Gran Canaria Tourism Guide - Las Palmas

Getting Around Las Palmas

Las Palmas is a big city, but relatively easy as enormous cities go to navigate. It's narrow and long, stretching along the coastline from the old quarter of Vegueta and Triana in the south to Santa Catalina, the stunning urban beach of Playa de las Canteras and La Isleta and Puerto de la Luz port in the north. Horrendous traffic jams granted, but as you'll notice as you drive around it people seemed to have resigned themselves to the fact and there is a laid back and courteous shunting of cars around every part of Las Palmas, including tiny narrow streets in the old quarter of Vegueta past the cathedral! Spanish cities seem to let cars everywhere.

Most of Las Palmas' museums and sites are based around the old quarter of Vegueta and Triana to the south, and there are ample large car parks in this area if you're entering Las Palmas with a hire car (don't believe what they say in the standard guidebooks, parking in Las Palmas is fine but choose one of the large ticket car parks - they work the same way as the UK, you pay in the machine on departure - make sure you note the name of the street the car park is on before you head off. Vegueta and Triana are simply stunning areas, with a choice of fascintating architecture and some of the best museums in the Canary Islands, notably the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museo Canario where Guanche history (the original settlers on the Canary Islands) is explored in-depth. There's also some superb cafes, tapas bars, and restaurants in this area of Las Palmas - the coffee is delicious!

Of interest to the visitor to the north of Las Palmas is the Santa Catalina area and of course the splendid Playa de las Canteras beach (on seeing this beach you'll see why Las Palmas was the first resort on Gran Canaria - the waves are excellent here and surfing on Las Canteras abounds.

Santa Catalina is close to the port, so has a different feel to the south of the city, with a more work-a-day vibe where business people, tourists and those heading to Las Canteras beach mingle - this area resembles closely mainland Spain. There's a pleasant botanical garden, a museum of science and technology and a fortress - the Castillo de la Luz built in the 16th century all in this area. Don't miss particularly a visit to Las Canteras beach!

Grand Tour and Buses to Las Palmas

If you're without a hire car or are put off by driving into a large unknown city, an alternative way of taking in Las Palmas is to hook into the superb Hotel Beds Grand Tour of Gran Canaria, which allows the visitor two hours free roaming in Las Palmas, although those wanting more time in the museums might do better to bus in from the resorts.

Taking the Bus into Las Palmas is no problem, they run frequently from the main resorts of Maspalomas and Playa del Ingels particularly, and from Puerto Rico too. Check with your Hotel Beds representative for details.

The Grand Tour to Las Palmas (though Hotel Beds and First Choice) usually drops you in the north of the city outside El Ingles department store (it's mammoth and you could easily spend your two hours of time just in here if you so desired!). You usually have about 2 hours to roam free - and within easy reach are Las Canteras Beach, the superb shopping in this area including Las Palmas's famous big departments stores or you can nip across to the Port and Fortress and take in Santa Catalina Park.

Visitors wanting to visit the museums and old town quarter of Vegueta and Triana to the South of Las Palmas are best returning and doing this area on a separate day - there's not enough time on the Grand Tour to walk south to these areas, and anyway you'll need at least a half a day to take in all the superb museums in this area including the Museo Canario and viewing Santa Ana gothic cathedral.

Parking and Shopping in Las Palmas

There are several enormous car parks in the Triana area allowing easy and stress free access to all the main museums, superb Las Palmas shops and the various cafes, bars and bodega restaurants. One car park is situated in the area between Av. Alcalde Diaz Saavedra Navarro and Av. de Canarias, although this is often full as it's nearest the museums and Plaza de Santa Ann. If no joy here try the parking area on San Pedro or a little further out into Triana on San Bernardo, Avda. Rafael Cabrera or at Parque San Telmo.

