Gran Canaria

Beaches, mountains, dunes, and a huge aquarium, the Spanish island of Gran Canaria is quite versatile. I was there in January 2024 and can only recommend making this trip during the German winter months. The temperatures on the island at that time are significantly more pleasant :) here they were mostly between 20 and 30 degrees. We had a small apartment near Maspalomas at Playa del Águila (Apartments MarinaSol & Aqua Spa) right by the sea and with a pool.

After a flight of about four and a half hours from Düsseldorf, I arrived on Gran Canaria on a Monday at a friend's place. The following day our first excursion took us to the poema del mar aquarium, which is truly worth seeing. From the jungle through tropical waters to the deep sea, in the multi-level aquarium, one can see various animals and nature. From seahorses and sea turtles to jellyfish and sharks, it has it all. There is also the option to walk through a glass tunnel surrounded by water, sharks, and fish. Therefore, the poema del mar is already worth a trip.

Next, we went to the south to the Dunes of Maspalomas on a weekday, which I believe was my personal highlight of the trip. This enormous sandy area stretches over a length of 6 kilometers and a width of 2 kilometers between Playa del Ingles and the lighthouse of Maspalomas, and it feels as if you are in the deserts of Africa. These dunes lie directly by the sea and are simply beautiful for photos, but it is very windy there, which makes it a bit challenging. At times, it felt like I was acting in the movie 'Dune' because it looks exactly like that! Afterwards, we went to a restaurant there, where you can watch the most beautiful sunsets.

One should also not forget the large mountain landscapes in the center and south of Gran Canaria, which somewhat resemble the Grand Canyon. We visited these on the second to last day of my trip. We drove through the mountains by car, reaching heights of about 1,500 meters. The highest mountain on the island is the Pico de las Nieves with a height of 1,949 meters. I didn't expect there to be such high mountains, and the view from there was, as one can imagine, truly beautiful. A very good viewpoint for pictures is the Mirador de Fataga in Las Palmas. Everywhere between the mountains, there are lots of small villages and an aloe vera farm, where, as I learned, the products are made on-site. Aloe vera plants are planted in rows in the fields, hand-harvested, and of course, sold locally.

Thus, Gran Canaria really has beautiful excursion destinations and also truly beautiful hotels, even in the north of the island. Generally, however, aside from the dunes, it unfortunately appears relatively dry and rocky in some places. Nonetheless, there are also several coastal roads on Gran Canaria that you can drive along, which are very beautiful. And there is definitely no shortage of palm trees, beaches, and landscapes ;)