In this super uncertain period, in which we have no clue when we would have the chance to start travelling safely again, I thought I would bring back to light a wonderful trip made in October two years ago. Together with some of my lovely friends from Uni, we spent a few days in the Canaries, more precisely on the island of Gran Canaria.
Like more or less all of my other travels, the reservation was made months earlier quite by chance. A friend of mine and I had taken a peek at the flights and found a relatively cheap one for the first days of October, coinciding with my birthday.
Two years have passed by, but I will try my best to write down all the stops and all the adventures that have animated our wonderful trip. As always, I will leave you the map with the itinerary, for those who are curious, at the end of the post.
As a place to stay, we decided to rent a house in La Estrella (Telde), not too far from Las Palmas, and to have two cars available so that we could easily move from one place to another. It turned out to be the best choice.
The house was really beautiful, we didn't pay too much for it and we also had a private pool at our disposal, in addition to all the various comforts. Here is the AirBnB link to it.
Day 1: Exploring La Estrella and Las Palmas
We spent the first day (which was October 3rd) settling up our place and relaxing. As soon as we arrived first thing we had to do was to taste the famous Spanish paella, so we ordered a giant one in a place within walking distance from our house, sooo good! After that, we settled down, we went to Las Palmas, to take a swim and have a Spanish style aperitif: tapas and beer. To be honest, the city did not particularly impress us, but for the aperitif it was really the right choice. We found a delicious and cheap place close to Playa de Las Cantaras.
Day 2: Day trip to Maspalomas
One of the things we really did not want to miss was the famous Maspalomas dunes. A sort of desert in the deep south of the island of Gran Canaria. Being the place a bit far from Telde, we decided to dedicate the whole day to this trip, so that we could take things very chilled and also enjoy a bit of the sea. When we arrived in Maspalomas, we parked the car and headed towards the dunes. The landscape was very unexpected The city was quite normal, as you would expect a beachy town to be, but then, at some point, you could see these huge expanses of sand to cross before getting onto the beach. The dunes of Maspalomas are probably one of the most famous and touristy places in all the Canary Island, they call them "the little Sahara". Unfortunately this incredible piece of land is slowly disappearing due to marine erosion. We were very lucky to be able to admire it! We walked and in half an hour - spent between falling over and over onto the sand, taking photos and being so hot, we arrived at this very large nudist beach. And what do you when you find yourself in the middle of a nudist beach? You try to fit right in :)
Day 3: Los Pico de las Nieves
We decide to dedicate our third day to a trip to the mountains. Not just any mountain, but the highest mountain on the island, the so-called Pico de las Nieves, right in the center of Gran Canaria, at an altitude of 1,949 meters. From there you can see a large part of the island declared Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, a unique view made of volcanic rocks, sea and desert. The view from there was breathtaking, we took the opportunity to take a walk and eat something local on the street. If you are in Gran Canaria and you like nature, you cannot miss the show.
And yes, the last pic was an attempt for a Renault Clio spot!
This is the view from a beach close to San Nicolas.
Day 4: Roadtripping to Agaete, La Aldea de San Nicolàs and some other places on the way
The last day was basically a way to get to see some places we had not seen in the previous days, so everything was a bit more on a rush. We took the beautiful panoramic road from Agaete to San Nicolas, an extremely picturesque road because it overlooks the mountains and the sea. It took us a long time to cover it but it was absolutely worth it. We stopped in San Nicolas for lunch, in a chiringuito on the sea where we ate some excellent fresh fish and then we set off again for a last stop on a volcanic beach, where the sand was pitch black, loved it. I'll leave you here with some videos I took, because pictures are not always enough to explaining the lovely places we got the chance to see.
Here is a map of all the places we have visited, just in case it might be helpful.
Have you ever been to Gran Canaria? Would you like to go?
Feel free to contact me if you need any information or if you would like to share your adventure.
Xx
Giulia