The third-largest Canary Island is hugely popular with tourists, but we found that most people seem to stick to the resorts in the south. Thus, if you want to get away from the crowds (and experience the ‘real’ Gran Canaria), renting a car to explore the other parts of the island is the way to go.

At a little over 1,500 km², Gran Canaria might not be huge, but the island is so criss-crossed by valleys, mountain ranges and gorges that you need at least 5 days to properly explore most of its parts. Check out my itinerary on how to make the best of your time on the island.

This post may contain affiliate links, and I might earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more info, click here.

How to Get Around on Gran Canaria

This itinerary is really only possible if you have your own transport. Gran Canaria has a pretty good network of public busses, covering even the interior of the island, but especially on less popular routes, there are only a couple of busses a day.

That means, you can only ever visit one or two sites a day, so when exploring the island, you’ll either need much more time or you’ll have to cut quite a few places from the itinerary. Fortunately, rental cars can be quite affordable on the Canary Islands.

We can really recommend the local company CICAR, which has offices on all islands. We’ve used them on Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and El Hierro and were always very happy with the quality and price. The cheapest car (Fiat 500) is just about 30€ a day, including full insurance.

You can search for the best current offer in the box below.

Otherwise, there are countless guided tours available on the island, especially from Las Palmas and the popular resort towns on the southern coast. I’ve added a few of those to the itinerary, in case you want to check them out.

The Ultimate 5-Day Gran Canaria Itinerary

Day 1: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

The island’s capital surprised us with its cosmopolitan feel, many interesting museums and tons of cute squares and alleyways. There are some beautiful buildings showcasing the prevailing architectural styles of different centuries, especially in the Vegueta and Triana Neighbourhoods of the city.

Architecture and Townscape

One of our favourites was the 19th-century Gabinete Literario at Plazoleta Cairasco with its pretty Belle-Époque façade. Other spots we liked were the cool, ornate fountain at Plaza Espíritu Santo near the cathedral and the cute little bougainvillea-framed Ermita de San Antonio Abad behind the Casa de Colón.

The somewhat austere Catedral de Santa Ana is also worth checking out, although the interior is usually closed. You can see it if you visit the Diocesan Museum, or shortly before mass, like we did. You can check the current mass times here.

If you want a different view of the building, we can recommend a visit to the rooftop bar of the Hotel Cordial at Plaza Santa Ana, which is open to non-guests and still has relatively affordable drinks.

Museums

Las Palmas also has a ton of cool museums. As an archaeologist, I especially liked the Museo Canario, which deals with the life and burial rites of the island’s pre-Hispanic people. Stefanie preferred the cutting-edge art exhibitions at the free-to-visit Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM).

Another place we found quite interesting was the Casa de Colón in the old residence of the island governor, which deals with Christoph Columbus’ connections to the Canary Islands (he regularly stopped here on his way to America to resupply and repair his ships).

Finally, there is a cute little free museum dedicated to the Las Palmas-born writer Benito Pérez Galdós, who’s historical novel-circle Episodios Nacionales has been compared to Balzac’s Human Comedy (which I love, btw). I hadn’t read anything by Galdós before our visit, but the museum certainly got me in the mood to check out some of his work.

Restaurants

Apart from the historical and cultural aspects, Las Palmas is a great place to try some local food. One of our favourite places was La Travesía de Triana off Calle Triana, where we tried a few local classics, my favourite of which was Ropa Vieja de Pulpo (chickpea stew with Octopus).

Good places for a short snack in between are the little Café Midway in Calle Domingo Navarro, which has great Spanish-style Tortillas (potato omelettes, that are entirely different from the Mexican Tortillas) and the Bakery Panadería Miguel Díaz in Calle Viera y Clavijo, which has super tasty pastries for takeaway.

.

Day 2: Northern Gran Canaria

The northern part of Gran Canaria is the greenest and in my opinion most attractive area of the island. I recommend driving west from Las Palmas, frequently stopping on the way, and ending up in pretty Agaete on the north-western coast.

Teror

The name might sound a little outlandish, but Teror is actually a cute small town in the hills, full of colorful colonial houses with ornate wooden balconies. Especially worth checking out are the main square with the impressive Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pino and the cute, shaded Plaza de Bolívar with its carved fountain and benches.

