Hello fellow steemians
I want to share with you some tips regarding my trip to the beautiful and amazing Gran Canaria island, that took place last month. A lot of awesome stuff you're going to discover by reading this and I hope it will help you if you ever want to visit the island.
I want this to be written like a review, but not a formal one. The story will contain my own impressions and emotions and I hope it will awaken your emotions, too.
In case you're just curious about how's the life there, how much it costs, how people are or you just want to see some beautiful landscapes, I invite you to read the entire post.
If you're still here, thank you and I wish you a pleasant reading !
Yeeah ! Vacation !
Our trip ( me and my wife ) started from Henri Coanda International Airport from Bucharest. We had a stop in Madrid for about 3 and a half hours. From there, the adventure began. The plane we had was one from the "big league". It was our first time we had a flight with such a plane. Big, touch screen at each seat, 9 seats in a row and a lot of space. We had games, movies, music and information about the flight on that screen making the flight more easily to endure. And I think it was a low cost airline, because we didn't receive free food or free drinks.
Aaaaand the flight is OVER !!!
We are in GRAN CANARIA and our long awaited vacation was about to start. Our hotel was in the north region of Gran Canaria, Las Palmas. We took our luggages and rapidly left the airport and went to bus station, but I can't say we were over excited, because from the moment we left the airport, a strong wind started to hit our faces and we were a bit scared of the weather. I read on the internet that in the north region, the weather is a bit windier than the south, but we weren't expecting the sky to be full of clouds and such a strong wind.
We arrived at the hotel, which was very nice and we could see the sea from the window. Unfortunately, the wind was even stronger in Las Palmas. We tried to go to the beach, but the water was very cold and very few people were around us, so we took the decision of renting a car to visit the island and the south area, which is said to be warmer and sunny, even they are only 60km apart.
On July 16th, 1 year of marriage has passed, so we had to do improvise something :)
The next day we rented a car from TopCar Autoreisen ( a very good rental company ) and we payed around 13 euros per day for a VW Polo from 2017 with only 14 000 km and 90 horse power.
We started our trip with Maspalomas beach ( a beach located in the south part ) and, compared to the north region, it was absolutely beautiful. Not even a single cloud, warm water and FULL of people. The food was even cheaper here.
And do you know for what Maspalomas is well known ? For the DUNES ! Yeah! It was like we were walking in the desert. If you don't believe me, see the pictures below. It was amazing. We walked over 30 minutes and it seemed endless.
We rented the car for 6 days and I don't really remember in what order we visited the island, because we traveled around 700km, but you can search for each place on google maps and if you ever travel to Gran Canaria, you can make your own itinerary.
One of our favorite places on the whole trip is called Puerto de Morgan, a lovely stop with amazing alleys full of flowers and very colorful. You can take a break and plunge into the nice and clear water.
Another stop was Playa de la Aldea
One of the best views you can find in Gran Canaria is Mirador de Balcon. If the weather is clear you can even see Tenerife. The view is incredible and it takes your breath away.
One of our favorite villages is Puerto de las Nieves. It really takes you to like an old spanish era, with beautiful music around you, colorful buildings, the port nearby and good food. The right word I think it's picturesque.
Well, we had to do some sport too. Another stop was Roque Nublo, were you have to walk around 1 hour to reach its top, but the view is very beautiful. You can take a lot of pictures for your Instagram account from around 1800 meters above sea level. It is 2nd or 3rd highest peak on the island.
If you're a fan of small villages, I recommend you to visit Teror, Arucas and Santa Lucia. Teror is full of small, colourful houses and restaurants were you can enjoy a good meal.
Let’s talk money, baby !
As I said, we payed 13 euros per day for the car + 5.76 euros per day for a full insurance. We payed an extra 35 euros for parking for the full week, which it’s acceptable ( it was an underground parking ).
Petrol is cheap – 1 euro.
At restaurants we usually payed around 25-35 euros for 2 persons ( 1 drink + something to eat for each ). Paella is around 20-25 euros for 2 persons.
You can also find ‘all you can eat’ restaurants, were you pay 6-7 euros for each ( without drinks ) and you can eat whatever you want, how much you want. Here you can find weird stuff like fried banana, fried pineapple…
If you’re short on money you can eat from super markets where you’ll pay around 1.5-2 euros for a sandwich and 0.2-1 euro for water.
Conclusion
If you like clear water, sand, great roads and not very expensive lifestyle I recommend Gran Canaria. It’s very close to Tenerife, which is another island worth visiting.
We ended our vacation with a picnic on the same beach where it started :D
