# One night in Agaete and Gáldar: Cueva Pintada, diving at Sardina and the coffee valley, 40 minutes from Las Palmas Saturday between the sea and Gáldar, with an introductory dive at Sardina and the Cueva Pintada; Sunday in the Agaete Valley, with coffee, wine and sunset at the harbour. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/canary-islands/agaete-and-north-west-gran-canaria/itineraries/one-night-between-valley-and-sea · Revisado: 2026-11-13 Dónde: Agaete and the North-West of Gran Canaria The north-west of Gran Canaria is so close to Las Palmas that almost everyone does it in a day and goes back. With one night the rhythm changes: Saturday is enough for the museum and the sea without watching the clock, and on Sunday you wake up near the valley, without the 40 minutes of motorway ahead of you. You sleep in Gáldar, in the old town, and do not have to look for parking again until Sunday. ## How do you get there from Las Palmas? By car on the GC-2, about 30 minutes to Gáldar and 40 to Puerto de las Nieves. Without a car you can do Saturday with Global's line 103 or 105 to Gáldar, but Sunday in the valley needs a car: the 102 has few departures. ## Where to stay? AccommodationAreaWho it suits Hotel AgáldarGáldar, Plaza de SantiagoWalking distance from the museum, rooftop pool Finca Las LonguerasAgaete ValleyManor house, gardens, pets allowed Hotel Puerto de las NievesPuerto de las NievesSeafront, spa ## With children Swap the diving for the Las Salinas natural pools if they are under 10 or the sea is rough. The Cueva Pintada is free for under-18s and the Maipés for under-10s. Finca Las Longueras has suites for four. ## El plan ### Saturday · 09:30 · Introductory dive at Sardina del Norte With Buceo Norte, from the shore, at 5 or 6 metres, with an instructor all to yourself. €89, from age 10; three to four hours in total, and the northern sea is usually calmer in the morning. Book ahead. ### Saturday · 13:30 · Lunch at Restaurante Agáldar On Gáldar's Plaza de Santiago. On Saturday it opens from 13:00 to 16:30. ### Saturday · 15:30 · Cueva Pintada de Gáldar Two minutes' walk from the restaurant. Ticket bought on the museum's website: €6, free for under-18s. The last guided tour leaves at 16:30 from October to May; allow 70 minutes for the museum and the settlement. ### Saturday · 20:00 · Dinner and night in Gáldar Restaurante Agáldar also opens on Saturday evening, from 20:00 to 23:30, and you go up to bed without taking the car. ### Sunday · 10:00 · Maipés de Agaete About 700 aboriginal tombs on the lava, on the edge of Agaete. €3. Go early, before the strong sun. ### Sunday · 11:15 · Coffee and wine at Finca La Laja A guided visit round the coffee plantation and the winery, with a tasting of three wines and the estate's coffee. ### Sunday · 13:30 · Lunch at Casa Romántica A Canarian tasting menu in the valley; on Sunday, from 13:00 to 16:00. Book. ### Sunday · 17:00 · Puerto de las Nieves and the drive back The Ermita de las Nieves, the pier and the Dedo de Dios as the day ends. Back to Las Palmas in 40 minutes. ## Un consejo más Buy the Saturday Cueva Pintada ticket on the museum's website before you set out: the last guided visit leaves at 16:30 from October to May, and the museum is closed on Mondays. ## Cuándo no ir Rushing up the valley. The road is narrow and winding, and the coffee estate and lunch at Casa Romántica need the whole morning. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Las Palmas to Agaete? About 40 minutes by car on the GC-2. ### Where should you stay in the north-west of Gran Canaria? In Gáldar, at Hotel Agáldar; in the valley, at Finca Las Longueras; or by the sea, at Hotel Puerto de las Nieves. ### Which day is everything closed? On Monday the museum, the archaeological sites and Restaurante Agáldar are closed; the dive centre closes on Tuesdays. ### Is it worth staying the night? Yes, if you want to add the diving or the valley without rushing. In one day you have to choose. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Finca Las Longueras**, desde 89 € / night: A manor house at the head of the valley Las Longueras is the house of the estate that the Manrique de Lara family held in the Agaete Valley from the 17th century. In the mid-19th century, Francisco Manrique de Lara modernised its 173 hectares, and the current building, red with white balconies, began to be built in 1895 to a design by the Catalan Laureano Arroyo Velasco. His grandson finished the chapel, with a neo-Gothic altarpiece dedicated to the Virgen de los Dolores. Inside there is Anglo-Canarian furniture and paintings by Canarian artists such as César Manrique, Pepe Dámaso and Manolo Ruiz. The rooms Every one is different, decorated with its own fabrics and colours. There are doubles with garden views, from €124 a night and for up to three people; a single with views of the valley and the sea, from €89; two large suites for families, for up to four people in two separate spaces, from €133; and two junior suites 70 metres from the main house, from €147. They have air conditioning and free wifi. The estate What you enjoy here is the garden: collections of cacti and Canarian flora, a long pergola walk of vines, fruit trees, poinsettias, heliconias and orange groves among acacias and royal palms. There is a pool and a bicycle room. Pets are welcome: they have kilometres of estate to walk on and a fenced play area below the pool, with rules that the hotel publishes on its website. Getting there It is in the Agaete Valley, at the edge of town on the way inland. You need a car: from Las Palmas, about 40 minutes along the GC-2 to Agaete and then the valley road. From the house you have the Maipés nearby and, further up the valley, the coffee