Hotels near Caldera de Bandama

The Caldera de Bandama is a near-perfect volcanic crater roughly a kilometre wide and 200 metres deep, formed about 2,000 years ago, which counts as recent in the geology of Gran Canaria. It is the closest serious landscape to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and that proximity makes it the easiest half-day trip on this list.

There are two ways to see it. Drive to the Pico de Bandama at 569 metres for a viewpoint taking in the crater, the capital, the airport and the mountains inland. Or take the path from the Bandama golf course down to the crater floor, a descent of about 45 minutes each way past a vineyard and an abandoned farmstead. Both cost nothing.

Pro Tip: Do the crater floor walk in the morning and carry water. The path is fully exposed, the climb back out is steeper than it looks on the way down, and there is nothing to drink between the rim and the bottom.