Gran Canaria, Canary Islands: full visit around the island in 4 days

15 Apr

From all-inclusive resorts to extensive golden-sand beaches and a rugged, mountainous interior, Gran Canaria is one of the most diverse destinations in Europe no matter what you’re after for your holidays.

During my last visit to the Canary Islands, I travelled around Gran Canaria for 4 days to discover all the natural wonders and tourist attractions of the island. Check out my 4-day itinerary around Gran Canaria in this post!

How to visit Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria is one of the main 7 islands in the Canaries, and as such, it presents all type of travellers with endless options, be it all-inclusive holidays in breathtaking resorts, historical towns like no other in Spain or extreme sports.

After my visit to Lanzarote, I spent 4 full days in Gran Canaria, which I found enough to do some sightseeing in the morning and enjoy the beaches for the rest of the day. I tried to divide my trip equally between visiting tourist sites and spending time at the beach, so I came up with the following 4-day itinerary of Gran Canaria:

Day 1: Maspalomas
Day 2:
- Morning: Roque Nublo
- Afternoon:
  - Teror
  - Arucas
Day 3:
- Morning: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
- Afternoon:
  - Paragliding over Las Palmas
  - El Bufadero
Day 4:
- Morning: Amadores Beach
- Afternoon: Puerto Mogán

Maspalomas

Due to its milder climate, most tourist resorts can be found in southern Gran Canaria. Beaches here are protected from the strong winds of the north, so most of the visitors head south to enjoy the calmer waters.

There are various great choices to stay in Gran Canaria, but without a doubt, the area comprising Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés is the most popular when planning your holidays on the island.

I personally decided to stay in Maspalomas, as it is a more lively area compared to Playa del Inglés, which caters mainly for families on long holidays. Maspalomas is filled with bars, restaurants and nightclubs, so it is certainly a better choice if you’re under 30 or travelling with friends.

In Maspalomas, you cannot miss the famous dunes, a 404-hectare protected nature area formed during the last ice age when strong winds blew the sand towards the coast of the island.

When you venture into the dunes, you will spot some of the best beaches of the island, most of them hidden behind the mountains of sand. Maspalomas is well known for its nudist beaches and active LGBTQ+ scene, so don’t be surprised to find holidaymakers enjoying the sun completely naked!

As you can imagine, the offer of bars and restaurants in Gran Canaria is endless, especially around Playa del Inglés. If you’re looking for a lively area to go out for a few drinks or dinner and want to avoid the busy promenade, head to Yumbo Centrum.

Yumbo is one of the most shopping centres in the Canary Islands with over 200 shops and restaurants, all located in open-air courtyards and terraces. It also is a very popular destination for LGBTQ+ visitors, as it offers a huge range of gay bars, nightclubs and drag cabaret shows. In fact, Maspalomas is one of the most popular gay destinations in the world, especially during the famous Gay Pride in mid May!

That said, Yumbo caters all type of publics. Its very competitive prices and incredible offer of things to do attract both locals and tourists, especially towards the end of the day! A visit is highly recommended.

Roque nublo

Gran Canaria is a very mountainous island, and although most visitors stay near the coast, those who decide to visit the interior of the island will find some incredible landscapes and small villages that cannot be missed.

If you need a break from the beach and decide to visit the higher region of Gran Canaria, you should first head to Roque Nublo. Getting to Roque Nublo by road is not an easy task; although the formation is located only 38km north of Maspalomas, the extremely sinuous and narrow road up and down the mountains will take you a good 2 to 2.30 hours to reach its base. It’s almost impossible to reach Roque Nublo by direct public transport, so I recommend renting a car or taking one of the day tours offered by most hotels.

Roque Nublo is a phonologic rock formation derived from volcanic material that spewed up during particularly violent and explosive eruptions. These eruptions produced burning clouds, similar to those which destroyed Pompeii. Standing at a height of 67m, the formation has been eroded over time and holds a great symbolic value for the inhabitants of the island.

This remarkable monolith was the subject of worship by the pre-Hispanic population of the island, forming part of the sacred mountainous ares in Gran Canaria. When you reach the top, you’ll be surrounded by nothing but mountains and incredible landscapes, completely different from what you’ll find in the tourist towns by the beach.

