I want to go to the sea

Riding time 🏍️ 3h 55m Visiting time 🚶 4h Total Km 📍 190 km

Itinerary Scores

Asphalt Quality 10/10

Route Quality 6/10

Landscape 8/10

Description

The coastal itinerary of Gran Canaria! The entire coast, desert dunes, towns, a breathtaking Mirador you'll remember forever, and a legendary road perched over the ocean for kilometres. Many seaside stops, from the famous Maspalomas to some smaller, less well-known but unforgettable towns. The itinerary is designed in 6 parts, two of about an hour of riding and two shorter ones, with a fuel and lunch stop in the middle and refreshment breaks at the other stops. Departure and arrival in Las Palmas.

What is included

A PDF with a detailed map, a list of stops, timelines, a complete description of the route, points of interest, and recommended restaurants.
A GPX track with all the stops, which can be used with your favorite app.

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Included Points of Interest

Mirador del Balcón

The glass-floored walkway of the **Mirador del Balcón** juts out beyond the edge of the cliff, letting you look straight down several hundred metres to the Atlantic. The recent renovation added information panels and improved access, while maintaining the view it has always offered: one of the most vertiginous and extraordinary on any island road in Europe. Several birds nest in the rock face and can often be watched as they hunt. The **GC-200** road that brings you here is as much of an objective as the viewpoint itself: this road clings to the edge of the cliff for kilometre after kilometre with nothing but ocean on one side and rock on the other. Traffic is light, the road surface quality is good, and the rhythm of the curves is relentless in the best sense of the word. The stop is quick and accessible; there is no need to walk to reach it.

Latitude: 27.9 Longitude: -15.8

Mirador de Las Dunas

It is probably the most visited tourist attraction on **Gran Canaria**: an elevated viewpoint over the dunes of **Maspalomas**, around 400 hectares of shifting golden sand at the southernmost tip of the island, one of the few true desert ecosystems in Europe. From the **Mirador de Las Dunas** the whole expanse is visible: rhythmic crests and hollows, the morning light tinting the sand gold, the blue Atlantic marking the southern horizon, and the Maspalomas lighthouse rounding out the scene. The reserve also includes a freshwater lagoon, a palm grove, and a band of coastal scrub. The dunes themselves can be entered on foot from several access points — venturing in reveals a landscape of surprising silence and vastness. The nearby lighthouse area has cafes and facilities. The lagoon is a haven for migratory birds, particularly in autumn and spring. It is a must-stop for any itinerary in the south of the island.

Latitude: 27.7449 Longitude: -15.5763

Puerto de las Nieves

A compact working harbour, sheltered beneath imposing dark cliffs, with fish restaurants lining the quay, fishing boats still landing their catch, and a ferry terminal connecting **Gran Canaria** to **Tenerife** in just over an hour. The whitewashed village is genuinely lived-in — no hotel towers, no tourist infrastructure. What remains of the **Dedo de Dios**, the volcanic rock pinnacle largely destroyed by Hurricane Delta in 2005, is still visible from the harbour wall. The harbour of **Puerto de las Nieves** — a short descent from the town — offers a row of fish restaurants with open-air terraces. A typical dish is grilled parrotfish, and it's definitely worth trying here. A traditional Canarian windmill stands as a reminder of the area's agricultural past. A few minutes are enough to see it all, but for the atmosphere — the cliffs at your back, the Atlantic before you, the boats in between — it's worth lingering and stopping for lunch or dinner. Easy to reach with a short descent from the **GC-2** from Agaete. The **GC-200** sets off directly from the town, a spectacular road that leads to the notorious **Mirador del Balcón**.

Latitude: 28.1017 Longitude: -15.7106

Playa de La Aldea

**La Aldea de San Nicolás** is the most remote community on **Gran Canaria**, isolated by the mountain ranges that give it a character entirely its own. The beach is dark sand, wild and undeveloped — nothing like the tourist beaches of the south. There are no hotels, no umbrellas for hire. The **Cactualdea** cactus garden lies nearby and is well worth a visit. The **Fiesta del Charco** on September 11th sees the villagers wade into the local lagoon to catch fish with their bare hands — a remarkably local tradition. The town is authentic and uncommercialized: eat simply, watch the ocean from a shore where the horizon is open, and take in the scale of the cliffs that ring the valley. The local restaurants serve typical island food, honest and genuine. **La Aldea** is the reward waiting at the end of one of the island's most extraordinary roads, the **GC-200**, whether you arrive along the spectacular coastal cliffs from Agaete or descend from the mountainous interior. The sunset "on the road" heading back toward Las Palmas is one of the most thrilling things for anyone who loves to ride — and not only them.

