Fuerteventura, verdict by verdict

Fuerteventura is the Canaries' beach island: the Corralejo dunes spilling into turquoise water, the Jandia peninsula hiding some of Europe's emptiest beaches behind an unpaved mountain road, and the Sotavento lagoons that made the island a wind and kite capital. If the trip is about sand and sea first, this is the best island in the archipelago for it.

The real caveats: sightseeing is thin, so Betancuria and the small inland villages fill one day, maybe two, and there is little to fall back on when the beach bores. The wind is a feature rather than a bug but it can frustrate pool days in summer and rules out guaranteed flat-calm water. The island is long, the airport run to Jandia or Morro Jable takes around ninety minutes, and the best beaches need a rental car and sometimes dirt roads.

Five to seven days is the shape: Corralejo plus a Lobos water-taxi half day, a Jandia or Cofete run for twelve kilometres of wild beach, one day for Betancuria and the interior, the rest at the beach base, and a dedicated surf or kite trip can fill a week in Corralejo alone. The island is the warmest Canary in winter alongside southern Tenerife, October and November bring the calmest swimming, and it suits travelers who find the bigger islands overdeveloped.