and wine estate. - **Hotel Emblemático Agáldar**: Sleeping in the centre of Gáldar The Hotel Emblemático Agáldar occupies a restored 1865 building on Plaza de Santiago, the heart of the old town of Gáldar, the first capital of Gran Canaria. It is the way to sleep within walking distance of everything: the Cueva Pintada is a couple of minutes on foot, and the buses to Las Palmas and Agaete stop in the town. The rooms There are 20, named after pre-Hispanic society. The Harimaguada rooms, for two, are partly on the upper floor beside the pool and partly open to the inner patio of ferns. The Faycán rooms, for two, are upstairs, with tall windows and views. The Semidán rooms, also for two, are bright. The Atis Tirma sleeps three. There is free wifi and luggage storage, and the hotel offers early check-in and late check-out subject to availability. Pool, terrace and restaurant Upstairs there is an outdoor pool with a sun deck, a rooftop bar and a second-floor terrace that looks over the old town and the Santiago bell tower. Downstairs, the Agáldar Restaurant serves modern Canarian cooking; it is open Wednesday to Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. Check-in is at 14:00 and check-out at 11:00. Getting there By car, about 30 minutes from Las Palmas along the GC-2; the hotel does not advertise its own parking, and the public car park closest to the museum is on Calle Guillén Morales. Without a car, Global bus lines 103 and 105 and the direct 100 link Las Palmas with Gáldar. - **Hotel Puerto de las Nieves**: A spa hotel in the port The Hotel Puerto de las Nieves is a family-run four-star hotel in Puerto de las Nieves itself, a few minutes' walk from the quay, the chapel and the Las Salinas pools. Turismo de Gran Canaria places it on Calle Alcalde José de Armas. It is the choice for sleeping by the sea without touching the car: you dine in the port, watch the sunset over the cliff and in the morning swim in the rock pools. Rooms According to the official listing, all of them are soundproofed. There are twelve doubles with a large terrace, with two sun loungers, two chairs and a parasol, facing the sunsets over the port; doubles with a sitting area; and junior suites that sleep up to five people, useful for a family. The hotel has a buffet dining room, a café, an à la carte restaurant and private parking. The spa The Spa Las Nieves has a water circuit with pressure jets, a counter-current swimming lane, bubble beds, a jacuzzi and a contrast pool, plus massages, mud and seaweed wraps and beauty treatments. It admits up to 25 people at a time. Ask when booking about the hours and whether it is included. Getting there By car, about 40 minutes from Las Palmas along the GC-2. Without a car, Global bus line 103 goes right to Puerto de las Nieves. From the hotel you can walk to the Nieves chapel and the Las Salinas pools. ## Dónde dormir without a car - **Hotel Emblemático Agáldar**: Sleeping in the centre of Gáldar The Hotel Emblemático Agáldar occupies a restored 1865 building on Plaza de Santiago, the heart of the old town of Gáldar, the first capital of Gran Canaria. It is the way to sleep within walking distance of everything: the Cueva Pintada is a couple of minutes on foot, and the buses to Las Palmas and Agaete stop in the town. The rooms There are 20, named after pre-Hispanic society. The Harimaguada rooms, for two, are partly on the upper floor beside the pool and partly open to the inner patio of ferns. The Faycán rooms, for two, are upstairs, with tall windows and views. The Semidán rooms, also for two, are bright. The Atis Tirma sleeps three. There is free wifi and luggage storage, and the hotel offers early check-in and late check-out subject to availability. Pool, terrace and restaurant Upstairs there is an outdoor pool with a sun deck, a rooftop bar and a second-floor terrace that looks over the old town and the Santiago bell tower. Downstairs, the Agáldar Restaurant serves modern Canarian cooking; it is open Wednesday to Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday. Check-in is at 14:00 and check-out at 11:00. Getting there By car, about 30 minutes from Las Palmas along the GC-2; the hotel does not advertise its own parking, and the public car park closest to the museum is on Calle Guillén Morales. Without a car, Global bus lines 103 and 105 and the direct 100 link Las Palmas with Gáldar. - **Hotel Puerto de las Nieves**: A spa hotel in the port The Hotel Puerto de las Nieves is a family-run four-star hotel in Puerto de las Nieves itself, a few minutes' walk from the quay, the chapel and the Las Salinas pools. Turismo de Gran Canaria places it on Calle Alcalde José de Armas. It is the choice for sleeping by the sea without touching the car: you dine in the port, watch the sunset over the cliff and in the morning swim in the rock pools. Rooms According to the official listing, all of them are soundproofed. There are twelve doubles with a large terrace, with two sun loungers, two chairs and a parasol, facing the sunsets over the port; doubles with a sitting area; and junior suites that sleep up to five people, useful for a family. The hotel has a buffet dining room, a café, an à la carte restaurant and private parking. The spa The Spa Las Nieves has a water circuit with pressure jets, a counter-current swimming lane, bubble beds, a jacuzzi and a contrast pool, plus massages, mud and seaweed wraps and beauty treatments. It admits up to 25 people at a time. Ask when booking about the hours and whether it is included. Getting there By car, about 40 minutes from Las Palmas along the GC-2. Without a car, Global bus line 103 goes right to Puerto de las Nieves. From the hotel you can walk to the Nieves chapel and the Las Salinas pools.