What to See in Gran Canaria: The Essential Sights
Gran Canaria is called "a continent in miniature," and that is no brochure cliche. On an island you can cross in a little over an hour by car, you go from a field of dunes that looks like the Sahara to a damp laurel forest, from an urban beach with a promenade to a sacred monolith at 1,800 metres, and from a capital with a cathedral and founding old town to a village of cave houses where people still live. The question is not so much what to see in Gran Canaria, but where to begin.
Not every spot is here (for that you have the full map on islas24). These are the essentials, ordered by whatever you fancy that day: nature, villages or family plans.
Roque Nublo and the heart of the island
If you could see only one thing, it would be the centre. The Roque Nublo is a volcanic rock monolith about 80 metres tall, set more than 1,800 above sea level, and one of the island's great symbols. For the ancient Canarians it was a sacred place, an altar in the sky, and when you reach the top you understand why. You climb it by an easy, well-signposted trail a kilometre and a half long from the La Goleta car park, and on clear days, far off, the silhouette of Teide juts up over the sea of clouds. Go with comfortable footwear, water and something warm, because up here the weather changes fast.
This whole rooftop of the island, the summits, is a landscape that struck Unamuno as a "petrified storm." Very close by is Pico de las Nieves, the island's highest and best-known viewpoint at 1,949 metres (although the true peak of Gran Canaria is neighbouring Morro de la Agujereada, at 1,956), and one of the reasons the island is so good for stargazing: much of the summit area is a Starlight Reserve. If you want to head straight there, our guide to where to see the stars in the Canaries has the best spots and the key dates. And a step away is Tejeda, a white village perched among almond trees and considered one of the prettiest in Spain: the perfect stop to eat and gather your strength.
The dunes of Maspalomas and the Guayadeque ravine
In the south awaits the island's most famous postcard: the Maspalomas Dunes, a field of golden sand nearly four square kilometres looking out over the Atlantic, with its lagoon and its lighthouse at the end. It is a protected nature reserve, so you cross it only by the marked paths; stepping on the sand off them damages a fragile ecosystem and is fined. Go first thing or at dusk, when the sun draws every tone out of the sand and the heat lets up.
For a very different side, head up the Barranco de Guayadeque, between Aguimes and Ingenio. It is a deep, green valley where the ancient Canarians carved their homes into the rock, and the surprising thing is that people still live in cave houses, along with a handful of restaurants set literally inside the mountain, where you eat proper Canarian cooking. It is a half-day plan that mixes nature, Aboriginal history and good food. And if pre-Hispanic heritage draws you, in the north of the island you cannot miss the Cenobio de Valeron, an impressive collective granary of hundreds of cavities carved into a cliff.
Villages with soul: Las Palmas, Teror and Puerto de Mogan
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the few Canarian capitals with a genuine urban beach, but its jewel is inland, in the Vegueta district: the old town where the city was born in 1478, of cobbled streets, grand houses with pine-wood balconies and Canarian courtyards. Here you see the Catedral de Santa Ana, the Casa de Colon (where tradition places Christopher Columbus's stopover on his way to America) and the Ermita de San Antonio Abad, one of the island's first churches. Walk it on foot, unhurried, and stay to eat in the area.
Inland, Teror is the island's most devout and charming village: there stands the Basilica of Nuestra Senora del Pino, patron saint of Gran Canaria, and a main street of carved wooden balconies that is among the most photographed in the archipelago. If you can, go on a Sunday for the market, and don't leave without trying the Teror chorizo, soft and spreadable, an institution in itself, or the artisan sweets that the nuns of the Cistercian monastery sell through a revolving hatch.
And on the west coast, Puerto de Mogan has earned the nickname "little Venice" for its canals and bridges, with low houses draped in bougainvillea. It is a calm place to stroll, eat fish by the sea and take a dip; on Fridays it holds a market that fills it with life (if you go that day, arrive early or take the guagua, because parking in the valley becomes an ordeal).
For a family trip
Gran Canaria is easy with children. Palmitos Park, in a ravine near Maspalomas, is a botanical zoo, a bird show and dolphins all at once, and is worth a whole day. In the capital, Poema del Mar is one of Europe's most modern aquariums, with a huge ocean cylinder that takes your breath away and is especially welcome if the day turns rough. Buy tickets online, as it is usually cheaper and saves you the queue.
For a different afternoon, Sioux City recreates a Wild West town with shows, and all over the island there are calm, sheltered coves ideal with little ones, which we cover one by one in the best beaches of Gran Canaria. If you are with small children, head for the beaches of the tourist south-west (Amadores, Puerto Rico), sheltered and with every service.
How to plan your visit
Gran Canaria breaks down, broadly, into three worlds: the north, green and damp, with Las Palmas and the villages; the south, dry and sunny, of dunes and beaches; and the centre, the summits, home to Roque Nublo, Tejeda and the starry skies. The ideal is not to choose: give time to all three. With three or four full days you see the essentials without rushing, and a week leaves margin for a day in the summits, another in the capital and several at the beach without hurrying.
The car is almost essential to reach the best corners, and many of them lie, like nearly everything beautiful on the island, at the end of a winding road. The guagua (that is what we call the bus here) connects Las Palmas well with the south and is cheap, but for Roque Nublo, Tejeda or Guayadeque it falls short. Bear in mind that distances on the map are deceiving: they are few kilometres but plenty of bends, and the north tends to be cloudier than the south, often covered by the famous "panza de burro" (donkey's belly, the low grey cloud), so check the sky before deciding the day's plan.
On islas24 you'll find each of these places with its location, opening hours and how to get there, so you can plan your route without surprises. Choose where to start and let the island do the rest.