Hotel Veintiuno, in Vegueta, for the old town of Las Palmas on foot: the Casa de Colón is two minutes from the door and Calle Mayor de Triana five. Bull Reina Isabel & Spa, on the Las Canteras promenade, for the city beach: three minutes' walk from the sand, with the Mercado del Puerto 12 minutes away.
2 of our ten · Hand-pickedHotels cannot pay to be hereLast checked: October 2026
Outside Las Palmas, a hire car is the simple answer on Gran Canaria: the GC-1 motorway runs down the east coast and along the south, and the mountain roads are slow and full of bends. Las Palmas, a working port city of about 380,000 people, is where you can leave it behind. Vegueta, the old quarter where the city began in 1478, has the cathedral of Santa Ana, the Casa de Colón and the market, and the pedestrian Calle Mayor de Triana begins five minutes from the cathedral door. Las Canteras, the city beach, is 3.1 km of sand with a promenade, 42 minutes on foot from La Puntilla to the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus.
The two halves are a ride apart: from the cathedral, Las Canteras is 12 minutes by road off-peak, and the city's line 1 bus links Triana with the port and the beach. So choose the half you want outside the door: the old town at Hotel Veintiuno, the beach at Bull Reina Isabel & Spa.
Hotel Veintiuno is at number 21 on Calle Espíritu Santo, a pedestrian street of old houses in Vegueta, and the old town is a set of short walks from its door: two minutes to the Casa de Colón and the CAAM art centre, two to three to the cathedral's front on Plaza de Santa Ana, four to the Mercado de Vegueta and five to the start of Calle Mayor de Triana.
The house serves breakfast and nothing more, so every dinner is a stroll, which is the point: Calle Armas, Calle Pelota and Calle Mendizábal, the quarter's eating streets, are three or four minutes away, Triciclo, open every day, four; for a drink after, Rocktop La Peregrina, a rooftop cocktail bar looking at the cathedral, is seven. Arriving needs no car either. Global's line 60 from the airport stops at Teatro Pérez Galdós, eight minutes' walk away, and the bus back leaves from Parque Santa Isabel (sur), seven.
The room to book
Premium
about 35 m²€137 a night
The largest room, about 35 m², at the front on the first floor over the pedestrian street, and the only one sold on a view of the cathedral, seen at an angle.
Bull Reina Isabel & Spa faces the Paseo de Las Canteras, so the city beach is three minutes from the street door and the promenade is the daily walk: La Puntilla, the fishermen's end of the beach, is 14 minutes along it, and the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus marks the other end, 3.1 km from La Puntilla. The Museo Elder and Parque Santa Catalina are seven minutes' walk from the hotel, the Mercado del Puerto 12 and the Castillo de la Luz 21.
Dinner needs no taxi: El Arrosar, for rice and fish, is six minutes away, Bochinche El Chato nine, Rías Bajas ten, and Tabaiba, the MICHELIN-starred kitchen on Calle Portugal, 16. For the rest of the island, the Santa Catalina bus station is ten minutes on foot, with Global's line 60 to the airport, line 30 direct to the Faro de Maspalomas and line 91 to Puerto de Mogán.
The room to book
Double Sea View Room
€180 a night
The same room and balcony as the plain Double, turned from the street to the beach, so the promenade you walk each day is the view.
Hotel Faro, a Lopesan Collection Hotel, for adults of 18 and over, suits a car-free week in the south: the beach starts at its corner, the dunes are ten minutes' walk along the sand, and line 66 to the airport leaves from the bus station six minutes away.
Santa Catalina, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, in the palm park of Ciudad Jardín, suits a car-free city stay: Las Alcaravaneras beach is 15 minutes on foot, and city bus line 1, three to four minutes from the drive, reaches Las Canteras one way and Triana the other.
From about €170 a night
Questions people ask
Good questions about Gran Canaria
Can you visit Gran Canaria without a car?
Yes, with a base in Las Palmas or Maspalomas. Global's buses take cash or a contactless card: from the airport, line 60 runs to Las Palmas and line 66 to the Faro de Maspalomas, and line 30 links the Santa Catalina bus station with the Faro direct, two or three times an hour by day. At Hotel Veintiuno and Bull Reina Isabel & Spa the city is on foot, and city bus line 1 joins the two halves. Salobre Hotel Resort & Serenity and the Parador de Cruz de Tejeda are far easier with a car.
How do you get from Gran Canaria airport to Las Palmas by bus?
Global's line 60 leaves the terminal every half hour from 06:15 to 21:15, then at 22:15 and 23:15, and takes cash or a contactless card. It reaches San Telmo in 20 minutes for €2.30 and the Santa Catalina bus station in 30 for €2.95. For Hotel Veintiuno, get off at Teatro Pérez Galdós, eight minutes' walk from the hotel; for Bull Reina Isabel & Spa, ride on to Santa Catalina, ten minutes' walk away. By taxi from the rank, off-peak, Hotel Veintiuno is 20 minutes and Bull Reina Isabel & Spa 25, about €35 and €40 by day.
How do you get between Vegueta and Las Canteras?
By city bus or taxi: they are a ride apart. Line 1 links Triana with the port and Las Canteras. From Hotel Veintiuno, catch it at the Teatro stop and ride to Tomás Miller, on the beach; from Bull Reina Isabel & Spa, catch it at Parque Santa Catalina, seven minutes' walk. A ride costs €1.40 on board, or the LIVE card gives 24 hours for €5 and 72 for €12. By road, off-peak, Las Canteras is 12 minutes from Hotel Veintiuno, and Vegueta 8 minutes from Bull Reina Isabel & Spa.
What can you walk to from the cathedral in Vegueta?
From the cathedral door, the Casa de Colón is 4 minutes on foot, the Mercado de Vegueta 5 and Calle Mayor de Triana 5. Triana's pedestrian street runs on to the Parque de San Telmo, 14 minutes from the cathedral, and the San Telmo bus station is 16. Hotel Veintiuno is about 50 metres from the cathedral, with Rêver and Casa Montesdeoca three minutes from its door and Triciclo, which serves every day, four.
How long is the walk along Las Canteras beach?
3.1 km, or 42 minutes on foot, from La Puntilla, the last stronghold of the city's fishermen, to the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus. La Barra, a limestone reef running along more than half the beach, breaks the swell, so the water inside is calm; families head for Playa Chica and surfers for La Cícer, at the southern end. There are lifeguards every day of the year. Bull Reina Isabel & Spa is on the promenade, with La Puntilla 14 minutes' walk from the hotel and the Mercado del Puerto 12.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
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