Las Palmas City Break from the UK — Weekend Guide & Itinerary

Overview

Why Las Palmas for a city break?

Las Palmas is the most underrated city in Spain and one of the best-kept secrets in European city break travel — a proper Atlantic port city of 380,000 people with a beautiful Renaissance old quarter (Vegueta), an extraordinary 3km urban beach (Las Canteras, sheltered by a natural reef and genuinely swimmable year-round), a food scene rooted in Canarian and Atlantic traditions, and direct flights from virtually every UK airport making it one of the most accessible winter-sun destinations on this list. The climate is the most consistent in Europe: temperatures between 17°C and 25°C every month of the year, rarely too hot, never cold.

From virtually every UK airport it's four hours — Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and TUI fly from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds Bradford and dozens of regional airports. Gran Canaria Airport is 18km south of Las Palmas (bus 60, 45 minutes, €2.90 or taxi €35). Go any time of year: the climate is uniformly excellent. January and February see the extraordinary Gran Canaria Carnival (the second-largest carnival in Spain after Tenerife, with street parties and costumed parades that last three weeks). March to May and September to November are the finest shoulder months.

Where to stay & explore

Las Palmas's best neighbourhoods

Vegueta (Old Town)

The Renaissance quarter — the Cathedral, the Columbus House, the Canarian architecture of Casa de Colón and the most complete historic district in the Canary Islands.

Las Canteras Beach & Guanarteme

The 3km urban beach sheltered by La Barra reef — the finest city beach in Spain, the Playa de Las Canteras promenade and the most concentrated restaurant strip in the city.

Triana & the city centre

The Belle Époque commercial district — the Calle Mayor de Triana pedestrian street, the best independent shops and the most local café culture in Las Palmas.

Things to do

What to see in Las Palmas

1

Playa de Las Canteras

The finest city beach in Spain — a 3km crescent of golden sand sheltered from Atlantic swells by the La Barra natural reef, making it calm enough to swim year-round in a city of 380,000 people. The paseo (promenade) runs the full length of the beach, lined with restaurants, chiringuitos and the most relaxed outdoor life in Spain. At the northern end, La Puntilla (outside the reef) has proper Atlantic surf; at the southern end, El Confital is wild and spectacular. Free; open 24 hours.

2

Vegueta (Old Town) and Casa de Colón

The finest historic quarter in the Canary Islands — Vegueta was founded in 1478 and preserves extraordinary Renaissance and Canarian vernacular architecture: the Cathedral of Santa Ana (begun 1497, still under construction for three centuries), the Plaza de Santa Ana with its bronze dogs (the symbol of the Canary Islands — ironically named for the dogs, not the birds), and the Casa de Colón (Columbus's House, where Christopher Columbus stayed in 1492 before sailing west). The Casa de Colón museum covers Canarian and Atlantic history with excellent collections of pre-Hispanic and colonial art.

3

CAAM and the Pueblo Canario

The Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (CAAM) in the heart of Vegueta is one of the finest contemporary art museums in the Canary Islands — the collection focuses on contemporary Canarian, Latin American and African art, with strong photography holdings. The Pueblo Canario nearby (a Canarian vernacular architecture complex built in the 1930s as a regional arts centre) has excellent folk music concerts on Sundays at noon — free, extraordinarily local, one of the finest free cultural experiences in Las Palmas.

4

Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico Viera y Clavijo)

The largest botanical garden in Spain — 27 hectares of Canarian endemic flora (dragon trees, Canary Island pines, endemic succulents found nowhere else on earth) on the slopes of the Bandama volcanic caldera 7km south of the city. The garden is the finest introduction to the extraordinary natural heritage of the Canary Islands. Free entry; bus 301 from Santa Catalina park.

Food & drink

Where to eat in Las Palmas

La Marinera

Canarian seafood / Las Canteras beach

The finest seafood restaurant in Las Palmas — directly on the Las Canteras promenade, serving fresh Atlantic fish and Canarian seafood with the beach view as backdrop. The vieja (parrotfish, a Canarian speciality), the papas arrugadas (wrinkled potatoes with mojo sauces) and the local white wine are all exemplary. Book ahead for dinner.

Casa Montesdeoca

Modern Canarian / Vegueta

The finest restaurant in Vegueta — in a 16th-century Canarian manor house with a patio, serving modern interpretations of Canarian cuisine: bienmesabe (almond cream dessert), gofio (the toasted grain flour that is the staple of Canarian cooking) used in creative contemporary dishes. The setting is the most beautiful in Las Palmas. Book ahead.

Mercado del Puerto

Food market / port area

The finest food market in Las Palmas — a covered market in the port area with over 20 vendors selling Canarian produce, tapas, fresh fish, cheese and the best papas arrugadas con mojo outside a Canarian grandmother's kitchen. The most social lunchtime experience in the city; excellent value. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

Itinerary

3 days in Las Palmas — a suggested itinerary

Day 1

Vegueta, Las Canteras beach, market lunch

Bus from the airport to Las Palmas (45 minutes, €2.90). Walk straight to Vegueta — the Cathedral of Santa Ana, the Plaza de Santa Ana bronze dogs, the Casa de Colón. The CAAM contemporary art museum if anything interesting is showing. Walk through Triana (the Belle Époque commercial district) to Las Canteras beach for the afternoon: the promenade, a swim in the sheltered bay, the Las Canteras chiringuitos for a cold beer. Mercado del Puerto for lunch or La Marinera for dinner on the promenade.

Day 2

Botanical Garden, Pueblo Canario folk music, Triana evening

Bus 301 to the Jardín Botánico Viera y Clavijo — the dragon trees, the endemic succulents, the volcanic caldera landscape. If it's Sunday: Pueblo Canario at noon for the free folk music concert (timple guitar, Canarian folk dance — genuinely extraordinary). Lunch at Casa Montesdeoca in Vegueta (booked). Triana for the afternoon — the pedestrian Calle Mayor de Triana, the independent shops, the best coffee in Las Palmas at El Café de Fran. The Parque de Santa Catalina at dusk — the chess players, the market, the social life of the city.

Day 3

La Isleta or Maspalomas, one last papas arrugadas

La Isleta — the volcanic peninsula at the northern end of Las Palmas — is Canarian working-class urban life at its most authentic: fishing families, small restaurants, the El Confital wild beach at the tip with extraordinary Atlantic views. Bus 2 from Santa Catalina (20 minutes). Alternatively: bus to Maspalomas in the south (90 minutes) — the extraordinary sand dunes (a Saharan landscape) reaching the Atlantic, the nudist beach, the lighthouse. Return to Las Palmas for a final papas arrugadas con mojo verde at any Vegueta restaurant before the airport bus.

Also worth considering

Cities similar to Las Palmas

Santa Cruz de Tenerife