I'm a big fan of La Gomera and will be off for a week there in October as usual. I've not been to La Palma yet but friends who've been both there and to LG speak highly of it so if you liked La Palma ,Judith, then I'm fairly sure that you'll like La Gomera too but I would hesitate to recommend it to others unless I was certain that they wanted a very quiet, laid back sort of a holiday. It's very undeveloped compared to the bigger islands, especially the south of Tenerife and even the more tourist-orientated parts of the island could never be described as 'lively'.

SM

SMa Sounds just what I would like. I will get there sometime soon.

Thanks

OK sorry - I didn't mean to sound so negative about GranCan , we stayed in a lovely hotel there, but personally I prefer hotels with mainly Brit clientele and Brit entertainers; I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea and I certainly don't have a specific problem with other nationalities, but everyone has different tastes. I have teenagers who like to "join in" and they find it difficult when there are language barriers - yes, we like the "Butlins in the sun" hotels, but that's our choice and suits our needs. We also enjoy a bit of sightseeing and a taste of local culture, and like to try different places whenever we can. Whenever I've looked in the brochures for GranCan it's either Playa del Ingles 4-star "European" hotels (many of which are a long way from either the beach or the bars) or else you've got Puerto Rico which seems to be all self-catering and either down near the beach or right up the hill near a few bars.
We were only there for a week and this was certainly not long enough to see all the sights of what looked like a lovely island. We never went to Palmitos Park, which has sadly now been destroyed in the fires last week. I would go back, but I would have to do some thorough research on hotels and locations before I booked again.

Anyway, back on topic...
As far as weather goes, I would say temperatures are all pretty similar and clouds and rain can move around different islands at random times all through the year. Personally, if I was to be stuck in the Canaries during a cloudy or damp spell then Tenerife has the most to take your mind off the weather.
I've been on a day trip to La Gomera in late August two years ago and found it very humid and much more sticky than Tenerife, but a beautiful peaceful little island. I really fancy trying La Palma some time in the future, when the kids have grown up.

What exactly do you want for a holiday. Many areas of Tenerife are "Blackpool in the sun" populated by timeshare touts and drunken lager louts. I am more familiar with Puerto de la Cruz in the northern part of the island but unfortunately that is a very hilly town. There are indeed areas in the island which are beautiful but you have to be choosy. Keep away from the south coast, the fish and chip shops, the karaoke bars, bingo halls and the so-called Irish Bars. Unless of course you want those entertainments. Also a smattering of Spanish may help.

Dan you don't know the South of Tenerife AT ALL. It doesn't just consist of one tiny area i.e. Veronicas as in your description which is well known and has been for a long time to be the clubbing area, where yes unfortunately you are going to get 'lager louts'. It happens the world over. Youngsters, clubs, drinks, it is inevitable. What about Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje, Fanabe, Del Duque, Puerto Colon., Chayofa etc. These are wonderful areas nothing like you have described and some of them very upmarket as well. That is without all the other lovely resorts further along the SW coast. As you said in your post you are more familiar with the North of the Island. Living on the island tends to give you more opportunity to find all the other non tourist places as well which is even better. Regarding knowing any Spanish. In the South you will not need to know any Spanish as the people in the bars, clubs, restaurants all speak English very well, as they do in the tourist parts of the North.

Many areas of Tenerife are "Blackpool in the sun

This describes 1 tiny part of tenerife less than a square mile. It is a pig ignorant post.

In retort Puerto de la Cruz is like Eastbourne in the sun only it has an excellent zoo there.

You will find the vsat number of tourists to the island visit the southern resorts. They cant all be wrong

ANDREA

It is a pig ignorant post.

I do find you repost rude and insensitive. Regrettably it does not add anything to the discussion. In fact it seems to emanate from just the sort of character to whom I was referring.
However to JACKIE, thanks for your comments which are constructive.

I have been watching this topic for a while now a was wondering how long it would last before people started to get to the petty argument stage well it has happened and the topic will now be locked.

If the members cannot accept that everyones idea of a holiday is different then this sort of action will happen more often. If you don't happen to agree with someone elses post fine I have no problem with that but if you start to say that they have no right to disagree with you, which is what is coming through in the posts so far, and also being rude then I have to close the topic down.

So lets calm down and get back to helping those who may never have been to any of the Canary Islands for a holiday.