Canary Island + Portugal -16 Days
 

I will have 16 days in total. I have my ticket booked to and from Madrid in the first week of May . I love seeing historic building , eating and drinking local and also would like to be around beach (warm enough to swim ) as much as possible.
I have been to Spain before so this time I am thinking of flying to Las Palmas for 3/4 days then to Fuerteventure for 3 days and from their onto Faro, Portugal(via Seville) for 4 days and then to Lison. I've never been to Portugal before , this seemed like a good idea since I can fly easily to Seville and take a bus to Faro.

Based on my research this is what I have come up with . Please critique and advise if I should add or skip any of these destinations or change the number of days I will be there for . I am also open to dropping portugal and going to another place if I can fly to /or nearby and continue my trip ending in Madrid
Appreciate any replies , thanks in advance.

Day 1 Spend the night in Madrid
Day 2 Las Palmas
Day 3 Las Palmas
Day 4 Las Palmas
Day 5 Las Palmas
Day 6 Fuerteventura
Day 7 Fuerteventura
Day 8 Fuerteventura
Day 9 Fly to Seville and take the bus to Faro
Day 10 Faro
Day 11 Faro
Day 12 Faro
Day 13 Train to lisbon
Day 14 Lisbon
Day 15 Lisbon
Day 16 Lisbon-Night train to Mad
Day 17 Fly out

Can some one suggest if I'm spending too much or not enough time in any of these places?

I don't think you should drop Portugal. We spent 5 nights in Lisbon last spring and we loved it!!! I haven't been to the Canary Islands so can't comment on that. It looks like you have 3 nights in Lisbon plus a whole day (Day 16). An extra night in Lisbon would be better. Are you planning on visiting Sintra? You can see Sintra as a day trip from Lisbon; however, if you can find the time, spending one night in Sintra would be better. We did a day trip to Sintra, but I wish we had stayed overnight. It is very crowded during the day, and I've read it is so much nicer at night.

Hope this helps.

Thanks I will look into Sintra

Fuerteventura is a large island. Three days isn't enough to see the island. OTOH depending on your interests might be three days too much. I go here to relax

https://www.travelernick.com/2018/06...fuerteventura/

There are more than 10km of beaches you can easily access on foot. Plus even more that you'd want a car for.

The southern part of the island is known to be laid back . VERY Laid back.

There are other parts of the island with more nightlife.

With only three days you either pick one spot and settle in or you need a car to hop around

Is the sand imported or natural. I've only been to Las Palmas (very briefly) and to Tenerife - and on the latter all the beaches are coarse, black sand with one exception where they dump loads of white sand offshore every so often.

They are natural. Unlike the Western Canaries it isn't volcanic. I like the black beaches myself.

The Corralejo Dunes are supposed to be worth a visit, though I have never been to Fuerteventura.

Why move onto to Fuerteventura rather than staying on Gran Canaria, and then give Portugal a bit more time?

Thank you everyone, is the water warm enough in May to swim?
@hetismij2 -No solid reason except that I was trying to see a new place and heard that beaches are very nice in FUE

Down south it's all natural. Depending on the tide & weather the beaches can shrink.

People swim year round but it's the Atlantic. It really depends on what you consider warm/cold.

Oh yes, it is volcanic! The whole archipelago is volcanic.
Fuerteventura has the most perfect white beaches of all the islands (although Las Playitas has black sand) but inland you can see very clearly that it's a volcanic island.

tdot_guy
I have a Fuerteventura album on Flickr. We were there last year in January. Too cold to swim in the ocean but perfect day temperatures for sightseeing.
If I were you, I would pick only one Canary island and stay for 4 or 5 days. Las Palmas/Gran Canaria is for mass tourism and party-goers, whereas Fuerteventura is much quieter and more for nature-seekers and for its nice beaches. We loved it there. We were in the south (Jandía), very quiet and very laidback but we had a car and drove all over the island. The natural parc (dunes) In Corralejo is splendid but there's a lot more to see than that.

Thank you, your pics look amazing, after reading all responses on this forum to spend more time in FUE I am thinking of not stopping in MAD the first night and head straight to Las Palmas and spend 2.5 days there and from there head to FUE and spend 4 days there. That way I will have some extra time in Portugal. Usually I don't decide every single day but i this case i have to because flights can get very expensive of not booked in advance.

Do I need to book ferries in advance to go from gran canaria to fue? Also what do you guys recommend? flying or ferries

Also- does anyone have any advice on renting a car in these 2 islands? from what I've read you need a car to go around.

We mostly rent through AutoEurope which is a broker. You will get a better price than renting directly from a rental company.
Note: prices differ whether you rent through www.autoeurope.com or www.autoeurope.be or another of the European pages.

thank you

what do you guys think?

Ferry:
Fred Olsen Express takes 2 hrs from Las Palmas to Morro Jable. Armas 2 hrs 50 min.
You can take your car on the ferry.
Morro Jable is in the south of the island.

Flying:
Air Europa or Canarias Airlines: 40/45 min.
Airport is in the north of the island.

Thank you, Do I need to book in advance?

Hi guys, I'm back here . Can someone tell me how good the public transit system in Gran Canaria is ?Do I absolutely need to rent a car there?