We even checked out the Museum of Religious Art – something which isn’t usually our cup of tea, but the religious artworks are housed in super beautiful rooms with pretty, carved Mudejár-style ceilings, which are worth the visit alone.

Galdár

Galdár is sometimes also called Gran Canaria’s first capital, as it was the main settlement of this region’s pre-Hispanic people. It’s a cute town worth a stroll, but the main reason for us to drop by was the impressive Painted Cave Museum.

It preserves both the namesake cave full of colourful geometric paintings, and the remains of a pre-conquest settlement surrounding it. If you have even the slightest interest in Gran Canaria’s indigenous people, I highly recommend visiting. Coincidentally, we were here on a Sunday, when the entrance is free of charge.

Other places worth checking out are the Museum displaying works of local painter Antonio Padrón and the regional history museum Museo Agáldar, both of which are free to visit, as well as the little Teatro Consistorial de Gáldar, which has a cool painted spiralled ceiling.

Also make sure, to have a peak into the courtyard of the town hall, which contains what is said to be the oldest Dragon Tree on the island (and which is connected to an interesting legend, which you can read about in the courtyard).

Agaete and the Agaete Valley

Agaete is another cute small town and the place, where we based ourselves while exploring the northern part of the island. The main sight here is the Huerto de Las Flores Botanical Garden, which unfortunately was closed for refurbishment while we were here.

Still, it’s fun to just stroll the small streets and alleyways full of whitewashed houses. If you haven’t had your fill of archaeological sites for the day, I can really recommend a visit to the nearby pre-Hispanic graveyard of Malpaís, which contains a number of reconstructed tumuli (burial mounds) constructed from Volcanic Rock.

Driving a little further east, you’ll end up in the super bucolic Valle de Agaete, which is full of palm trees, flowering bougainvillea bushes and little farmsteads. If you have an extra day to spare, it’s also a great base for a day-hike into the heights of the nearby Tamadaba massif.

Puerto de las Nieves

This little harbour village near Agaete is a good place to end your day with a stroll along the seaside promenade and some dinner in one of the many restaurants serving seafood and fish of the day.

I suggest you check the prices before sitting down, though, as they vary greatly from place to place.We ended up at Terraza Angor and were pretty happy with both the prices and the quality of the food.

.

Day 3: Central and Western Gran Canaria

Agaete is a great starting point for driving one of the island’s most spectacular roads – the GC-210 through the so-called ‘Grand Canyon of Gran Canaria’. The landscapes along the way are absolutely beautiful, but you’ll need to be comfortable with heights, narrow roads and lots of hairpin bends.

The Coastal Road and Mirador del Balcón

Driving south from Agaete, the road hugs the steep cliffs over the Atlantic and this is a good point to decide whether you’ll be comfortable driving the GC-210 Road later on, as the latter is similar, but at times even narrower and has more bends.

If you start really early, two places along the way would make for interesting stops along this road. The little Playa Guayedra near Agaete was the only beach we came across on the island, where we didn’t meet any other people. Also worth checking out is the pretty Charco Azúl – a natural rock pool fed by a small waterfall you can hike to from the hamlet of El Risco.

After driving through a long tunnel in the rocks, you’ll have to turn right onto the GC-200 and follow it to the Mirador del Balcón, which sits high over the crashing Atlantic and was one of our favourite viewpoints on the island.

The view along the steep cliffs to the north and south is quite amazing and on clear days, you can even see El Teide on nearby Tenerife (although it was a bit too hazy when we were there).

Gran Canaria’s ‘Grand Canyon’

If you’re up for an adventurous drive, you definitely shouldn’t miss the GC-210, which for us was the most spectacular road on an island full of spectacular roads. It starts at the town of La Aldea de San Nicolás and from there winds its way east into the mountains.

On the way, there are loads of fantastic views, but not too many places to stop and enjoy them, so make sure to take every opportunity. The rest of the time, you should keep your eyes on the road, which is narrow, high up and full of hairpin bends. It’s a good idea to honk your horn before driving through one of these, in case there is traffic coming from the other direction.

You’ll pass two dammed lakes along the way (the first of which was almost completely dry when we drove past) and you’ll have great views of some of the island’s most iconic rock formations, including Roque Nublo, Roque Bentayga and the flat-topped Mesa de Acusa, which has some ancient cave homes worth checking out (the best spot for this is the hamlet of Acusa Seca).

