Las Palmas: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
On 24 June 1478 Castilian troops under Juan Rejón set up a camp by the Guiniguada ravine, among the palm trees that gave the city its name. That camp became Vegueta, the first quarter of Las Palmas, and its cobbled streets still hold the cathedral, the governor's house and the island's museum. Fourteen years later Columbus put in here to repair the Pinta. The walk is about two hours on flat lanes; the market is busiest in the morning.
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A short history of Las Palmas
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded on 24 June 1478 as a military camp of the Castilian conqueror Juan Rejón, and from there the conquest of the island from its indigenous inhabitants was carried out. In 1492 Christopher Columbus stopped here on his way to his first voyage, and the house where, according to tradition, he stayed is now a museum. In the 19th century the city's port became a coaling and trading station on the routes to Africa and the Americas, and in 1927 it became a provincial capital. Today about 380,000 people live here, and it is the largest city in the Canary Islands.
The ten best sights in Las Palmas
1Catedral de Santa AnaTake the lift up the tower for the view over the Vegueta rooftops
2Casa de ColónThe governor's house where tradition puts Columbus in 1492, now a museum of his voyages
3El Museo CanarioThe island before the Spanish: mummies, skulls and clay seals
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4CAAM
Modern art behind an old Vegueta facade; entry is usually free
5Teatro Pérez GaldósOpera and concerts in the city's old theatre, on the edge of Triana
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6Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós
The house where Spain's great 19th-century novelist was born
7Castillo de la LuzThe oldest fort in the city, now an art space for the sculptor Martín Chirino
8Cueva Pintada, GáldarA painted cave and pre-Hispanic village; timed entry, book ahead
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9Calle Mayor de Triana
The pedestrian shopping street, with modernist facades above the shop signs
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10Parque de San Telmo
A modernist kiosk café and the sailors' chapel, at the bus station
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Las Palmas →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Las Palmas:
Free walking tours in Las Palmas
Vegueta, where the city began
On 24 June 1478 Castilian troops under Juan Rejón set up a camp by the Guiniguada ravine, among the palm trees that gave the city its name. That camp became Vegueta, the first quarter of Las Palmas, and its cobbled streets still hold the cathedral, the governor's house and the island's museum. Fourteen years later Columbus put in here to repair the Pinta. The walk is about two hours on flat lanes; the market is busiest in the morning.
- Catedral de Santa Ana · Building started around 1500 and went on, with long pauses, for some four centuries, so Gothic columns stand inside a neoclassical shell. In the square in front sit bronze dogs, a nod to the old story that the islands were named after dogs, canis in Latin.
- Casa de Colón · This was the house of the island's governors, and tradition says Columbus stayed here in 1492 while the Pinta was repaired. Today it is a museum of his voyages and of the Canaries as the last port before the open Atlantic.
- Ermita de San Antonio Abad · A small chapel behind the Casa de Colón, on the spot where, by tradition, Columbus heard mass before sailing on towards America. The building you see was rebuilt in the 18th century.
- El Museo Canario · Founded in 1879 by the doctor Gregorio Chil y Naranjo, it holds the largest collection of the island's pre-Hispanic past: mummies, a wall of skulls, and pintaderas, the clay stamps the ancient Canarians used as marks.
- CAAM · The Atlantic Centre of Modern Art keeps the old facade of a Vegueta house and hides a bright modern gallery behind it. Its theme is art from the three continents the islands sit between: Europe, Africa and the Americas.
- Mercado de Vegueta · The market stands where the Guiniguada ravine once separated Vegueta from Triana. The ravine is now buried under the main road, but the market still works as it did, with churro bars at its corners.
From Triana to the beach
Across the old ravine, Triana grew as the merchants' quarter, and in the 19th century the city spread north along the bay to the new port. This route follows that growth: a novelist's house, the shopping street, the parks, and finally the long city beach. It is about 5 km from end to end, so walk the first half and take a bus or taxi along the bay. Finish on the Las Canteras promenade at sunset.
- Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós · Benito Pérez Galdós, often called the greatest Spanish novelist after Cervantes, was born in this house in 1843. He left for Madrid as a young man, but the rooms keep his furniture, manuscripts and family portraits.
- Teatro Pérez Galdós · The theatre opened under another name and was renamed after Galdós in his lifetime. After a fire in 1918 it was rebuilt, and the painter Néstor de la Torre decorated the new interior.
- Calle Mayor de Triana · Triana was the road out of the old city towards the north, and the merchants built along it. Look above the shop windows: many facades are early 20th-century modernist, built when the port was booming.
- Parque de San Telmo · The little chapel of San Telmo, patron of sailors, stood by the shore when this was the harbour edge. The tiled modernist kiosk in the park dates from 1923, and the island's main bus station lies right underneath.
- Museo Néstor · Néstor de la Torre, the city's great symbolist painter, dreamed of a model Canarian village, and after his death in 1938 his brother Miguel built the Pueblo Canario around this museum of his work. His series of sea paintings, the Poem of the Atlantic, hangs inside.
- Playa de Las Canteras · About 3 km of sand facing the open Atlantic, yet the water near the shore is often calm: a natural rock reef called La Barra runs parallel to the beach and breaks the waves. At low tide you can snorkel among fish right off the sand.
