Four winters in the van in the Canaries, other winters under sail. I have hiked across three of the islands with my dog Wingo and been to every island except El Hierro. The map is not ready yet. The waitlist hears first.
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Choose by what you want from the islands
This guide is for anyone wanting a season of freedom and winter sun. It focuses on vanlife across Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, with a sprinkle of surf, hiking and kiting, and a few notes on the other islands too. There is no day-by-day schedule, just pins, tips and the know-how to find your own corners.
Winter sun without the flight
Winter in Europe is coming and all of us nomads are slowly making our way south. Southern Spain and Portugal are as far south as the mainland goes. It still gets cold there. So how do you stretch the summer? The Canary Islands are the happy, safe, warm answer. And you can get there without flying. I have done the ferry from Huelva six times with the van and the dog, and sailed in and out a few times too.
I have spent four winters in the van in the Canaries, most of them on Fuerteventura, exploring every corner. I may have been to literally every town. Slow travel style. To feel the vibe and explore what's around the corner. The same market stall in El Cotillo for my vegetables every week of the season. Volcano mornings, barefoot days, fresh food, and a rhythm shaped by wind, swell and sunshine.
Live the place instead of ticking it off.
What goes on the map
Every spot I slept at, swam at, walked from or shopped at, pinned on one map with a note on the access, the parking and whether you can stay the night. Next to the pins sit the tips that make a winter here easy.
Where to sleep
Safe overnight ideas for the van, island by island, and the places that are not okay anymore.
Water and organic food
Where to fill up and where I shopped, including the El Cotillo market stall I went back to every week.
Slow routes
How I looped each island without a schedule, a shape without a plan.
Surf, hikes and kiting
The breaks and the walks worth your morning, and the GR131 stage by stage.
Sailing in and out
A few notes from arriving and leaving under sail, and the ferry from the mainland with the van.
Blending in
How to be a guest here instead of a visitor, and leave the islands lighter than you found them.
The quieter wild spots
A small bonus chapter for the waitlist, the corners I don't put in a public post.
Everything is pinned on one map you can open offline in the free Rexby app. It keeps growing after launch.
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The map behind the guide
This is my own saved map, built over seven years on the road. The Canary Islands are the busiest corner of it, four winters of pins. Only a fraction of it is written up so far. The guide is where that happens.
Suzanne van der Veeken
Four winters by van, other winters under sail
I have spent four winters in the van in the Canary Islands and other winters here by sailboat. I have been to every island except El Hierro and explored most corners of them. I have hiked the GR131 across Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Tenerife with my dog Wingo and done the ferry from the mainland six times with the van and the dog.
I have lived nomadically for twenty years, between sail, van and trail. Before the van came a decade at sea and five Atlantic crossings. The Canaries are where those two lives meet. The boats gather here every autumn before the crossing. The van winters here when Europe goes cold.
The guide is my saved map, my notes and my photos from those winters, written up spot by spot.
I also run Ocean Nomads, a community for people who want to live a little wilder, explore a little further, and do it with good people. Now and then we sail trips through the Canary Islands.
4
winters in the van in the Canaries
3
GR131 islands hiked, with Wingo
6
ferry crossings with the van
50000
nautical miles at sea
Suzanne van der Veeken has been featured in print and on TV, for sailing expeditions and long trails.
Is this for you?
- You're planning a winter in the Canaries with your van, maybe with your dog, and want to know where you can actually sleep now that the rules are tightening.
- You'd rather have someone's real spots and routines than a list of the twenty most beautiful beaches.
- You don't want a schedule. You want choices, and the know-how to find your own corners.
- You're coming on foot, by bus or by sail and want the same places without the van layer.
- You liked my free Fuerteventura and GR131 writing and want the map that pulls it together.
What you won't find in it
- A day-by-day itinerary
- Hotel tips (I only recommend places I've stayed, and I slept in the van or the tent)
- Places I haven't been to myself
What you will find
- My own overnight spots, water and food stops, island by island
- The GR131 stages and the hikes worth a morning
- The ferry, the dog and the logistics, worked out
- A few notes from sailing in and out
Almost ready
Join the waitlist for the Canary Islands guide
One email when it is ready, with the early-bird price and a small bonus chapter with some of my quieter wild spots. No newsletter spam. You can unsubscribe at any time.
One email when it is ready, with the early-bird price. You can unsubscribe at any time.
A few things you might be wondering
Do I need a van?
No. The van is the core layer because that's how I lived there. The sleep spots near the towns, the food, the hikes, the ferry and the sailing notes work on foot, by bus or by sail.
Is there an itinerary?
There isn't a day-by-day one. There's the shape of how I looped each island. The spots are grouped by what you want: on foot, by sail, by van, winter sun.
Which islands?
Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote in depth, with a few notes on the other islands.
Can I wild camp in the Canaries?
Less and less. The rules are tightening and the protected areas are strictly off limits. The guide is clear about what is actually okay now and what is not. Check the current rules before you go.
How does Rexby work?
You buy once and log in on the web or in the free Rexby app. The guide with its map is yours, offline too. Rexby handles payment and delivery.
When is it ready?
I'm building it now. The waitlist gets the first email when it is, with the early-bird price. No date promised until it is true.
Can I bring my dog?
Yes. Wingo has spent winters there with me. The ferry from the mainland takes dogs. The guide covers what that is like on board and on the islands.
Winter sun, the slow way
You don't need a plan to have a good winter here. Give it a few slow weeks and the islands open up: the quiet corners, the market mornings, the long empty tracks. Live the place instead of ticking it off.
Stay wild.
Join the waitlist
It is not ready yet. The waitlist gets the first email when it is, with the early-bird price and the bonus chapter. Until then, my free Fuerteventura travel guide and the GR131 Canary Islands guide are the best place to start.
