By plane
One direct flight from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Cities with a direct flight from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with their day trips and short breaks. Flight times are approximate.
Day itineraries
There and back in a day
Agaete Valley: coffee, wine and Maipés
Painted Cave and Agaete pools
Charca, Lighthouse and dunes without a car
Dolphins, Fataga and the GC-60
Roque Nublo, Pico de las Nieves and lunch in Tejeda
Tejeda by bus, museums and almond lunch
Overnight itineraries
Overnight from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
One night in Agaete and Gáldar: Cueva Pintada, diving at Sardina and the coffee valley, 40 minutes from Las Palmas
A weekend in the Maspalomas Dunes, 45 minutes from Las Palmas: dunes at dawn, dolphins and the Fataga ravine
Two nights at the summit of Gran Canaria from Las Palmas: stars, the Roque Nublo at dawn and a spa
Each motorway leads to a different island
Each motorway leads to a different island. The GC-2, the northern motorway, drops you at Gáldar and Agaete in about 40 minutes; the Cenobio de Valerón comes earlier, at exit 20, and is a good first stop. The GC-1, the southern motorway, runs 56 km to exit 46 and about five more to the Lighthouse: three quarters of an hour to the Maspalomas Dunes. The GC-15 climbs via Santa Brígida and San Mateo to Cruz de Tejeda, at 34 km, and drops to Tejeda and the Roque Nublo, at 44: close to an hour, with many bends from San Mateo.
Without a car, the Global guaguas (buses) reach almost everything. Line 103 goes to Gáldar, Agaete and Puerto de las Nieves, and the 130 makes the same trip as a semi-express. The 50 leaves the San Telmo station for the Maspalomas Lighthouse, in about 60 minutes. For the summit you have to chain two: the 303 from San Telmo to San Mateo, every half hour, and the 305 from San Mateo to Tejeda, which on Sundays only leaves at 8:00, 10:30 and 17:00 and returns at 9:00, 11:30 and 18:00. What is hard without a car is the Agaete Valley, with few departures of the 102 from Gáldar.
No trip is over an hour
At 40 minutes, the north-west. The Sunday of Cenobio, Cueva Pintada and lava pools takes advantage of the Cueva Pintada being free on Sunday; the Sunday in the Agaete Valley combines the Maipés necropolis, the La Laja coffee and wine estate and sunset at the harbour.
From 45 to 50 minutes, the south. The Sunday in the dunes by guagua goes from the Lighthouse to the Charca and crosses the dune field along the marked trail, the only one you can walk in the reserve. By car, the Sunday of dolphins and the Fataga ravine adds a two-and-a-half-hour catamaran from Puerto Rico and the GC-60 over the Degollada de las Yeguas.
At an hour, the summit. The Sunday at the Roque Nublo and Pico de las Nieves, with lunch in Tejeda, or Tejeda without a car, with the old town, its museums and the 18:00 guagua back.
The Roque Nublo reservation and the north-west on Mondays
The short Roque Nublo trail, from the Degollada de La Goleta, requires a reservation from 9:00 to 17:00. It is free, at reservasroquenublo.com, with a quota of 60 people an hour, and on Sunday the central hours sell out. At La Goleta you cannot park: leave the car at Cruz de los Llanos or in Tejeda and go up on line 18. In winter it can freeze on the summit: check the state of the road.
In the north-west, on Monday the Cueva Pintada, the Maipés and the Cenobio de Valerón are closed. The free Sunday tickets at the Cueva Pintada are not booked: they are given out that day. On 4 and 5 August, the days of the Rama, the Maipés is closed. In the south, the Arteara necropolis, beside the GC-60, is temporarily closed, and with a ground swell the whale-watching boat may cancel its departure.
The Tejeda almond trees bloom in January and February
In January and February the almond trees bloom around Tejeda and the Bentayga, and the clear air lets you see Teide over the sea: it is the best season for the summit, which stays good until May and returns in autumn. From October to April you can walk well on the Maspalomas sand mid-morning; in summer, take the first guagua and avoid midday in the dunes, which have no shade at all. The north-west is good all year, with a swim at Las Salinas depending on the state of the sea. In summer the summit is cooler than the coast, but there is more haze.
The Maspalomas dunes on the number 50 guagua
- Without a car, in a day: the Maspalomas Dunes on the number 50 guagua. The Charca, the 1890 Lighthouse, the crossing of the dunes and back along the shore, all on foot.
- With one night: Agaete and Gáldar, 40 minutes away. A try-dive at Sardina and the Cueva Pintada on Saturday; coffee, wine and sunset at Puerto de las Nieves on Sunday.
- With two nights: the summit of Gran Canaria, an hour away. The Bentayga and a night of telescopes, the Roque Nublo before 9:00, when no reservation is needed, and the Parador spa. If you prefer the sea, the weekend in Maspalomas offers the dunes at dawn and the Fataga ravine as far as Tunte.