Latitude: 27.95 Longitude: -15.8

Los Azulejos de Veneguera

The extraordinary palette of colours is the reason it is famous: greens, blues, ochres, purples and reds painted onto a sheer rock wall deep within the **Barranco de Veneguera** — the result of mineral deposits in the ancient volcanic rock. There is no formal tourist infrastructure, just a pull-in area and the silence of the ravine, which is exactly its charm. The approach road through the valley is scenic and peaceful, with progressive views as the coast drops away behind you. The rock walls are best seen in morning or afternoon light, when the colours are most vivid against the surrounding dark basalt. No crowds, no entrance tickets, no facilities: if you want to visit **Los Azulejos** on foot, remember to bring your own water. The road through the **Veneguera** valley is narrow but well surfaced, with tight but very enjoyable hairpins for those seeking the pleasure of the ride. It lies within the **Parque Rural del Nublo**, so the surrounding terrain is wild and largely untouched. Combine it with a loop starting from **Puerto de Mogán** and continuing along the coast to **La Aldea** for a complete tour of the south-western part of **Gran Canaria**.

Latitude: 27.88 Longitude: -15.74

Tufia

A tiny coastal hamlet of pre-Hispanic origin with a modest black-sand beach sheltered from the trade winds, unusually calm for the eastern coast. The volcanic headland above hides a complex of rock-cut openings and ancient stone structures that make up a Protected Cultural Heritage Site. The natural pools at the foot of the cliffs and the ruins visible on the headland give the cove an intimate, layered character, very different from the developed beaches further south. **Tufia** is genuinely peaceful and free of commercialization — one of those unexpected encounters that define the best days on the bike. There are no services; the hamlet is tiny. Climb up toward the headland to take in the views over the cove and the coastline stretching north and south. The endemic plants on the protected fossil dunes around the site are worth a closer look. Just off the coastal road south of **Las Palmas**. The eastern coastal strip isn't the island's most spectacular stretch, but **Tufia** itself — an authentic hamlet with ancient roots and a headland with a wild feel — is exactly the kind of place you'd miss by sticking to the main roads, and one that's well worth a visit.

Latitude: 28.065 Longitude: -15.71

Puerto de Mogan

The most pleasant port town on the south-western coast — built to a human scale rather than that of tourist infrastructure. **Puerto de Mogan** is characterised by whitewashed houses draped in bougainvillea, a working fishing harbour that shares its space with small yachts and dive boats, a small sheltered beach and small canals with arched bridges. On Friday mornings a market fills the streets with local produce and crafts. Twenty minutes is enough to walk from one end to the other and see the whole marina. The beach is among the cleanest and most sheltered on the southern coast. The town has cafés, shops and numerous restaurants. An ideal arrival or turnaround point if you're exploring the South of **Gran Canaria**, Puerto de Mogán is the place to stop, eat well and appreciate that even one of the most touristy corners of the island still keeps a community at its heart.

Latitude: 27.8173 Longitude: -15.7595

Agaete

Agaete's strengths are its harbour, its valley, and its position as the gateway to the coastal road **GC-200**. Inland, the Valle de Agaete opens into a sheltered microclimate of citrus, avocado, and coffee plantations — one of the very few coffee-producing valleys in Europe, and the road that runs through it is lush and scenic **GC-231**. The Necrópolis del Maipés on the hills above the village is a pre-Hispanic burial site well worth a short detour. The Bajada de la Rama, held every August, is one of the most evocative and well-attended traditional events on the island. A good plan for visitors is to arrive in the late morning, which lets you stroll through the town and then along the pier, eat on the seafront, and still have the afternoon light during the climb up into the mountains. The **GC-220** rises spectacularly through the rock face in the Tamadaba Natural Park. Narrow and technical in places, it surprises you now and then with sudden Atlantic vistas. This road alone justifies adding Agaete to your itinerary.

Latitude: 28.07 Longitude: -15.7