When the weather starts to be gloomy and the sun doesn’t want to shine any more there is nothing better than escape to the south. Following tickets sales and cheap airlines connections you can easily find good deals for more or less popular destinations. My goal was to have as much sun as possible before the winter will come for good, do it for a reasonable or even low price and not fly more than 4h to the destination, because I had only a long weekend to spend.
Gran Canaria is very diverse in terms of landscape, climate, architecture and atmosphere. South is a typical tourist destination. Beaches are sandy (however not everywhere) and ocean is warm. Distances between cities are small, so you can easily move around. Unfortunately it’s a challenge to get in touch with local people, find local, typical restaurants or dishes. The south is designed for foreigners, but if you are up to nice cocktails, spending days on the beach or swimming pool and party all night long, this is a place to be.
Good restaurant to go:
Time, Risto Lounge Bar
Maspalomas, Avenida Oasis C/C La Charca, 9
Excellent italian cuisine with a big choice of pasta and pizza. There is as well daily menu with a variety of fish and sea food. Desserts are yummy, staff welcoming and the owner adorable.
Fresh dorada
Shrimps
Tiramisu
Center of the island is a real adventure. In the very heart of the island you will find its symbol and its highest point – Roque Nublo. To get there you will hike about 4h, but the landscape from the top is breathtaking. Following the picturesque path to the north, full of streamers leading through the mountains, you will reach an old city named Teror. The temperature drops as higher you climb, so even though the south it is very warm, it’s worth having handy a longer trousers and a sweater. People here are very friendly. They don’t necessary speak other language than Spanish, but will give you a hand whenever you will need it. It’s easy to find local specialties such as sausage, served as paste (chorizo teror), cheese(queso terno) and potatoes with a delicious red ‘mojo’ sauce (papas arugadas). It’s worth spending some time moving around small villages. Hereabouts you will find a charming city – Arucas with the beautiful cathedral and a hill, which is a very romantic viewpoint on the ocean and the city located below.
Tapas to try:
Chorizo teror
Papas arugadas
Queso terno
Going to the north you should stop at Galdar. The city is bigger comparing to Teror or Arucas, so you will experience more local movement.
The Capital – Las Palmas is a delightful city with a wonderful architecture. Its old, historical part named Vegueta is a must see. You can forget yourself walking the narrow, cobbled streets and travel back in time to the world where pirates and Christopher Columbus are still present. In terms of culture, the city is very active. There are quite some interesting museums to see, impressive cathedral and a lot of restaurants serving really good local food. A must try is gofio, corn flour made of roasted grains (typically wheat or certain varieties of maize) which is added to whole variety of dishes. I tried gofio fish soup and a desert. Both were delicious.
Dishes to order:
'Scalded' gofio (mixture of toasted wheat flour with fish stock)
Gofio (toasted wheat flour) base mousse
Public transport system is quite developed and you can reach most places, but the trip will require more time. Buses are more or less following the schedule; however in the evenings not even night to mention, you will be obliged to take a taxi or sleep over and wait till the next morning, so I decided to rent a car to facilitate and accelerate my moves on the island. The whole trip took me 4 days from which I actually could spend only 2 exploring the island. Below I made a small map, indicating places where I have been and that are worth going and yes, you can do it all in one weekend, not spending a fortune.
A - Las Palmas
B - Maspalomas
C - Puerto Rico
D - Roque Nublo
E - Teror
F - Firgas
G - Arugas
H - Galdar
I - Las Palmas