Some of the best shopping in Las Palmas is to be found along Calle Mayor de Triana, although all the museum shops in the Vegu

Las Palmas Museums

A full day is needed really to make the most of Las Palmas museums, which include the most popular Casa Museo Colon with it's stunning Canarian architecture and it's claim of Columbus once stopping by here. Others in the Vegueta and Triana region include the not to be missed Museo Canario near the Cathedral, the Museum of Modern Art situated close to the Museo Colon, the Museo De Perez Galdos (the Canary Islands most famous writer/the museum is the house where he was born). and the Museo Diocesano around the Patio de los Naranjoy on Espiritu Santo adjacent to the cathedral. The building was once the base of the inquisition, and is now a museum of religious artefacts. You can enter the Santa Anna Cathedral adjacent for free, with a small extra charge if you want to go up the tower.

At the heart of Las Palmas' old quarter is one of the most striking buildings on the Canary Islands, the Catedral de Santa Ana. Take time to sit in the small Santa Anna Plaza opposite to admire this striking 'Atlantic Gothic' building dating from the 15th century pretty sharpish after the Spanish invasion. Numerous other churches are also situated in Las Palmas and clearly market on maps given out by the handy tourist info kiosts situated around the Triana/Vegueta area. There's one at Parque San Telma and one in Plaza de las Ranas.

Las Palmas Tour Guide Gran Canaria

Casa de Colon, Col—n, 1, 35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tel: 928 312 373/312 384. Open from 9am to 1900/7pm Mon-Fri, and 9am to 15.00/3pm Saturdays and Sundays. Columbus claims abound in Las Palmas, as they appear to do across the Canaries and across the world in old Spanish colonial territory. Bless his cotton, Columbus certainly got about! The Cas Colon Museum is worth a look perhaps most for the building itself which is a superb example of typical Canarian architectue with two patios frontage and typical wooden balconies. Columbus is supposed to have passed by here in 1492 (it's certainly a bit dubious that he ever stayed here and what you see is in fact the old home of Las Palmas governers of the period). Four floors of exhibits guide you through the voyages of Columbus in the usual celbratory style. For the sombre reality of colonialism it's a good idea to visit the Museo Canario alongside the Cas Colon.

El Museo Canario, C/Dr. Verneau, 2 (Vegueta), 35001 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Tel: 928 336800. (see their weblink right for opening times). For original settler/Canarios history this is the hotspot museum across all the Canary Islands. The Museo Canario has a magnificent collection of ancient Canarios ceramics, communicative shapes and signs, burial corpses demonstrating the elaborate burial rites of the Canarios and it explores in-depth how they lived and offers information on various Guanche important sites across the Canary Islands, with a focus on Gran Canaria. A superb and unmissible museum.

CAAM, C/Los Balcones, 11. 35001 las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Tel: 902 31 18 24. Open from 10am to 9pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 10am to 2pm Sundays. Las Palmas is superb on contemporary art. Head for the Museum of Modern Art in the Vegueta historic district of Las Palmas. Here is a superb collection including work by Cesar Manrique and various other Canarian and international artists. Exhibitions are changing, and often display work by international artists (such as recently the surreal work of Arnulf Rainer and Dieter Roth) usually with some links to the Canary Islands. Highly recommended, and well worth a visit (free to enter) if you're in Las Palmas

Cathedral De Santa Ana & Museo Diocesano, Calle Obispo Codina 13, Las Palmas. Tel: 928 33 14 30. Admission is free, open from 10am to 5pm Mondays to Fridays, 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. An iconic feature which gives the city of Las Palmas an edge, much like Palma de Mallorca, is it's Cathedral - Santa Ana with in-house Museo Diocesano. The architectural style of this particular cathedral - Atlantic Gothic in the interior, and neoclassical facades on the exterior. The melting pot of architectural styles in Santa Ana Cathedral are partly to do with how long it took to build. Commencing in the early 15th century, the cathedral wasn't finished until 350 years later! The adjacent Museo Diocesano has a sinister history - it was once the home of the inquisition here in Las Palmas. Now it displays religious and art and artefacts, plus has numerous archives and documents. You can also take a trip up the cathedral's tower.

