Which Canary Island city do you prefer - Tenerife or Gran Canaria?

[french user]

Both islands are very nice to visit as soon as you do not stay in the "touristic" complexes of playa del ingles or playa de la Americas... There is such diversity, varied landscapes, colonial colorfull towns, deserts, pine forest, banana fiels...

I love very much Canarian culture, foods, music... Which is a good mix between Spanish and south American cultures. My south American wife was thought to be a local by Canarians themselves due to the accent.

I've been to both islands, as well as in La Gomera wich is much wilder and authentic.
That said, Tenerife and Gran Canaria are both very varied: the greener and cooler parts in the north, where lie the colonial towns (la Laguna or La Orotava in Tenerife, La Vegueta, Arucas, Teror in Gran Canaria), with banana fiels. In both islands the south is very arid, very sunny with higher temperatures. It is where the "touristic" compexes have been built. The inside land in both islands is montainous. The inland are much higher in Tenerife because of the size of Teide Volcano wich is huge, with its giant Caldera in the middle of the Island. Gran Canaria doesn't have volcano. On the other side Gran Canaria has the city of Las Palmas, which a big city (something like the 8th Spanish city), is a port city and the real capital of Canary islands, very diverse, cosmopolitan, with a almost south American feel in some areas...

[tenkier7]

Both islands are gorgeous but if I have to pick only one then Gran Canaria because I'm more interested to visit Maspalomas which is located in southern part of the island.

[fundo do mar]

It's a trade off, really. Both are worth visiting. Tenerife has Teide, the highest point in Spain. Santa Cruz, the largest city in Tenerife, and La Laguna are much cleaner, more progressive and better taken care of than Las Palmas de Gran Canaria which has a lot of old, dirty and run down parts that the current government just ignores. On other hand, Grand Canaria has the beaches at Maspalomas, which IMO are the best in the Canary Islands. Maspalomas is the jewel of the Canary Island beaches. Yes, there are crappy tourist restaurants and bars, but the natural beauty of beaches make up for that.

[fundo do mar]

Gran Canaria has more beaches. Tenerife doesn't really have that many accessible beaches, and what they do have are small, rocky and overcrowded. For example there is a big urban beach in the city of Las Palmas called Las Canteras that is popular with swimmers and surfers. Also, there is Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles in the south of the island. For a pure beach experience, Gran Canaria is the better choice. For a more developed and modern tourist experience with less emphasis on beaches, go with Tenerife.