The city of Las Palmas is one of the largest in Spain and the port of Las Palmas is the second busiest. Las Palmas is ready for you and there's a lot to see and do, not only in the city but around the Island of Gran Canaria for the day. Below we've highlighted the more popular shore excursions people like to do around Gran Canaria and you'll also find prices to hire a car or minibus for the day with or without a guide. (All private tours of 7 people or more must be accompanied by an official guide that we will also provide.)
Las Palmas city - You could quite easily spend the entire day here; check our own guide to the city here. For a city tour we recommend the hop-on-hop-off city bus at 20 euros per person it runs around every 45 minutes and stops at the key points around the city from Las Canteras beach in the north to the 500 year old historic quarter of Vegueta in the south. Of course one of the stops is the Muelle of Santa Catalina where your ship docks.
Transfers - Another popular service we are asked about are transfers, picking you up from your ship and perhaps taking you to the Dunes at Maspalomas or maybe to Puerto de Mogan in the south of the island. Transfers can be booked here by selecting "Address Search" as the type of service.
Private car or minibus hire without guide - For bookings of 6 people or less we can send an English-speaking driver to drive you around for the day (or half day). Whilst he can't give you a running and detailed commentary as a guide would he can of course tell you where you are and highlight any interesting facts of things to see. This is ideal if you're researching everything yourself on the internet and know where you want to go and what you want to see already. Private hire can be booked here by selecting "Hourly Hire" as the type of service.
Private hire with official guide - Whether you are two people travelling by car, 55 people by bus or any combination in between, we can arrange for an officially licensed (by the Gran Canaria tourist office) guide to accompany you and either take you to the places you suggest or work out an itinerary based on what sort of scenery and towns you would like to see. It can be adapted along the way - perhaps you've scene enough mountain villages and want to stop at a major town with some history? All this can be arranged before you set off or along the way. Of course the guide will look after you if you have any problems along the way, he/she will give you detailed information about all of the things you'll see along the way and be able to answer any questions you might have. A lunch stop can be arranged at a place to suite though meals are extra and paid direct to the restaurant. The costs for an 8 hour tour are :-
Saloon Car witrh Guide for 1 to 4 people - 350 euros
Minibus for 1 to 8 people - 390 euros
Coach for 9 to 20 people - 550 euros
Contact Us via this link to request a private hire with official guide or for any other queries you might have.
The route that most people chose that we would suggest is to leave Las Palmas heading along the north coast to the town of Arucas with an optional stop to visit the rum factory, see how our local drink "Ron Arehucas" is made and try some of the varients. From here up into the mountains via another traditional town of Firgas, home to natural springs and our mineral water supplier. Next stop Teror, home to the patron saint of the island and a visually stunning town full of traditional Canarian architecture.
After a half hour of windy mountain roads with stunning views of the countryside you'll arrive at of Santa Brigida. Optional stop there before carrying on up to the volcanic crater of Bandama. Don't worry, it's no longer active in fact at the time of writing it's inhabitted if you look down to the bottom. It's around 1,900 feet above sea level, 3,000 feet wide and 700 feet deep and offers panoramic views of Las Palmas and the north coast. From there it's back to the motorway and back to Las Palmas. total journey time around 8 hours depending on how often and how long your stops are.
