Hotels near Guayadeque Ravine

The Barranco de Guayadeque cuts seven kilometres inland from Aguimes, and people have lived in caves carved into its walls since before the Castilian conquest. Some of those caves are still occupied today. Others have become restaurants, a chapel dug into the rock at Cuevas Bermejas, and an interpretation centre built into the hillside that explains the ravine's aboriginal burial sites.

The valley is one of the richest botanical pockets in the Canary Islands, holding endemic plants that grow nowhere else on earth. A single road runs up the ravine and ends at a cluster of cave restaurants serving goat stew and gofio escaldado for around 12 to 16 EUR. The interpretation centre charges under 5 EUR. Marked walking routes climb from the roadhead into the upper valley.

Pro Tip: Book a cave restaurant table for Sunday lunch a week ahead. Canarian families fill Guayadeque at weekends, and the road up is single-track in places, so arriving after 1pm means reversing for oncoming cars.