Sightseeing in Las Palmas

When you want to get away from the miles of beaches, take a trip to the theme parks. Here you can see what the Guanches used to look like originally. For gazing at birds and botanical beauty, go to Palmitos Park , a subtropical sanctuary packed with 230 varieties of birds and exotic plant species. La Laguna Grande , a park just off the highway is a wonderful place to relax and stroll through in the evening. It lies 13km (8mi) west of San Sebastian de la Gomera.

The Cathedral de Santa Ana is the religious core of the city. This amazing cathedral took three and a half centuries to complete. The neighbouring Museo Diocesano has an interesting collection of religious mementos – art, sculpture, manuscripts and the like. The Museo Canario compiles some interesting and thorough research on Gran Canaria’s pre – colonial history. The museum contains implements and objects d' art which are remnants of the Guanche civilization.

While in Las Palmas, do visit the Casa, also known by the names Museo de Colón and Columbus House. It’s a terrific example of Canarian architecture. No one’s quite sure, though, if Columbus ever inhabited the house. It is also something of a cultural museum with an assortment of artefacts from Latin America, portraits, navigational charts and miniature ships.

Visiting the Parque Nacional de Garajonay is like stepping into a page in a children’s storybook. The national park is the star attraction of the island of La Gomera, which is accessible by ferry or hydrofoil from Las Palmas. It is spread over 4000 hectares (9880 acres).

Cool Atlantic trade winds mingle with the warm breeze and create frequent ripples of mist in this ancient laurel forest. The floor of the forest is thickly covered with moss and lichen as hardly any sunlight squeezes past the dense foliage.

Forests like this are not common any more in the Mediterranean region because they died out in the last Ice Age. Most visitors make a beeline for the island’s tallest peak the Alto de Garajonay . The view from up there is stunning!