For present-day Canarians and visitor alike, Roque Nublo is, and has always been top of the list of places to visit. You’ll need to climb uphill for a few hundred meters to reach the main rock, so don’t forget to bring some water with you!

Teror

If you continue driving 1h north from Roque Nublo, you’ll reach Teror, one of the most charming towns of Gran Canaria. The capital, Las Palmas, is located only 20km north-east, so you can also easily visit from there.

With its traditional white houses with wooden balconies and pebbled streets, this small town of only 12,000 inhabitants became one of the main spiritual centres of Gran Canaria after a shepherd witnessed a Marian apparition back in 1481. Nowadays, Teror preserves one of the most beautiful and traditional historical centres of the island that I fell in love with it from minute one!

Most of the highlights of Teror are located around its main square, so that’s where we headed first. Since it was almost lunchtime, we stopped at one of the restaurants surrounding the square to try some traditional food. I would highly recommend ordering the traditional meat cooked in the stone; you will be served very hot stone that you can use to cook and season the meat yourself. I personally loved it!

Right in the middle of the main square, you will also find the impressive Virgin of the Pine Basilica. This basilica constitutes the most important religious building in Gran Canaria, as it houses the image of the Virgin of the Pine, patron saint of the island. The basilica is formed by three naves that culminate with semicircular arches and a yellow tower located on the right side of the facade.

Just in front of the basilica, head towards Real de la Plaza street, one of the most emblematic streets in Teror. For centuries, this street has been the main commercial, political and cultural centre of Teror and still today, it preserves some of the most beautiful constructions of the town.

Arucas

It wasn’t originally in our plans, but I was so impressed by its church when we were driving by, that we decided to stop and enjoy Arucas for a few minutes.

Arucas is a small town of 36,00 inhabitants located 9km west of Las Palmas. Its main attraction is the impressive Church of St. John the Baptist, built in a neo-Gothic style in 1909 using local stone and masons.

Although the current construction is quite recent, the original building dates back to 1483, only a few years after the island was conquered by the Spanish monarchs. The church was expanded and remodelled in multiple occasions along the centuries until it was fully demolished in the early 20th century when the current building was erected.

Me at the Church of St. John the Baptist.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

No visit to Gran Canaria would be complete without visiting the capital, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Its old town, known as Vegueta, is the area where the city of Las Palmas originated after the Crown of Castile conquered the island in 1478, becoming the first Spanish emplacement in the Atlantic Ocean.

Today, Vegueta offers a gorgeous architectural and historical ensamble that served as reference for the creation of many colonial cities in America, as Gran Canaria was one of the last stops in Europe for all boats travelling to the new continent.

After leaving our car in a nearby parking, our first stop in Las Palmas was San Agustin Square, where you will find a church with the same name dating from 1786. The church is home to the stucco image of Christ of the True Cross, patron saint of the city.

Only a couple of streets away and located right behind the cathedral, you will reach Pilar Nuevo Square. Here used to be the gathering place for the women who came to collect water from the central pillar, where today a stone fountain stands.

Here you will also find Columbus House, one of the most remarkable buildings of Las Palmas. With its beautiful doorways, balconies, impressive courtyards and carved wooden ceilings, this building was the former residence of the first governors of the island. It is said that Christopher Colombus stayed here in 1492 while one of his ships was repaired before heading to the discovery of America, hence its name.

Today, the building offers a very interesting display of pre-Columbian artefacts and ship models, including a replica of La Niña, one of the three ships used by Columbus in his journey. If you’d like to visit the exhibition, there’s an entrance fee of €4.

Just around the corner, you can't miss the Cathedral of Santa Ana, seat of the Diocese of the Canary Islands. Built in 1500 in a Gothic style, it was the only cathedral in the Canary Islands until La Laguna Cathedral (Tenerife) was built in 1819.

The building is formed of three naves surrounded by thirteen chapels built in blue stonework from a local quarry, used for the arches and roof that gives the building its characteristic grey colour in the interior.

