What to see in Gran Canaria: my 5-day Canary Islands itinerary

For me, Gran Canaria is an island for an active holiday, and you can pack a lot into five days. I wouldn’t skip the Maspalomas dunes, the Degollada de la Yegua viewpoint, the Roque Nublo hike or the full-day hike to Playa de Güigüí. The best way to see the island is by car.

Quick factsby Milan Bez Mapy

How many days

Five; you won’t fit my itinerary into fewer, and in my view one island per visit is enough

Where I stayed

With a friend at the GranTauro villas near Mogán; stay in the south, as the north is often cloudy and rainy

Getting around

You won’t manage without a car or motorbike; the roads are narrow and winding, and drivers honk before sharp bends

Playa de Güigüí

The highlight of my visit; a tough full-day hike from Tasartico, about 2.5 hours to the beach, no signal, take plenty of water

Roque Nublo

A pleasant climb with views over the island; since February 2025 you need to book a free permit in advance for 9am–5pm

Not worth it

Las Palmas didn’t impress me much; go for the view and a wine tasting at Bodegas volcán instead

I wrote this article in 2019. Prices, opening hours and connections may have changed since then, so check them before you travel.

What is there to see in Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands? My guide was a friend who has lived here for several years. Besides the well-known sights, he took me to places that are worth a visit but never make it into the guidebooks, mostly local restaurants and bars. Here’s my list of what to see in Gran Canaria.

Read my other posts about Spain

In my other posts about the Canary Islands I share tips on where to go and what to see:

1. What to see in Tenerife
2. What to see in Lanzarote
3. What to see in Fuerteventura

Gran Canaria: flights, car hire and accommodation

Tip from Milan My full five-day itinerary, with what to see in Gran Canaria day by day, is a little further down.

How to get to Gran Canaria and how to get around the island

• How do you get around Gran Canaria? Hire a car or a motorbike, no question about it: you won’t manage without one. Most people pick up a hire car as soon as they land at Las Palmas airport and drive it to their accommodation. If you want to see the neighbouring islands too, ferries run between them. Personally, though, I think one island per visit is enough, because there’s so much to see.
• Where to stay in Gran Canaria? It doesn’t really matter: it’s an island and you’ll have a car. I stayed with a friend who rents out holiday villas called GranTauro near the town of Mogán. I’d definitely stay in the south of the island, though, because the north (where the airport is) is always under cloud and it often rains.
• When to go to the Canary Islands? Gran Canaria, at least, is warm all year round, and even in winter temperatures hover around 20°C, though that’s not swimming weather. I went in May and the weather was ideal for a visit.

My stay at GranTauro near Mogán

View this post on Instagram

Driving in Gran Canaria: what to expect

Before you settle on a trip to Gran Canaria, you should know that you’ll do a lot of driving, and the roads here are very narrow and winding. I did what I could not to get carsick on all those bends. If you’re driving, you honk before sharp bends, so that anyone coming the other way who can’t see you slows down. Drivers do this in countries like Morocco, Colombia and India, and the habit has stuck in Gran Canaria too.

A smaller car and full insurance with no excess suit roads like these. The whole itinerary below is built around a car; by bus you wouldn’t get through it in five days. I compare the prices of the car hire companies at the airport on Discover Cars. I explain what to watch out for with insurance and the deposit in my article on hiring a car on holiday.

You’ll find trips and tours in Gran Canaria here:

A 5-day itinerary with a base near Mogán

I don’t know where you’ll be staying, but I put this itinerary together to suit my base near the town of Mogán. Adjust it if you need to. The stops follow a logical order, so you see the places that lie close together on the same day instead of racing up and down the island. Let’s go. The itinerary takes five days; you won’t fit it all into fewer. Here’s my trip to Gran Canaria. Voilà.