The north coast: ferry, caves and rum
The Fred. Olsen ferry from Santa Cruz de Tenerife lands at Agaete, on the north-west corner of Gran Canaria, so the drive to Las Palmas is a chance to see the north. Before the conquest this was the heart of the island, ruled from Gáldar, and the painted cave there is the best place to meet the ancient Canarians. Further east, Arucas is a town of bananas and rum. Allow a full afternoon; the motorway makes the whole stretch about 45 minutes without stops.
- Puerto de las Nieves · The rock pinnacle off the harbour was called the Dedo de Dios, the Finger of God, until Tropical Storm Delta broke off its tip in November 2005. The ferry from Tenerife docks just beside it.
- Ermita de las Nieves · The sailors' chapel above the harbour keeps a 16th-century Flemish triptych of the Virgin, a sign of the sugar trade that linked this coast with Flanders. Every 4 August Agaete holds the Bajada de la Rama, when crowds carry pine branches down to the sea and beat the water.
- Cueva Pintada, Gáldar · Gáldar was the seat of a guanarteme, one of the native kings of the island. The cave walls are painted with red, black and white geometric squares, and around it archaeologists uncovered a whole village of stone houses, now under a protective roof.
- Iglesia de Santiago, Gáldar · The big church on Gáldar's main square is dedicated to Saint James, and a pilgrims' Way of Saint James crosses the island from the south to end at this church. The square in front was the centre of the town that grew up after the conquest.
- Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, Arucas · People call it the cathedral, though it is a parish church. Work on this neo-Gothic giant began in 1909, and it was carved from the dark basalt quarried around the town by local stonemasons.
- Destilerías Arehucas · Arucas has made rum from the island's sugar cane since the 19th century, and this distillery is its best-known name. The tour ends in the ageing cellar, where barrels carry the signatures of famous visitors.
Getting to Las Palmas and getting around
- Gran Canaria Airport · On the east coast, about 25 minutes south of the city by motorway
- San Telmo Bus Station · The main station for the Global buses round the island, under the park
- Fred. Olsen Terminal · Fred. Olsen's shuttle bus to its Agaete ferry runs from the port; check the stop on your ticket
Cheap eats in Las Palmas
Gran Canaria's everyday food is papas arrugadas with red and green mojo, grilled cheese with palm honey, and gofio, roasted grain flour stirred into soups and desserts. The island's pride is queso de flor from Guía, a cheese curdled with thistle flowers. In Vegueta the cheap breakfasts are at the market, and by the beach the cafés stay open late.
- Churrería Lantigua e Hijos · Churros and hot chocolate at the Vegueta market, about €3-5
- Bienmesabe · Canarian dishes in Vegueta; a light lunch about €10-15
- Café Santa Ana · Coffee by the cathedral square, about €2-4
- Café Quiosco San Telmo · Coffee in the 1923 kiosk in San Telmo park, about €2-5
- La Despensa del Sabor · Canarian snacks near Las Canteras, about €5-10
- Peña La Vieja Helados · Ice cream by the beach, about €2.5-4
Museums in Las Palmas
- Casa de Colón · Columbus, maps and old Vegueta; about an hour
- El Museo Canario · The ancient Canarians; the skull room is not for the squeamish
- CAAM · Modern and contemporary art in Vegueta
- Museo Néstor · Symbolist paintings in the Pueblo Canario
- Castillo de la Luz · An old fort holding Martín Chirino's sculptures
Nature and day trips near Las Palmas
- Jardín Botánico Canario · Plants of the islands on the slopes of a ravine; free entry
- Caldera de Bandama · Walk round the rim, or down to the floor; about 2 hours
- Playa del Confital · A wild rocky beach at the far end of the bay, for surfers and sunsets
- Playa de Las Canteras · Snorkel behind the reef at low tide
Things to do in Las Palmas with kids
- Poema del Mar · A big aquarium at the port, with a huge window onto the deep tank
- Museo Elder · Hands-on science museum in an old harbour warehouse
- Playa de Las Alcaravaneras · The calm city beach by the marina, quieter than Las Canteras
- Parque Santa Catalina · Open square with cafés between the museum and the beach
Where to eat in Las Palmas
- Mercado del Puerto · Tapas stalls in the old market hall; come hungry and graze
- Tasca Galileo · Canarian dishes a street back from Las Canteras
- Mama Rosetta · Local food near the beach
- Néstor · Canarian food in Triana, near the theatre
- La Fonda del Mercado · Regional cooking next to the Vegueta market
- Acuario · Fish restaurant at La Puntilla, the end of Las Canteras
Frequently asked questions about Las Palmas
What is there to see in Las Palmas?
The top sights in Las Palmas are Catedral de Santa Ana, Casa de Colón and El Museo Canario. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Las Palmas?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Las Palmas without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Las Palmas?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Las Palmas, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Vegueta, where the city began.
How do you get to Las Palmas and get around?
The main ways are Gran Canaria Airport, San Telmo Bus Station and Fred. Olsen Terminal. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Las Palmas, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Las Palmas that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Las Palmas for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.