Hotels in Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria is often described as a continent in miniature, and the label holds up: within 50 kilometres the island moves from the sand dunes of Maspalomas to pine forests, volcanic craters and the 1,949-metre summit of Pico de las Nieves. The south is where the resorts sit, the north is greener and far less developed.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the island's capital, has a genuine city life alongside the urban beach at Las Canteras and the colonial quarter of Vegueta where Columbus stopped en route to the Americas. In the interior, whitewashed villages such as Tejeda and Agüimes sit under the monolith of Roque Nublo.

Temperatures hold between 18°C and 27°C all year, which makes Gran Canaria a reliable winter-sun destination as well as a summer one. A hire car is the best way to see the island properly, since the mountain roads reach places buses do not.