The most beautiful drive on Gran Canaria

From the dunes to the peaks in one day

Gran Canaria is often called a "miniature continent", and with reason: on an island barely fifty kilometres across you drive in a single day from golden desert dunes through palm gorges and pine forests up to bare volcanic peaks of nearly 2,000 metres. Since 2005 almost half the island has been a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This drive strings the eight finest places together in one loop of about 240 kilometres, from the beach up into the mountains and back around the west coast.

Unique to Touren.app: you need not start in Maspalomas. Tap "Drive this route from your location" and we rotate the loop so it starts at the point nearest your hotel or villa and brings you back. Everyone drives the same beautiful mountain road, but from their own front door.

The route on the map

A schematic overview by Touren.app, not a navigation map. The exact route opens under “Drive this route” or in Google Maps. Map orientation: north is up.

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The 8 places along the route

1. Maspalomas (Dunas)

Start · the dunes by the sea

The dunes of Maspalomas form a protected field of golden sand of some four square kilometres between the resort and the sea, with an 1890 lighthouse at the point. It is the image of Gran Canaria: a piece of the Sahara on the Atlantic. A strong start before you head into the mountains.

Practical: park by the beach or the lighthouse and walk up to the viewpoint; keep to the paths, the dunes are a protected nature reserve.

2. Fataga

the palm gorge · Fataga

The GC-60 climbs inland from the coast through the Barranco de Fataga, the "valley of a thousand palms": a deep gorge full of date palms with white villages on its flanks. The village of Fataga itself is a cluster of whitewashed houses above the palms. On the way lies the Arteara necropolis, an old burial ground of the island's first inhabitants.

Practical: there is a viewpoint just before the village; park in the village and wander the narrow lanes.

3. Roque Nublo

the symbol of the island · Roque Nublo

Roque Nublo is an eighty-metre volcanic monolith that rises to 1,813 metres above the interior. To the original Canarians it was a sacred place, and to this day it is the symbol of Gran Canaria. From the car park at La Goleta a path climbs about a kilometre and a half to the foot of the rock, with views as far as Mount Teide on Tenerife.

Practical: park at La Goleta along the GC-600; the climb takes about an hour there and back, bring water and good shoes.

4. Tejeda

the mountain village · Tejeda

Tejeda lies in a vast bowl of mountains carved out by erosion and ranks among the prettiest villages in Spain. The writer Miguel de Unamuno called the landscape "a petrified storm". Nearby stands Roque Bentayga, like Roque Nublo a sacred rock of the first inhabitants, with the remains of an ancient shrine.

Practical: park on the edge and walk into the village; there are terraces overlooking the caldera and a small museum on almond growing.

5. Cruz de Tejeda

the mountain pass · Cruz de Tejeda

Cruz de Tejeda is the island's central pass, at about 1,560 metres, right at its geographic heart. Here the old mule paths meet and there is a parador dating from the era of the artist Néstor. On clear days you look out over the ranges to the sea, and sometimes a sea of cloud drifts below you.

Practical: ample parking at the pass; the start of many walking routes and a good place for coffee with a view.

6. Artenara

the highest village · Artenara

At about 1,270 metres, Artenara is the highest village on Gran Canaria, known for its casas cueva, the cave houses hewn into the rock. From the viewpoint by the village you look out on Roque Bentayga and Roque Nublo, and on clear days as far as Mount Teide on Tenerife. There is a cave chapel dedicated to the patron saint.

Practical: park by the village and walk to the mirador; the restaurant carved into the rock has a panoramic terrace.

7. Puerto de las Nieves (Agaete)

back on the coast · Puerto de las Nieves

From the mountains you drop down to Puerto de las Nieves, the white fishing harbour by Agaete on the north-west coast. Off the shore once stood the Dedo de Dios, the "finger of God", a rock needle that a storm broke off in 2005. Ferries run to Tenerife and fish restaurants line the quay.

Practical: park by the harbour and walk the front; a good place for fresh fish before you drive the west coast.

8. Puerto de Mogán

the finale · Puerto de Mogán

Along the spectacular west-coast GC-200 you drive south to Puerto de Mogán, a harbour village of canals and flower-draped bridges, often called "little Venice". It is a calm close on the sunny south-west coast before you return over the GC-1 to Maspalomas.

Practical: paid parking by the harbour; the old fishing quarter with its little canals is car-free and at its best in the late afternoon.

Practical: for the rental car, convertible and motorbike

From which place: the route starts in Maspalomas, but you need not start there. Tap "Drive this route from your location" and Touren.app rotates the loop to the point nearest your hotel or villa, so you set off from your own front door and return to it.

For which vehicle: the mountain roads of Gran Canaria are winding and at times narrow, but well kept and a joy in a convertible or on a motorbike. The west-coast GC-200 through La Aldea is one of the finest coast roads in the Canaries. If you want a quicker way back, the GC-1 along the south coast is the fast option; our scenic route uses it only for the final stretch.

Roque Nublo on foot: the rock itself can only be reached on foot. From the car park at La Goleta it is about a kilometre and a half up, roughly an hour there and back. Bring water and sturdy shoes; the mountains can cloud over around midday.

Best time: Gran Canaria has a mild climate all year round. The finest light in the mountains is early in the day, before the trade-wind clouds build against the peaks. In winter it can be cool above 1,500 metres, so bring an extra layer.

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