Artenara

The road ends near Artenara, which is the island’s highest village and thus has a number of really great viewpoints to enjoy the landscape of Central Gran Canaria from outside a car for a change. The best of these are the Mirador de Atalaya, which looks to the north and west and the Mirador de Unamuno, which has views to the south.

Our two favourite sights in the village were the MECCA Ethnographic Museum, which shows what life was like in one of the area’s cave homes and the Santuario de la Cuevita, which is a small cave chapel completely carved out of the rock (and when I say completely, I mean including the altar, baptismal font and bible stand). Both of these places can be visited for free.

Apart from that, the town has a few good places to grab a bite – we liked the Restaurant Arte-Gaia on the main square, which is decorated with colourful artworks made by the friendly owner.

Roque Bentayga

You can see this iconic rock formation from many places in central Gran Canaria, but it’s worth climbing to its base for the great views of the surrounding Caldera de Tejada. As there is an archaeological site at the foot of Roque Bentayga, it you can only climb it during the opening hours of the nearby interpretation centre, which you can check here.

We came here 45 minutes before closing time and that way had the rock and the hike completely to ourselves, although we had to rush a bit. You should plan at least 20 minutes each way, with some time at the rock to enjoy the views and find the indigenous Almogarén (rock-cut sanctuary) at its foot. The exhibition at the little interpretation centre is also worth checking out.

From here, you can either make your way back to the coast by one of the speedier roads, or find a place in the centre of the island to stay the night, which I highly recommend.

.

Day 4: Central and Eastern Gran Canaria

The island’s centre offers enough cool hikes and cute mountain villages to warrant at least another half day of exploration. If you chose to stay in the mountains, you can climb the iconic Roque Nublo first thing in the morning, before setting out for the eastern coast in the afternoon.

Roque Nublo

This elevated rock pillar stands at the island’s second highest point and is arguably its most famous natural feature (after the Dunes of Maspalomas, that is). That also means, its very popular and I highly recommend climbing hiking there early in the morning, before the crowds arrive.

We started our hike at 8.30am and had the summit of ourselves for about 10 minutes, before the next people arrived. After that, it filled up quickly and on the way down – I kid you not – we met at least one hundred people climbing up.

The best place to start the hike is the little parking spot on the GC-600 a little east of Ayacata (which fills up fast – another reason to get here early). From there it’s about a 1.5 hour round hike to the top and back, with some time to enjoy the views, which are really fantastic.

Make sure to walk around the Eastern sides of the Roque Nublo and the Western side of the La Rana formation (the smaller rock to the West), for some amazing views of the Tejeda Crater and Roque Bentayga to the north.

Tejeda Village

This little mountain village has been listed as one of the “most beautiful villages in Spain”, as it’s really quite a beautiful place.

After hiking Roque Nublo (or anytime, really) I recommend stopping at the Dulcería Nublo Tejeda at the southern end of the village, for a Cafe Cortado and some of their mostly almond-based sweets (try the almond pastries covered in chocolate or the little marzipan-filled cakes).

The historical bakery is quite famous and has led to a number of similiarly-named places to pop up in the same street. The real one is the one at Calle Hernández Guerra 15. The others could be good, too, I guess, but we didn’t try them.

Tejeda has a number of small museums and a cute main square with a surprisingly large church, but the main joy for us was to walk through its little flower-studded alleyways and to enjoy the great views down the mountain slope.

Cuatro Puertas

From Tejeda, you can follow the GC-41 east to Telde and then the GC-100 south in the direction of Agüimes. About halfway along this road, you’ll come to the archaeological site of Cuatro Puertas, which is completely open and free to visit, but just as interesting as many of the prehistoric sites on the island charging an entrance fee.

The namesake four doors sit side-by side as openings in a little cave on the northern side of the hill, but more interesting to us were the Almógaren (rock-cut sanctuary) near the hilltop and the large complex of living caves on the southern side of the hill, from where you’ll also have great views of the eastern coast of the island.

Agüimes

If you continue south, you’ll soon come across Agüimes, which is another super attractive little town. Where Tejeda’s houses are whitewashed and brilliant, the ones in Agüimes are reddish and ochre-coloured but not less pretty.

Another thing that struck us about the town was the large amount of statues placed around the city centre, which are mostly designed to emulate scenes of daily live in times gone by. There’s also an interesting little history museum and the tourist information centre has a small exhibition on local traditions and crafts.