Playa de Las Canteras Beach, Las Palmas

A great expanse of golden sands and pleasant waves (some surf here when the winds up) awaits you at Las Canteras beach and the backdrop is not sand dunes as in Maspalomas, but the cityscape of Las Palmas. It's another plus point on Las Palmas's belt, as if you needed another one. Visitors to Gran Canaria looking for a real Spanish vibe chic city base, a stunningly beautiful beach - one of the best in fact on Gran Canaria, enough shops to really make you drop, a historic old quarter crammed with museums and easy access to the north and central dramatic landscape of Gran Canaria - if you hadn't thought of Las Palmas as a holiday base on Gran Canaria then think again!

Las Canteras Beach is a city beach - rather than a tourist beach, ie. It's crammed with the local crowd. Cafes and bars line the Paseo Canteras where you can sit and admire this stunning beach with it's great local atmosphere at your leisure with a nice coffee or beer. The Paseo Canteras Promenade makes an excellent strolling ground moving southwards for views of the auditorium or northwards for views of La Isleta. Playa de Las Canteras - well worth a visit, even if you're on a tour and only have a shot period of time, make time to view Las Canteras Beach!

More Las Palmas Museums & Attractions

Las Palmas is a cultural and attraction hotspot across the Canaries, and other museums and attractions include various architectural gems in the Vegueta and Triana areas to the south of the city. Many are located around the Santa Ana Cathedral, but other sites spread into Triana. Gabinete Literario historical building on Plazoleta Cairasco, Casa Museuo De Perez Galdos, Calle Cano 6, Las Palmas. Tel: 928 36 69 76. The building is the one time home of celebrated Canarian writer Perez Galdos. Open 9am to 7pm Mondays to Fridays. Entrance is free, but tour guides are in Spanish so knowledge of a little Spanish will help you here. Incidently, there are a number of tourist information kiosks around Vegueta and Triana, a good central one being in the Plaza de Las Ranas. You can get excellent free maps at these of the historic area of Las Palmas to help you enjoy all this area has to offer.

Parque San Temo includes the Iglesia de San Telmo church, then move on to the Ciudad Jardin and Parque Doramas and was actually designed by the British in the late 19th century. A major attraction, often offered by Gran Canaria excursion tour companies, is a trip to the Pueblo Canario in Las Palmas. It's a little Canarian village scenario on the edge of Parque Doramas designed by the artist Nesto Martin Fernandez de la Torre and constructed by the artist's brother in the 1930s. See also the Museo Nesto Art Gallery at Puerblo Canario, Las Palmas. Tel: 928 24 51 35. Open from 10am to 8pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 10.30am to 2.30pm on Sundays.

The central area around Santa Catalina is popular shopping territory, but also your route to Las Palmas' stunning beach Las Canteras. The promenade which lines the 3km of golden sands that are Las Canteras Beach offer a choice of chic restaurants, bars and cafes. For urban beaches, bars and restaurants you don't get much better than this and Las Palmas' superb beach is another features which gives this city and edge!

Other sites and scenes around Las Palmas include the Museo Elder De La Ciencia y La Technologica - the Museum of Science and Technology, Parque Santa Catalina s/n, Las Palmas. Tel: 928 01 18 28. Open 11am to 9pm during the summer months. See this museums weblink to the right for more details - it's a fab website! Also in this area is the 16th century fort, the Castillo de la Luz, and like other forts around the Canary Islands it was originally built to see off pirates. Now it often displays art work. Also, if you like Botanical Gardens, head about 9km to the southwest of the city to the Jardin Botanico Canario Viera y Clavijo - it's an enormous botanical garden spread over about 27 hectares displaying a huge selection of Canarian flora and other species from around the world. Tel: 928 35 36 04. Again it's FREE to enter! (see the Botanical Garden website to the right).