Las Palmas

About 3 kilometres of beach on the city's west side, where La Barra, a natural reef offshore, breaks the swell and keeps the water calm. At low tide you can wade to the reef to see fish, while the south end by the concert hall gets big waves and surfers.

The quarter grew from the spot where Spanish troops first camped in 1478, and houses with wooden balconies still line its cobbles. The tower of Santa Ana Cathedral has a lift, so you reach the top terrace over the rooftops without climbing.

On his first voyage in 1492 Columbus put in at this island to repair a ship, and the former governor's house tells that story as a museum. Stone doorframes and wooden ceilings round the courtyard are a draw in themselves, and one room recreates a ship's hold.

A museum of the native islanders who lived here before the Spanish arrived. One room has skulls ranged along an entire wall, and the mummies and the clay Idol of Tara are here too. The plain old house front is easy to walk past.

A rock pillar crowning Gran Canaria's central summit, sacred to the native people. A stony path climbs thirty to forty minutes from a roadside car park to its foot, and on clear days Teide on Tenerife shows across the sea. Parking is scarce, so arrive early.

A nature reserve on Gran Canaria's south shore where sand dunes spread like a desert. The wind wears them down a little each year, so walking is now allowed on marked paths only. Around noon the dunes scorch any bare foot.

A hill town holding the Basilica of the Virgen del Pino, the island's patron, with balconied houses lining the street before it. A market rings the church on Sunday mornings, where the town's pink spreadable chorizo is sold in bread rolls.

A native cave at Galdar in the northwest, its walls painted with red, white and black geometric patterns. The old village site around it has been roofed into a museum, and a guide leads each timed entry, so booking is needed.

A botanical garden on the sides of the Guiniguada ravine south of the city, gathering plants that grow only in the Canary Islands. The upper and lower gates are far apart in height, so it is easier to enter at the top and walk down.

In the northern town of Arucas a neo-Gothic church of dark carved basalt stands so tall that locals call it the cathedral, though it is not one. An old sugar-cane rum distillery in the same town makes many visitors stop at both.

A volcanic crater a twenty-odd-minute drive south of Las Palmas, about 1 kilometre across, with a footpath down to its floor, where an old farmhouse and field traces remain. Drive up the neighbouring peak's lookout to see crater and east coast together.

A little port on Gran Canaria's southwest tip, small bridges crossing canals fed by the sea. Bougainvillea spills over low white houses with coloured window frames, and restaurants round the marina cook the fresh catch. About ninety minutes by bus from town.

A fishing port in the northwest, where ferries leave for Tenerife. The rock pillar off the cliffs called God's Finger lost its tip to a tropical storm in 2005 and looks different now. The valley inland of the port holds coffee and fruit farms.

A deep ravine between Aguimes and Ingenio in the east, where some people still live in caves once home to the island's natives. Cave restaurants and a cave chapel are dug into the rock at its upper end, and fig and almond trees grow on the slopes.