The Cathedral is located in Santa Ana Square, one of the most emblematic places in the Vegueta neighbourhood. It was here that Las Palmas originated and where you can find some of the most important buildings of the city, such as the cathedral, the City Hall and the Bishop’s Palace. The square is also famous for its characteristic 8 dog statues.

Before leaving Vegueta, don’t forget to wander around the streets of the Cathedral of Santa Ana, where you will find some beautiful constructions, including examples of more modernist architecture

Paragliding over Las Palmas

Unfortunately, the day turned quite cloudy and gloomy during our visit to Las Palmas, so we weren’t able to enjoy Las Canteras Beach, the largest in the city extending for over 3km.

In the search for things to do during our afternoon in Las Palmas, we discovered almost by accident that it was possible to do paragliding over the beach, so we decided to give that a try! Searching last minute, we came across the tandem paragliding flight with Aventura en Canarias. To say the truth, our original plans were to do skydiving in Maspalomas with a different company, but when the activity got cancelled only one day before due to an issue with the plane, we started looking for alternatives and this was a great option!

Aventura en Canarias is a company offering exciting activities for visitors on the Canary Islands, including paragliding, rock climbing, scuba diving, surfing, trekking and many more! They mainly operate in Gran Canaria but also in Tenerife for certain activities, so you should check them out if you’re visiting both islands! They were able to accommodate us very last minute and the price per person was only €60 for a 20m tandem flight, which I thought was quite reasonable.

We met our guides after lunch right outside the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, on the northern side of the city, and drove up the hills of Las Palmas for about 15 minutes until we reached the higher point from where we would be flying, known as Los Giles. The meeting time will vary depending on the wind, so the exact time will always be confirmed early on the day.

It was the first time that I did something similar, and I personally loved the experience! It can be scary at first, but the team was extremely professional and made the entire flight really enjoyable. The views of Las Canteras Beach from above were absolutely stunning, I even was brave enough to take a few pictures during the flight!

View of Las Palmas and Las Canteras Beach

El Bufadero

On the way back from Las Palmas to Maspalomas, just outside Garita Beach in the city of Telde, you will find a very unique place that you shouldn’t miss when visiting Gran Canaria: El Bufadero.

El Bufadero is a natural formation of two cavities in the rocks where the ocean water flows in and out at a very high speed, making a very distinct sound when the rocks swallow the water and spit it out like a jet.

It may not look that great on photos, but you should see it in action to fully enjoy its uniqueness. You will most likely drive past it at some point, especially if you travel from Maspalomas to Las Palmas, so it’s worth a quick stop at least for a few photos!

Amadores Beach

Although Maspalomas has beautiful, extensive beaches, they may not be the best for a swim due to the strong winds of the ocean. If you’d prefer to sunbath in calmer waters, Amadores Beach is one of the best options that you’ll find in Gran Canaria.

Amadores Beach is located only 1km northwest from Puerto Rico, a very popular resort town on the island. If you're travelling by public transport, you can catch bus 33 from Playa del Ingles in Maspalomas, which also stops in Puerto Mogán.

Amadores offers 800 meters of golden sand and very calm waters due to the bay that protects it from the ocean. The beach is very popular among families but also small couples, for a reason it means lover's beach!

Puerto Mogán

After enjoying a day in Amadores Beach, head to Puerto Mogán for one of the most beautiful towns and sunsets in Gran Canaria.

Puerto Mogán is known as the 'Little Venice' of the Canaries due to the beautiful canals that link the marina with a small beach, which is another great alternative to Amadores Beach, although more crowded.

If you’re going at the end of the day, you’ll be able to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the harbour, the perfect way to end the day exploring the south-west of Gran Canaria!

Palm trees among the traditional constructions

I visited Gran Canaria right after Lanzarote, and in comparison, I found Gran Canaria a more complete destination.

While Lanzarote is a wonderful place to relax in family and the tourist attractions in the north coast are hard to match, it can sometimes be too quiet for younger travellers. Gran Canaria is certainly a much more lively option where you will always have something to do during your holidays!

All opinions are my own.

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