Cheap Holidays to Canary Islands: Months, Resorts and Tips

February is the shoulder month here, and it is the one to watch if you want a quieter, better-value week. Days at Adeje still reach about 20°C with lows around 13°C, though it is also one of the wetter months, with roughly six rain days and 27mm of rain. For most British travellers swapping grey skies for mild sunshine, that is a fair trade.

Outside the school holidays, January, November and December are also worth a look: highs of 21 to 24°C, only three or four rain days, and none of the summer peak. July and August are the hottest and driest, at 26 to 28°C with almost no rain, but they coincide with the long school break, when prices across all the islands generally climb. Cheap breaks to Canary Islands resorts are easier to find when you avoid half-term and the summer weeks.

Large, established resorts with plenty of hotel stock and short airport transfers usually give the widest choice of holiday deals in Canary Islands package searches. On Tenerife, the busiest island by far, Playa de las Américas and Adeje are 14 and 15 minutes from Tenerife South, with Siam Park and the Barranco del Infierno close by. Los Gigantes, 30 minutes away, is smaller and quieter, so choice is narrower.

On Lanzarote, Puerto del Carmen is six minutes from the airport and Costa Teguise ten, both handy for cheap deals to Canaries resorts on short stays. Gran Canaria's Maspalomas, 24 minutes from the airport, has Palmitos Park and the Maspalomas Lighthouse. Fuerteventura's Corralejo, 27 minutes away and the gateway to Lobos Island, has more on offer than Costa Calma, which is a 42-minute transfer but closer to Cofete beach.

Package deals to Canary Islands resorts bundle the flight, hotel and transfers, so you know the full cost before you go and the coach meets you at arrivals. Compare the package providers shown on this page side by side, and look at board basis carefully: room only or self-catering suits people who like to eat out or cook, while half board or all inclusive makes budgeting easier for families.

Flexibility pays. Midweek departures are often less in demand than weekend ones, and checking flights from a regional UK airport rather than only the London airports can open up more options. Booking well ahead for school holidays, or keeping an eye out nearer the time for term-time weeks, are the usual windows for Canaries holiday deals. You can also check hotel prices, car hire and tours and tickets here to see whether building your own trip works out better than a package.

Four island airports have direct flights from the United Kingdom. Tenerife South (TFS) is 14 minutes from Playa de las Américas, 15 from Adeje and 37 from Puerto de la Cruz, home of Loro Parque. Lanzarote (ACE) is five minutes from Arrecife and six from Puerto del Carmen. Gran Canaria (LPA) is seven minutes from Telde and 24 from Maspalomas, and Fuerteventura (FUE) is 27 minutes from Corralejo.

If you fancy seeing more than one island, there are ferry ports at Corralejo on Fuerteventura and at Playa Blanca and Arrecife on Lanzarote. Car hire is worth comparing for a day out to Santa Cruz de Tenerife's castles and Playa de Las Teresitas, or the long drive to Cofete.