Gran Canaria or La Palma?

Gran Canaria is the beach island of the two. The south coast has miles of golden sand at Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés and calm coves at Amadores, Puerto Rico and Mogán. In Las Palmas, the reef-sheltered Las Canteras makes a real city beach.

La Palma has only a handful of small black sand and pebble beaches. The safest are at Puerto Naos, Tazacorte and Los Cancajos, and elsewhere there is surf and strong currents. The rock pools at Charco Azul are a pleasant alternative, but on La Palma a swim fills an afternoon between walks rather than a week.

Both islands share the Canarian basics: wrinkled potatoes with mojo, grilled cheese and gofio. Gran Canaria has far more places to eat them. Las Palmas has the tapas bars of Vegueta and Triana and its market, and the harbours of Agaete and Arguineguín serve the day's catch, though the southern promenades are best avoided for dinner.

On La Palma the choice of restaurants is narrow and the cooking plain, so the interest lies in what the island makes. Look for its almond sweets, the Malvasia from the black-ash vineyards of Fuencaliente and the piny vino de tea of the north-west.

Gran Canaria has more to see. In Las Palmas, Vegueta holds the cathedral, the Casa de Colón and the Museo Canario. Outside the city, the painted cave at Gáldar and the UNESCO-listed caves of Risco Caído give the pre-Hispanic past real depth.

La Palma's heritage is smaller and mostly in Santa Cruz, along Calle Real and the balconied houses on the seafront. Its main ancient site is the spiral petroglyphs at La Zarza. Neither island is worth visiting for culture alone, but La Palma's sights fill fewer days.

Here the gap is wide. Gran Canaria has two kinds of night out. One is the long-running gay scene and late bars around the Yumbo in Playa del Inglés. The other is the Spanish rhythm of Las Palmas, with terrace bars, weekend clubs and a carnival that lasts for weeks.

La Palma has a few squares in Santa Cruz and Los Llanos that get busy at weekends, and no clubs at all. Its one big party is the Los Indianos day at carnival. The rest of the year, evenings end after dinner, often under the stars.

Both islands have dramatic volcanic interiors, but La Palma's is the more extraordinary. It has the Caldera de Taburiente, the crater rim at Roque de los Muchachos at about 2,400m, the Ruta de los Volcanes down to the lava of the 2021 eruption and the laurel forest of Los Tilos. Above it all are some of the clearest night skies in Europe.

Gran Canaria's mountains around Roque Nublo and the Tejeda caldera still make superb hiking, and it has things La Palma lacks: the protected desert of the Maspalomas dunes, windsurfing at Pozo Izquierdo and long winter climbs for road cyclists.

Gran Canaria gives you far more for a day out. From the south you can drive to Tejeda, Teror, Arucas and Agaete, Las Palmas fills a full city day on its own, and fast ferries from Agaete make Tenerife an easy outing.

La Palma's outings are gentler: Santa Cruz against Los Llanos, the harbour at Tazacorte and the Fuencaliente wineries. Ferries run to Tenerife and La Gomera, but the connections are slow enough that other islands work better as separate stays.

Gran Canaria is much the easier island with children. Sheltered sandy beaches at Amadores and Anfi, resort pools and children's clubs, Palmitos Park, the water parks and the aquarium in Las Palmas can fill a week without long drives.

La Palma suits older children who enjoy walking. They have the short trails in Los Tilos, the pools at Charco Azul, whale-watching boats and the volcano visitor centre. Younger children have little beyond a small animal park, and sandy beaches are scarce. On both islands the winding mountain roads are hard on children who get car-sick.

Gran Canaria's main route is simple. A motorway and good buses link Las Palmas, the airport and the southern resorts, so a beach stay works without a car, and you only need to hire one to explore the interior.

La Palma comes close to needing a car for everything. The tunnel under the ridge links Santa Cruz and Los Llanos quickly, but buses to trailheads are too sparse to plan hikes around, the northern roads are slow hairpins, and linear walks often end with a taxi back to the car.

Of the two, only Gran Canaria has real shopping. In Las Palmas there are independent shops along Calle Mayor de Triana and the chains and a department store on Avenida Mesa y López, and there are weekly markets in Puerto de Mogán and Teror.

La Palma has almost no fashion shopping, but its souvenirs are distinctive: hand-rolled cigars, silk from El Paso, embroidered linen and Malvasia wine.

The two cost much the same. Both benefit from the low Canary Islands sales tax on fuel and drink, and La Palma is a touch cheaper day to day. Where they differ is in what you pay for. Gran Canaria's winter high season pushes up the better resort hotels, but packages and apartments keep cheaper options open, and with good buses a car is optional.

On La Palma you stay in apartments and rural houses and eat plain village food at modest cost. On the other hand, a hire car is almost unavoidable and budget rooms are few, so winter stays need booking well ahead.

Gran Canaria has a real concert life in Las Palmas. The Auditorio Alfredo Kraus on the seafront is home to the island's philharmonic orchestra, the Teatro Pérez Galdós runs an opera season, and the carnival drag gala is a show in its own right.

La Palma has the Teatro Circo de Marte in Santa Cruz and village fiestas with timple players and folk dances, and both islands host concerts in the winter Canary Islands music festival. On most evenings, though, nothing is on, unless your visit falls in a year of the Bajada de la Virgen, held every five years.

Neither island has thermal springs, so the difference is in how you rest. Gran Canaria has the facilities: large hotel spas around Meloneras and Maspalomas, seawater thalassotherapy circuits, and quiet rural houses in the north for anyone who wants silence.

La Palma has few spas, and its calm comes from the island itself: a rural house among vineyards, a long walk by day and a dark sky at night. It suits switching off rather than spa treatments.