Las Palmas de Gran Canaria travel guide

Spain · Top sights · trending spots

Gran Canaria is called a continent in miniature — pine forest, desert dune and volcanic caldera on one island seventy kilometres across, with almost no seasons.

Las Palmas has a three-kilometre city beach at Las Canteras and an old quarter at Vegueta where Columbus is said to have stopped on the way west. The Maspalomas dunes in the south are Sahara in miniature.

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Top 10 sights in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

© sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cathedral Basilica of St. Ann
The cathedral of the Canaries, begun in 1497 and finished over four centuries, which is why it is Gothic inside and neoclassical on the front. A lift runs up the tower for the view over the Vegueta quarter and the port.
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© sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0
Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo
A botanical garden at Tafira Alta in northeastern Gran Canaria, seven kilometres southwest of Las Palmas. It is named after José Viera y Clavijo, the priest and scholar who proposed a botanical garden for the Canaries in the late eighteenth century.
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© Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden · CC BY 2.0
Playa de Las Canteras
The main city beach of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, regarded as one of the finest in the Canary Islands. It is managed under ISO 14001 environmental certification, and a reef offshore keeps the water calm.
Tiqets Klook
© CAAM Gran Canaria · CC BY-SA 4.0
Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno
A museum of modern art opened in 1989 in the old town of Las Palmas. Its subject is the art of the Atlantic triangle where Africa, the Americas and Europe meet, and its collection is built accordingly.
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© Vwpolonia75 (Jens K. Müller) · CC BY-SA 3.0
House museum of Christopher Columbus
A governor's house in the Vegueta quarter where Columbus is said to have stopped in 1492 while his rudder was mended. A museum since 1951, its Canarian courtyards hold charts, models and rooms on the islands' part in the voyages to America.
Tiqets Klook
Canarian Museum
A museum opened at Las Palmas in 1879. Its collection of Guanche mummies and skulls is among the largest anywhere.
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© Miguel Diaz Ojeda · CC BY-SA 3.0 es
Caves of Valeron
An indigenous grain storage site at Santa María de Guía in the north of Gran Canaria. More than three hundred chambers were cut into the cliff, which makes it the largest of its kind on the island.
Tiqets Klook
© Mataparda · CC BY 3.0
Church of San Juan Bautista
A church at Arucas southwest of Las Palmas. It was built in black volcanic stone between 1909 and 1977, which has earned it the name of the cathedral of Arucas.
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© Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden · CC BY 2.0
Castillo de la Luz
The oldest fortress on Gran Canaria, begun about 1494 to guard the anchorage at Las Palmas and rebuilt in stone after Dutch and English raids. Restored in recent decades, it serves now as a museum and exhibition hall beside the port.
Tiqets Klook
© Raffaesalva · CC BY-SA 4.0
Castle of San Francisco
A hilltop fortress above Las Palmas begun in 1601 and largely finished by 1625, its irregular plan following the shape of the ridge. It once covered some 5,750 square metres and is listed as a cultural property.
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Popular tickets & tours in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

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Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

© Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). · CC BY-SA 4.0
Poema del Mar Aquarium
An aquarium opened at the port of Las Palmas in 2017. It is among the largest in Europe, with separate displays of Atlantic, Amazonian and African lake species.
Tiqets Klook
© Abel-Arkeós · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cuatro Puertas
An indigenous site at Telde on Gran Canaria. Four openings were cut side by side into a volcanic cliff, and the cave is read as a place of Guanche religious assembly.
Tiqets Klook
© Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). · CC BY-SA 4.0
Elder Museum of Science and Technology
A science and technology centre opened on the seafront at Las Palmas in 1999. It occupies a converted port warehouse and has hands-on displays and a planetarium.
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© sailko · CC BY-SA 3.0
Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pino
A minor basilica at Teror on Gran Canaria. It holds the patron virgin of the island, and tens of thousands walk to it on pilgrimage each 8 September.
Tiqets Klook

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Top 10 sights in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Ann

The cathedral of the Canaries, begun in 1497 and finished over four centuries, which is why it is Gothic inside and neoclassical on the front. A lift runs up the tower for the view over the Vegueta quarter and the port.

Tiqets

Klook

Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo

A botanical garden at Tafira Alta in northeastern Gran Canaria, seven kilometres southwest of Las Palmas. It is named after José Viera y Clavijo, the priest and scholar who proposed a botanical garden for the Canaries in the late eighteenth century.

Tiqets

Klook

Playa de Las Canteras

The main city beach of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, regarded as one of the finest in the Canary Islands. It is managed under ISO 14001 environmental certification, and a reef offshore keeps the water calm.

Tiqets

Klook

Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno

A museum of modern art opened in 1989 in the old town of Las Palmas. Its subject is the art of the Atlantic triangle where Africa, the Americas and Europe meet, and its collection is built accordingly.

Tiqets

Klook

House museum of Christopher Columbus

A governor's house in the Vegueta quarter where Columbus is said to have stopped in 1492 while his rudder was mended. A museum since 1951, its Canarian courtyards hold charts, models and rooms on the islands' part in the voyages to America.

Tiqets

Klook

Canarian Museum

A museum opened at Las Palmas in 1879. Its collection of Guanche mummies and skulls is among the largest anywhere.

Tiqets

Klook

Caves of Valeron

An indigenous grain storage site at Santa María de Guía in the north of Gran Canaria. More than three hundred chambers were cut into the cliff, which makes it the largest of its kind on the island.

Tiqets

Klook

Church of San Juan Bautista

A church at Arucas southwest of Las Palmas. It was built in black volcanic stone between 1909 and 1977, which has earned it the name of the cathedral of Arucas.

Tiqets

Klook

Castillo de la Luz

The oldest fortress on Gran Canaria, begun about 1494 to guard the anchorage at Las Palmas and rebuilt in stone after Dutch and English raids. Restored in recent decades, it serves now as a museum and exhibition hall beside the port.

Tiqets

Klook

Castle of San Francisco

A hilltop fortress above Las Palmas begun in 1601 and largely finished by 1625, its irregular plan following the shape of the ridge. It once covered some 5,750 square metres and is listed as a cultural property.

Tiqets

Klook

Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

Poema del Mar Aquarium

An aquarium opened at the port of Las Palmas in 2017. It is among the largest in Europe, with separate displays of Atlantic, Amazonian and African lake species.

Tiqets

Klook

Cuatro Puertas

An indigenous site at Telde on Gran Canaria. Four openings were cut side by side into a volcanic cliff, and the cave is read as a place of Guanche religious assembly.

Tiqets

Klook

Elder Museum of Science and Technology

A science and technology centre opened on the seafront at Las Palmas in 1999. It occupies a converted port warehouse and has hands-on displays and a planetarium.

Tiqets

Klook

Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pino

A minor basilica at Teror on Gran Canaria. It holds the patron virgin of the island, and tens of thousands walk to it on pilgrimage each 8 September.

Tiqets

Klook