@milan_bezmapy+249,000 followers

Follow me on Instagram

Follow

Things to do in Gran Canaria: a 5-day itinerary

1. Maroa Club de Mar and a perfect breakfast
2. The little town of Lomo Quiebre
3. The Maspalomas sand dunes
4. Atelier Cocktail Bar
5. The Mirador Degollada de la Yegua viewpoint
6. The Roque Nublo hike
7. San Bartolomé de Tirajana and lunch at a local restaurant
8. The hike to Playa de Güigüí
9. The Los Azulejos de Veneguera rocks
10. The Cactualdea Park cactus garden and a local restaurant
11. My tip for an Aperol bar by the beach
12. The city of Las Palmas
13. The Bodegas volcán crater
14. The town of Ingenio near Las Palmas

DAY 1 IN GRAN CANARIA

DAY OVERVIEW: We start with a great buffet breakfast in the marina, looking out over the yachts and the blue sea. Then we visit the pleasant little town of Lomo Quiebre with its narrow lanes. We walk across the world’s most famous sand dunes in Maspalomas and look out over the island from a beautiful viewpoint.

• Breakfast at Maroa Club de Mar: a buffet with prosecco

For me, the perfect start to any stay in Gran Canaria is the breakfast buffet at Maroa Club de Mar. It’s a hotel resort, but you can come just for breakfast. And what a breakfast it is. The buffet closes at 11am, so it’s worth getting up a little earlier, and the view of the marina makes up for it. The menu has everything you can think of, but what made me happiest was prosecco for breakfast.

I’d come early, though, so there’s still food left. They do keep topping up the buffet, but less and less as 11am gets closer. And the price completely floored me. When I was there, this buffet breakfast with a sea view and prosecco cost €9.50 per person. I nearly died.

Tip from Milan I’ve also written about how to recognise good prosecco and spot a fake.

• Lomo Quiebre, a little town with a harbour

Lomo Quiebre is a really pleasant little Spanish town in Gran Canaria. I loved its narrow lanes and the houses covered in pink bougainvillea. The harbour is full of moored yachts. I don’t know whether it was chance or happens every evening, but jazz musicians were playing in the town centre and everyone was dancing. A proper Spanish holiday atmosphere.

• The Maspalomas sand dunes

The Maspalomas sand dunes are probably the best-known sight in the whole of Gran Canaria. If you’ve seen a TV series that was supposedly set in a desert, there’s a good chance it was filmed here. People say the sand was blown over from the nearby Sahara, since Africa is just round the corner, but that isn’t true.

The sand originally lay on the seabed during the Ice Age, and the wind blew it onto the coast. Today it’s a nature reserve, and the photos from here are seriously good. Near the Maspalomas dunes there’s also a nudist beach, but I mention that purely in passing. You used to be able to walk anywhere on the dunes. Since 2020, though, you’re only allowed on the marked paths, and straying off them can mean a fine of €150 or more.

Tip from Milan In Maspalomas, I’d head to Atelier Cocktail Bar, a rooftop bar with views over the whole area and very original drinks. The waitress had to give me full instructions before I could even drink mine. It has a really stylish atmosphere and makes the perfect end to the day.

• The view from Mirador Degollada de la Yegua

Mirador Degollada de la Yegua is a viewing platform just past Maspalomas. I’d come before sunset and stay for half an hour or so. The view is phenomenal.

DAY 2 IN GRAN CANARIA

DAY OVERVIEW: Today we properly wear ourselves out climbing Roque Nublo, then have a well-earned late lunch in a nearby mountain town where time has stood still.

• Hiking Roque Nublo in Gran Canaria

The famous Roque Nublo (roque means rock in Spanish) is a volcanic rock 67 metres high. Its top reaches 1,813 metres, which makes it the third-highest peak in Gran Canaria. It’s basically one rock stacked on another. The highest is Pico de las Nieves, 1,949 metres above sea level. This peak has stood here for a little over four and a half million years.

It stands in Nublo Rural Park. When I was there, you could park about 20 minutes from the rock, but from there you have to walk up. It’s quite a pleasant climb, though, and I didn’t mind it; from many points along the way there’s a lovely view over the whole island. As you head up, notice how the vegetation gradually changes. From the car park you walk through dense forest into steppe with nothing but grass, and you finish the climb in a moonscape without plants or cacti. If the weather’s good, you can see the neighbouring island of Tenerife from the top.

Since February 2025 you have to book a free permit in advance on grancanariasenderos.com to climb Roque Nublo between 9am and 5pm. A shuttle bus, Global line 18, also runs to the rock from Tejeda. The car park by the rock (Degollada de La Goleta) is closed to cars, so if you drive, you can park in Tejeda or at Cruz de los Llanos.