Finally, we found the Church of San Sebastián on the main square worth checking out, plus there are a couple of nice cafés and restaurants surrounding the square, where you can grab some Dinner. We liked El Populacho at the north-western corner of the square.

Barranco de Las Vacas

This is a short, narrow slot canyon, whose form is unique on the island and wouldn’t be out of place in the southwestern part of the US. It’s kind of hidden and not signposted, but supposedly still very popular with tourists and can get crowded at times.

Thus, we decided to come here shortly before sunset and had the entire canyon completely to ourselves, save for the many roosting pigeons. The smooth, rounded canyon walls are very pretty and the place is quite atmospheric, but apart from that there’s really not a whole lot to do, so a visit shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.

To get there from Agüimes, you’ll have to follow the GC-550 west out of town until you reach a hairpin-bend with a small turnout on your right, where you can park your car. You’ll have to carefully cross the road and step over the guard railing, then slowly walk down the slope and through the underpass to reach the Barranco.

.

Day 5: Southern Gran Canaria

I guess no visit to Gran Canaria would be complete without a trip to the super-popular south. On first glance, this was our least favourite part of the island, as it’s full of resort hotels, artificial and kind of disneylandish (most of the towns here were built in the 1960s and severely lack character).

Still, after spending a day in the area, we realized that there are enough attractive spots beyond the tourist centres that are worth checking out, like the fascinating Dunes of Maspalomas or the cute small town of Fataga.

Puerto de Mogán

This place on the south-western coast of the island consists of a small old town and a new marina full of bars and restaurants, which is also referred to as the ‘Venice of Gran Canaria’.

We met more foreigners here than in any other part of the country, but the many cafés around the harbour are still a nice place to grab some breakfast, although part of the joy for us was knowing that we wouldn’t have to stick around here for our entire trip;-)

Fuente de Los Azulejos and Restaurante La Canadas

If you follow the GC-206 north in the direction of La Aldea de San Nicolás, you’ll eventually reach Los Azulejos. Here, volcanic minerals oxidizing over time have created a series of differently colored layers of tuff along two sections of rock wall right by the highway.

The most obvious formation is the many-coloured one that you can clearly see from the parking spot before the hairpin bend in the road, but there is another one a little to the south of the parking spot. This one is mainly blue, but we thought that the colour seemed a little more intense than at the other patch.

At Los Azulejos, you can turn around and return the way you came, maybe stopping at the Las Cañadas Restaurant along the way to try their orange-and-papaya-juice and check out what they refer to as an ‘Ethnographic Museum’, but which is more a fun, ramshackle collection of old tools, books and LPs (and a dentist’s chair for some reason).

Maspalomas Dunes

These impressive dunes are the most famous natural feature on the island and the main reason to come to the popular holiday-centre at the southern tip of Gran Canaria. There are a series of marked hiking trails leading through the desert-like dunes, all starting at the the Mirador las Dunas near the Hotel Riu-Palace.

If you manage to avoid the glimpses of the Ocean to the south and the many hotels and resorts to the north it actually feels like you’re walking through the Sahara Desert and it can be very atmospheric. At the western end of the Dunes is the Charca de Maspalomas, a little lagoon populated by egrets and cormorants.

From here, you can walk east along the seemingly endless beach, take a dip if you fancy, and slowly make your way back to the Mirador las Dunas or the place where you parked your car. If you don’t mind the crowds, you could stick around Maspalomas or Playa del Inglés. Otherwise, I recommend a short drive north to the more laid-back Fataga.

Fataga

If you drive north out of Maspalomas along the GC-60, you’ll soon enter the dramatic landscape of the Barranco de Fataga.

It’s worth stopping at the Degollada de Las Yeguas Viewpoint for amazing views into the Canyon and if you don’t mind driving the serpentine roads in the dark, it’s even better to stop here at night: The place is almost untouched by light pollution and we were kind of mesmerized by the starry sky.

A little further north sits Fataga, where we based ourselves for the last days of our trip. It’s a cute little village full of white houses, palm trees and flowering gardens and feels much farther removed from the southern resorts than it geographically is.

A great, affordable place for dinner in town is El Labrador, across from the little church. We can particularly recommend their amazing Gambas Al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp).

.

Gran Canaria Itinerary Map

All the places mentioned in this itinerary can be found in this map of Gran Canaria. I’ve used differently coloured pins for the different days.