The last stop of Christopher Columbus before he crossed the Atlantic Ocean was in this lovely city. Almost the half of the population of the Canary islands lives here. We went there several times and had a great time.
The capital city
The capital city of Gran Canaria is Las Palmas. The city has about 381.000 inhabitants and has a rich and strong culture. Las Palmas was the last stop of Christopher Columbus, before he crossed the Atlantic Ocean towards Cuba and North America.
This typical Spanish city has a lot of tiny little roads and squares to explore and is very well preserved. It's nice to have a walk in this old town, as most of it is pedestrian zone.
Even though the streets around the old town don't offer a lot of place to park a car, it's not expensive to park in one of the parking lots: Expect about 0,03€ per minute (which is 1,80€ per hour). If you park your car at the shopping center next to the harbor, you can park there three hours for free. It's not too far away from the city center.
Playa de las Canteras in Santa Catalina is a beautiful beach in Las Palmas with a lot of bars and restaurants. The promenade is good to have a walk or even to run. During the night it will turn to a night-life area of its best.
You can see most of the interesting things in one or two days.
More pictures of Las Palmas
More about Gran Canaria