View this post on Instagram

• San Bartolomé de Tirajana and lunch at Restaurante Santiago de Tunte

The town of San Bartolomé de Tirajana itself isn’t anything special, but my friend gave me a tip for a great local restaurant, Restaurante Santiago de Tunte, with outdoor seating. Its atmosphere reminded me a little of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. I’d ask the staff what’s good and order the set lunch, but have your Spanish and some cash ready. Time may have stood still in this town, but the square does have a cash machine.

DAY 3 IN GRAN CANARIA

DAY OVERVIEW: On day three we take a full-day trip to a beach that even many locals don’t know about. It’s hard going, but for me it’s the best part of the whole Gran Canaria programme.

• Hike to Playa de Güigüí: a full-day mountain hike in Gran Canaria

Hands down, the trip to Playa de Güigüí was the best part of my visit to Gran Canaria. A wave from the incoming tide drenched me here and wrecked my phone so badly that I later had to buy a brand-new one, but it was still worth it. To get to Playa de Güigüí, you drive to Tasartico and park there.

The hike to Playa de Güigüí is a demanding full-day trip: a lot of climbing over rocks in the heat, a lot of downhill and a lot of legwork. It was a struggle even for me, and I go to the gym four times a week. We reached Tasartico at around 11am, and it took us about two and a half hours to cross the mountainside and reach the sea at Güigüí beach. We were back at the car at around 6pm.

Even so, it’s a brilliant day out. Pack lots of water, food and a power bank, although there’s no signal anywhere out there, so you’ll be offline all day anyway. You won’t need swimwear: there’s nobody on that beach.

DAY 4 IN GRAN CANARIA

DAY OVERVIEW: Time for a rest, right? After the day before, my glutes and thighs were seriously sore too, so day four in Gran Canaria is mostly a rest day. We visit a pretty rock made for Instagram and a botanical garden, have tapas in a tucked-away local restaurant and drop into a beautiful rooftop bar that really commits to its theme. That’s where we get drunk.

• Los Azulejos de Veneguera, the rainbow rock
• Cactualdea Park
• Restaurante La Gañanía

Los Azulejos de Veneguera is an ordinary yet extraordinary rock by the roadside. To be honest, I wouldn’t even have noticed it if my friend hadn’t stopped there and taken a few great photos. It’s also called the rainbow rock. I searched online for why it’s so beautifully coloured, but found no answer that satisfied me.

The other stops I recommend for this day are Cactualdea Park, a large botanical garden full of cacti, and a local restaurant that makes the best tapas I’ve ever eaten. Then comes a great bar overlooking the Gran Canaria coast, where I’d order an Aperol and sit on the terrace at the back.

• The restaurant with great tapas and a cactus terrace: Restaurante La Gañanía on Calle el Albercón
• The bar for an Aperol with a view of the cliffs: Locanda El Roque on Calle el Roque

View this post on Instagram

DAY 5 IN GRAN CANARIA

• The city of Las Palmas
• Bodegas volcán
• Ingenio near Las Palmas

The city of Las Palmas has a beautiful square, churches, a beach and so on, but it didn’t really grab me. I’d sooner send you to Bodegas volcán nearby, which has a panoramic view in every direction. It’s also a well-known wine area, with lots of small winemakers around who are happy to give you a tasting if you ring their bell. We tried one of them this way and went home with a few bottles after the tasting.

Ingenio near Las Palmas is a curious place: it didn’t remind me of Gran Canaria at all. We were back in the north of the island, so everything here is green, and the narrow road up towards Ingenio reminded me more of Colombia. You can read my blog posts about Colombia too. Around Ingenio there are lots of caves and wellness centres.

Tip from Milan Wherever you are in Gran Canaria, I’d order Polvito uruguayo for dessert. It’s the caramel one at the front, and it’s the best dessert I’ve ever eaten.

What to see in Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands

Is Gran Canaria worth it?

Gran Canaria is an exhausting island, and I’ll definitely be back. There’s so much to see that I only really rested once I got home. But that’s what a proper holiday is about, isn’t it? The experiences.