world’s first island to become self-sufficient in energy and has charging points for electric cars throughout the island.
BEST FOR DIVING LA GRACIOSA
In 2018, this 11-square-mile rocky outcrop became the eighth Canary Island. A half-hour ferry from Lanzarote, it has a population of around 700, no paved roads, gorgeous white-sand beaches, trails that can be navigated by foot or mountain bike, and the Canaries’ best diving. Most visitors are day-trippers, but the bigger of its two villages, Caleta del Sebo, has no-frills accommodation.
Closer to north Africa than to Madrid, the Canaries are around a four-hour flight from the UK and enjoy a balmy climate year-round. You can fly direct to Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria from major UK airports, and to La Palma from London. To get to La Gomera and El Hierro you’ll need to hop on a ferry from Tenerife. There are ferries between all the main islands – the quickest crossings are Lanzarote to Fuerteventura (25 mins) and Tenerife to Gran Canaria (1 hour 20), while Tenerife to Lanzarote takes over ten hours.
Holidaymakers who venture beyond the Canaries’ famous package-holiday resorts, or to the lesser-known isles, are amply rewarded. Each of the eight main islands has a distinct personality and the scenery ranges from lunar lava fields and desert canyons to soaring peaks and ancient rainforests. Holidaymakers who venture beyond the Canaries’ famous package-holiday resorts, or to the lesser-known isles, are amply rewarded. Each of the eight main islands has a distinct personality and the scenery ranges from lunar lava fields and desert canyons to soaring peaks and ancient rainforests.
BEST FOR VARIETY TENERIFE
The biggest of the Canaries has a dramatic north/south divide: its sprawling hotels and crowded beaches are in the sun-baked south, while the north is rugged, lush and much quieter. It’s divided in two by Spain’s highest mountain, 3,718m Mount Teide, which you can glide up in a cable car. The north is home to the island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife – which has a stunning modern art gallery and a Sydney Opera House-style concert hall – and the pretty colonial towns of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and La Orotava. Tenerife’s best-kept secret is the Anaga mountain range in the north east, where you can hike through prehistoric cloud-forest.
BEST FOR A CITY BREAK GRAN CANARIA
Often described as a “miniature continent” due to its varied terrain, Gran Canaria offers blackand white-sand beaches, desert canyons and epic dunes in the south, arid mountains in the centre and green valleys and craggy cliffs in the north. The island’s most iconic landmark had a cameo in The Witcher: 67m Roque Nublo, the world’s largest freestanding rock. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the archipelago’s biggest city and has a cosmopolitan vibe, delightful historic centre, 3km-long beach and a Christopher Columbus museum – he stopped over in 1492.
BEST FOR WALKING AND STARGAZING LA PALMA
La Palma has more than 600 miles of waymarked footpaths that crisscross a striking array of landscapes ranging from lunar lava fields, pine blanketed volcanos and ravines. Witcher scenes were filmed on one of its black-sand beaches and on top of its highest peak, 2,426m Roque de los Muchachos, where there’s an astronomical observatory – La Palma is the best place in the Canaries for stargazing due to its dark, clear skies. In its picturesque capital, Santa Cruz de la Palma, you’ll find Renaissance churches and brightly painted, flower-draped merchants’ houses.
BEST FOR ESCAPING THE CROWDS LA GOMERA
A 50-minute ferry ride from southern Tenerife, this mist-shrouded, rugged green isle has escaped mass tourism because its runway is too small for international flights. La Gomera’s more popular resort is Valle Gran Rey – a town sprinkled down a vast gorge that ends in black beaches. Some Witcher scenes were filmed in Garajonay National Park, a primitive laurel forest with plenty of magical trails.
BEST FOR VOLCANIC WONDERS LANZAROTE
Away from its popular resorts, this desert island is a place of stark beauty: the volcanic wasteland of Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, glittering coal-black sand, vineyards made up of row upon row of moon-like craters containing a single vine. Many of its otherworldly attractions are complemented by the fabulous 1960s buildings of the late artist and architect César Manrique, such as the underground concert hall at the cavern lake Jameos del Agua, and his lavabubble house has been turned into a museum.
BEST FOR ROAD TRIPS FUERTEVENTURA
Parched, wind-sculpted and sparsely populated, Fuerteventura is the second biggest of the Canaries and has the best beaches, which are beloved by wind- and kite-surfers. Its other big draw is a spectacular desert reserve, Corralejo National Park. The island’s roads are long, straight and empty, so it’s easy to explore its rugged interior and wild west coast.
BEST FOR PEACE AND QUIET EL HIERRO
The least-visited of the Canaries is a two-and-a-half hour ferry or 30-minute flight from Tenerife. There’s not much nightlife, but there’s plenty to keep outdoorsy types entertained: Yorkshire Dales-esque highlands, lava moonscapes, thick forests, craggy clifftops and natural seawater pools to cool off in. El Hierro is set to become the world’s first island to become self-sufficient in energy and has charging points for electric cars throughout the island.
BEST FOR DIVING LA GRACIOSA
In 2018, this 11-square-mile rocky outcrop became the eighth Canary Island. A half-hour ferry from Lanzarote, it has a population of around 700, no paved roads, gorgeous white-sand beaches, trails that can be navigated by foot or mountain bike, and the Canaries’ best diving. Most visitors are day-trippers, but the bigger of its two villages, Caleta del Sebo, has no-frills accommodation.