Gran Canaria travel guide
Before You Go
Getting There
Gran Canaria is part of Spain in the EU Shenegen Area. Its about 4 hours flying time due south of the UK
Ryanair, Easyjet, Monarch, and several charter airlines fly there.
You can book flight + hotel + car hire independantly, or get a package via First Choice, Thomas Cook, or a comparison site like Expedia or Teletext Holidays
Getting Around
There's a good cheap long distance bus service centred on the capital. And an express bus from Palma - Airport - the southern resorts (Masopalomas - Puerto Rico - Playa de Mogan). Pay using contactless, a re-chargeable card (order online in advance), or cash (not during Covid). No daily or weekly passes applicable to tourists.
Taxi's are plentiful and fairly cheap. Some resorts have local buses.
But if you want to explorer the island, you need a rental car
Renting a Car
- Use rentacar.com or europcar.com (price comparison sites)
- All the rental companies, especially goldcar.com, offer low rates, but then scare you with an outrageous excess (like 1,000 euros) into buying expensive daily insurance at the desk. Always book a rate with good insurance, or use a company like carhireexcess.com (about £40 for an annual zero-excess policy). NB if you do this thay may still block the 1,0000 euros off your credit card, so make sure you have enough available credit. Just smile thru the hard sell. Once you have the car, no worries, the rental companies are professional. To be safe, just walk around the car on pick up and taking a video with your phone to pick up any scratches.
- Check how to put the car into reverse, how to open the petrol cap, and which side the lights / indicators are on - just in case you need to ask :)
- Pick up a free map of the island from tourist information (near the desks at the airport).
- The first hour from the airport to your hotel can be stressful (wrong side of the road, new car, late at night) - just take it easy - traffic is usually very light. A sat-nav can help a lot here!
- Stop at a supermarket if you're self-catering inland / or in a small resort!
Driving
A sat-nav will really help. There are free ones for your smart-phone. See maps below.
There's a good, fast, coastal / orbital motorway - it hasn't reach the west coast yet. Addresses / exit numbers are by km.
All inland roads, and the west coast roads, are very windy with lots of switchbacks. They are not scary (i.e. no big drops), but you have to be confident on mountain roads, e.g. able to reverse if you meet a truck or tour bus on a narrow stretch or tight corner.
Parking is a drag on the coast. Check your hotel has free or on-street parking. You'll often have to pay, but 5 mins walk back from the coast will be free. The exception is Palma, where parking is a nighmare, or expensive. Blue painted curb-stones are 'get a ticket from the machine', white painted means free parking. Parking inland, or in the mountains isn't a problem.
Petrol is much cheaper than the UK (0.80 euros vs 0.95 pounds per litre at the time of writing). Some petrol stations are 24 hours / un-manned - pre pay with card or cash before pumping gas.
There are lots of speed limit signs - they obviously have tourists in mind. Speed traps are rare. The drink-drive limit is lower than the UK
Like most of Europe, they drive on the wrong side of the road
Look out for 'miradors' - these are lookout points with parking, picnic areas, information boards, and great views
Money and Costs
Its a Euro country. Use cash machines, debit cards (with pin or tap), credit cards (pin or sign)
Shops and 'commercial malls' are open 7 days, in non-touristy areas, they close on Sundays
Lidl and the big supermarkets are cheap, especially for meat and wine (from 1 euro per litre). Spar, and resort supermarkets are like corner shops at home.
A meal out varies from a Menu del Dia for 8 to 12 euros (3 courses, coffee, and 1/2L of wine) in a rural cafe, to 18 euros without drinks in a touristy area.
An expresso is usually 1 euro, a small beer 1.20 euro
Resorts without a local town (i.e. just hotels) are more expensive. Puerto Rico is the cheapest of the big resorts (competition!)
Health
For healthcare, look for a pharmacy or Centre de Salud (health centre, just turn up to see a Dcotor, free - or about 60 euro if you don't have a EU health card). In an emergency, its 112
No injections needed, no mossies, just beware of the strong sun!
Where to Stay
This is a difficult question if you're planning on walking or exploring the island.
If you're travelling by bus, its easy, choose the capital, Las Palmas, near the main bus station, as its the centre of the bus service.
If you're renting a car
- Las Palmas. The island's roads are centered on the capital, but parking is a nighmare and very expensive. Choose a hotel with an agreement with a parking garage. Unfortunately, this is very hard to check online. You'll have to check with the hotels individually before booking. On-street parking is (mostly) free but near impossible to find. Parking garges are around 1.5 + 1.5 euros/hour (up to 25 euros a day). There is a free park and ride near the xxxx center on south of the east coast beach (the hotels aren't near here).
- The south. The main tourist resorts (95% of visitors to the island), with most of the accomodation, are on the south coast. But its a long drive along slow mountain roads to the walks in the centre.
