The hallmark of a city or island is its parks. They are those places destined for leisure, but for a different type of leisure, more peaceful, quiet, relaxed and contemplative, ideal for spending time with family or friends. The parks in Gran Canaria, as well as being the heart of the island, are also a source of pride.
Moreover, parks don’t really appear on the list of things to do in a place like Gran Canaria. Normally, other places such as the beach, leisure activities or restaurants come first.
However, in recent times this trend has begun to change. The island in general and the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in particular, have started to promote and enhance the value of its parks, as part of its wide range of natural and leisure spaces.
With today's post, we want to give visibility and offer you all the necessary information about the parks that can be found all over the island.
The 5 best parks in Gran Canaria
The parks in Gran Canaria have become meeting places for many families, areas for quiet walks in a natural environment and as a space for children's leisure. However, these parks have taken on another dimension and have become another place to visit when you arrive at the island.
Despite the small size of the island, the parks on Gran Canaria are home to a very important and valuable natural heritage. Apart from the urban parks, the natural parks are the flagship, as they have a great singularity in their ecosystems, fauna, flora and geology.
In this article, we’d like to show you all the parks, both urban and natural, that are a must if you’re on Gran Canaria. These are 5 parks where you’ll enjoy natural experiences within an urban space and natural landscapes that’ll surely fascinate you.
1. Parque Doramas
One of the most famous parks in the city and the main heart of the city. Located in a privileged setting, in the widening of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, it was once a zoo in the 60s and 70s, and was later converted into a park.
Here you can enjoy a pleasant stroll through gardens and fountains that’ll lead you directly to the Néstor Museum and the Canarian Village where events related to Canarian folklore are held.
2. Parque San Telmo
San Telmo is an emblematic park located in the historic neighbourhood of Triana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It has a huge central square, which has been reclaimed from the sea, as at the beginning of the century it was an old city dock.
The entire esplanade of this park in Gran Canaria has small gardens with palm trees and vegetation native to the islands. It’s not as large a park as Doramas, but it has its own small, well-known modernist café, the San Telmo chapel, a children's playground and a closed area for dogs. Furthermore, it’s right next to the central big bus station.
3. Viera y Clavijo Botanical Garden
We leave the urban environment and head towards the outskirts, barely 10 minutes from the centre, where we find one of the most beautiful and unique spots on the whole island.
The Viera y Clavijo Botanical Garden, colloquially known as the Canarian Garden (or Jardín Canario), is a park that hides the best example of Macaronesian vegetation in the entire of the Canary Islands.
The entry is free, so you can spend a pleasant day strolling along its numerous paths, where you’ll discover a small sample of laurel, canary pine and dragon tree vegetation.
It’s an ideal park to enjoy with the family, as it has large esplanades where you can have picnics while enjoying one of the most beautiful and unique spots on the island.
4. Finca Parque de Osorio
One of the most beautiful and enchanting places on the island. Finca de Osorio is situated in the municipality of Teror, just 20 minutes from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Osorio has a fairly large area of land, where we can find a Nature Classroom and different parks, surrounded by one of the most important Laurisilva forests on the island.
If you want to spend a day in the middle of nature in one of the best parks in Gran Canaria, you should visit the Finca, walk along its paths and sit down to contemplate the wonderful forests that surround the parks while you enjoy a snack to continue your route.
5. Parque Santa Catalina
We finish this ranking of parks and gardens in Gran Canaria and return to the city, where we find another legendary and charismatic location: the Parque de Santa Catalina.
Full of history, it has been an exceptional witness to the growth of the city since the 19th century, from its dock and its factories, Santa Catalina Park has become the city's landmark.
With its children's playground, its large esplanade full of bars and cafés to enjoy a coffee or a beer overlooking its gardens, it’s crowned with one of the most important science museums in the archipelago, the Elder Museum.
Parks in Gran Canaria: unique natural environments
As you can see, Gran Canaria is a place with a wide variety of parks and gardens where you can enjoy activities other than the typical sun, beach, leisure or hiking in the mountains.
With these lines, our intention is to highlight a crucial element in the development of a city like Las Palmas de Gran Canaria or for the rest of the towns that make up the island.
In the same way, they’re places that far from being conceived, as they were originally designed to sit on a bench to contemplate the landscape or to take the children to play in, have become spaces where the celebration of events or the fitting out to host other types of activities have given them a considerable leap in quality.
In conclusion, we recommend that, if you’re going to visit the island, you don't forget this post and go and discover the wonderful parks in Gran Canaria.