- The mountain villages. There are a couple of mountain villages, but they have few or expensive hotels, and are dead in the evenings. None of these options is perfect. A private holiday rental in this area is possible, but stock up with a week's supplies at a coastal supermarket on the way from the airport.
- Cruz de Teja (the 'centre' of the island), is a crossroads, with a Parador (expensive heritage hotel) and 1 other hotel. Other than that, a few cafes only open in the daytime
- Teja, about 20 mins drive west and lower from the crossroads, is a small tourist / second home town. 2 hotels. Cafes with a dramatic view, quite in the evenings.
- Las Vegas, about 30 minutes lower and east, is a working town, not touristy, has shops, cafes, banks, but only a few hotels
- Puerto de Nieves, on the north east coast, is very pretty, and a good base for a couple of days to explore the north east. Still, allow at least 60-90 mins from here to northerly walks
Types of Accomodation
Use Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, or flight + hotel package tour to find a hotel or apartments (hotel with living room area and kitchenette). This is what most people do
Try xxxx or airbnb to find a privately rented rooms/flats
Try ownersabroad to find (often rural) houses to rent - this is best for a group
grantural.com - rural properties to rent
Camping is also possible - but it takes advance organisation - see below.
Choosing a Hotel
This can drive you mad. There are hundreds of hotels and apart-hotels. And thousands of reviews on TripAdvisor and the hotel booking websites. Here's how to start
- Start with choosing the resort. Do you want gay / naturist friendly (Playa del Ingels or Maspolomas) , or a party / fish and chips and Irish pub resort (Puerto Rico) ? Or do you want a smaller town that still has some Canarian influence (Puerto del Morgan)? Some resorts are new, just hotels by the beach with no town at all (i.e. no local places, just hotels)
- Do you want an Apartments with a kitchenette & fridge, or just a room with a bed
- Do you need a balcony with a view
- Hotels with 'club' in the name tend to have pools, restaurants, entertainment, and you never need to leave the hotel.
- Check where in the resort the hotel is. Sea facing, or valley facing (as most Puerto Rico resorts are). Walking distance tothe beach area, bar area, or a km inland. Is it near the 'shopping centre' (Gran Canarian for lots of shops and restaurants together, i.e. very noisy, or half way up a hill.
- Even in a given hotel. All the best rooms may be allocated to package tour companies. The 8th floor room might have a stunning view, but the 1st floor room may be a basement room with only a view of the sky. Sometimes its just pot luck which you are allocated to. So the 8th floor person may think its fantastic, and the ground floor person may be pissed off, as might the person in the 8th floor room next to the lift with all night noise of drinkers returning :)
- Some apartments are in privately owned blocks with reception in the hotel next door, quiet during the week, but party central with people from the capital at weekends
- Posh hotels also have posh food and drink prices - a problem if you're not all inclusive, or there are no other places to eat nearby
Camping
There are a few private campsites, but any other camping needs a free permit booked in advance, and picked up in person with id.
- There are some small free campsites in the mountains, but you have to book them in advance. Expect them to be full at weekends and suring local holidays. With some organisation, it could be pretty cool to camp in the mountains!
- You can wild camp as part of a multi-day walk, but you need to organise a permit detailing your route in advance
- Even camping on someone's land with the owner's permission requires a permit!
- There has been a clamp down on wild camping at remote beaches.
- There are a few campsites on the coast. But an appartment wouldn't be that much more expensive
Guardian Article - note that now use must reserve each campsite in advance
Map Apps for your Phone
You'll need a satnav. Easy and free is Google Maps (iPhone and Android). Download Gran Canaria before you leave home so it works offline. You draw a square around the island, - its about 1GB. Once your there, you just navigate to a point on the map, tap it, and it navigates there with audio and visual directions. Do check on a map that its route akes sense (i.e. its not chosen a route involving a cart track). Test it at home before you leave.
Next is OruxMaps (free, Android). Then go to OpenAndroMaps and download the Canaries map (also free) so it works offline. This has pretty accurate mapping of most of the islands walking trails. Again test it out near home first. This will also give you an accurate map of every town on the island with cafes, hotels, parking, etc. (and their names) !
Guidebooks
General
I'm not sure which to recommend. The Lonely Planet covers all of the Canaries, not just Gran Canaria. The Eyewitness Top 10 is OK. I've not reviewed the other 2.
Walking
The map is the best one for the island.
The Rother is an excellent guide for serious walkers - walks are from 300m to 1000m of ascent. Its not so good for explorers, the walks are mostly long. Make sure you use the downloadable GPS files rather than rely on their directions alone. You'll need a satnav (and some research) to find the start of some walks
Cicerone and Sunflower are usually reliable.
For all walking guides, it is really important to make sure you have the most up to date edition. Note that most walks are in the centre. They are very few coastal walks.
