Discover what to see in Telde, east of the island of Gran Canaria, second most populated municipality on the island with more than 100.000 inhabitants. At the same time, its historic center is also the second most populated city in Gran Canaria, after Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In this article we will tell you what to visit in Telde, highlighting its beaches, old town, trails, archaeological sites and, of course, a wide gastronomic offer. Here we go!
What to see in Telde, Gran Canaria
Below, we list the essential things to see in Telde on your own. Without a doubt, it is worth getting lost in this very authentic and non-touristy municipality on the island of Gran Canaria. Let's go on the road with local guide!
✔ San Juan, San Francisco and San Gregorio, three neighborhoods of Telde to see
One of the essential things to see in Telde It is its historic center and visit its three most important neighborhoods: San Juan, San Francisco and San Gregorio. You can explore all three on foot. In San Juan we suggest a stop at the Plaza de San Juan where you will see the Church of Saint John the Baptist, also the pretty one Plácido Fleitas corner, the surrounding pedestrian streets, as well as the well-known lulu park.
If it is of interest to you, inside the basilica of San Juan you can visit the holy Christ of Telde, made with corn pasta, vegetable dyes and wood. It represents Jesus of Nazareth and commemorates the moment in which he was crucified.
A few steps from the Plaza de San Juan is also the Telde Town Hall and a tourist office, in case you would like to ask any questions. From this neighborhood you can also walk to one of the largest parks in the city: San Juan Park. An ideal place to walk and practice sports. And cross the street to get to the San Francisco neighborhood, one of the oldest in the Canary Islands.
In the San Francisco neighborhood, its cobblestone pedestrian streets, small houses with their bougainvilleas, the Iglesia de San Francisco and its viewpoint, the Inés Chemida or San Francisco aqueduct and the house of Los Sall. In addition, a few steps away is the León y Castillo House-Museum where you can learn first-hand about the life and history of this Gran Canarian politician and diplomat.
Finally, don't miss the traditional shopping area of San Gregorio neighborhood, where you will find practically all kinds of shops and restaurants. Here you can also walk along the square and neoclassical church of San Gregorio, One Patrons of Telde next to San Juan. In fact, this municipality celebrates both the neighborhood festivities of San Juan on June 24 and those of San Gregorio on November 17.
✔ Beautiful beaches to see in Telde
As we said at the beginning, the beaches of Telde are a great tourist attraction, but especially for residents. The main reason is that it is a few minutes by car from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and, when there is donkey belly, it is often sunny in Telde.
At the same time, Its beaches are less kilometers long than the most famous on the island of Gran Canaria. Likewise, some of them are small coves like the Tufia beach, our favorite in Telde. Furthermore, mainly They are dark sand, although we have the exception of the Aguadulce beach with golden sand.
On the other hand, you should know that several Telde beaches They have the distinguished Blue Flag for its services and facilities. These are the Melenara beach, that of Salinetas, La Garita and Hoya del Pozo. Finally, if you are looking for a beach to surf in Telde, you can do it in Playa del Hombre, therefore being the most dangerous as well. Finally, to eat with sea views we recommend the Ojos de Garza beach, if possible, at low tide.
✔ The La Garita Bufadero
Another of the places what to visit in Telde es The La Garita Blowhole, many even include it in a mandatory stop in Gran Canaria (we don't think it's that big of a deal). However, since we are talking to you about what to see in Telde, El Bufadero could not be missed. Besides, the promenade is super nice.
Next to the promenade of La Garita beach, right When the tide is low, we can see a large hole surrounded by a set of prismatic basalt figures. So, when the tide begins to rise, a good jet of water is expelled at high speed through the orifice from El Bufadero. At the same time, This movement of the sea also emits a quite peculiar sound every time it expels and swallows the water.
✔ Cuatro Puertas Archaeological Site, Montaña Bermeja, Telde
This archaeological site It is located about 3 kilometers from the historic center and is the largest on the island of Gran Canaria. Your name, Four doors, is due to four door-shaped cavities that give access to a large cave.
This pre-Hispanic site occupies the entire Bermeja Mountain. Plus Cuatro Puertas, there are other artificial caves: Almogarén, Los Papeles, Los Pilares, La Audiencia and La Cantera de Molinas.
Apparently these constructions were carved with stone picks by the Canarian aborigines. According to experts, Here the Canarian aborigines practiced religious rituals and they used the cavities to store grain, among other uses that are still unknown.
If you are interested in archaeology, in this municipality there are other archaeological sites that you can visit. They are the one of Tufa (next to Tufia beach), Mileage (Tara neighborhood) and Cendro (Caserones neighborhood). The clay piece in the shape of a woman that we showed you previously is the Idol of Tara. Initially it was believed that this aboriginal art piece It had been found at the Tara site, in Telde. Today there are certain doubts about its origin.
✔ Los Cernícalos Ravine, hiking in Telde
Between the municipalities of Telde and Valsequillo it hides one of the most beautiful ravines in Gran Canaria and where we can see water running all year round. Is he Los Cernícalos ravine, a few steps from the Lomo Magullo neighborhood. You have all the information about this hiking route through Telde by clicking on the link.
✔ Los Olivos Ecological Center, what to do in Telde with children
In Telde you can also do one of the best plans with children in Gran Canaria. This is the visit to Los Olivos Ecological Center where the little ones enjoy nature taking care of domestic animals and discovering wild species rescued from illegality. Likewise, in his greenhouse, they will learn to plant and understand the relevance of agriculture in their lives. The experience includes a ride on a little train that ends at an olive oil factory, where children will discover how the award-winning 100% organic extra virgin olive oil, considered the best of the Canary Islands.
Restaurants in Telde
On the other hand, if you are looking places to eat in Telde, you should know that there is a wide gastronomic offer from its historic center to its coasts. If we talk about the urban center, without a doubt the first option is La Tunera restaurant. Here they make their own vermouths, liqueur gofio and its menu is one of the most original and tasty on the island. We invite you to read the article with our restaurants in Telde favorites.
They are also very famous Melenara beach restaurants. However, From the coast our favorite is the Taliarte Fishermen's Guild. We also cannot forget the famous places to eat a sandwich in this area of the island. These are Bar Yazmina, known for its paw sandwich and, the Dos Hermanos restaurant, visited for their calamari sandwich.
Finally, in the same helmet you can have a drink and even eat a snack in the famous El Aquelarre terrace.
Hotels in Telde, Gran Canaria
Telde it is a very good option where to stay in Gran Canaria. However, if you are looking for a hotel in Telde, the only option is the emblematic hotel SXVI-Adults Only in the center. However, the municipality and, especially its coast, has a wide range of holiday homes and apartments such as La Marine penthouse with views of Melenara beach that we show you below. Anyway, you can see all the options available on the dates you are interested in by clicking the button below.
Video about Telde: what to see and where to eat
Finally, we invite you to one of the things what to do in Telde on video: tour the old town and eat at the La Tunera restaurant. Do you have more plans to do in Gran Canaria in our YouTube channel.
We hope this article has been useful to you. If it is your first time in Gran Canaria, we are sure that the following articles will also be helpful to you:
If you don't want to be looking for information about what to do on the island, in our guides and itineraries of Gran Canaria we have everything organized for you. This way, in addition to saving time when planning your days, you won't miss the essential places that we recommend and where residents usually eat.
Hello! I am Ruth, Canarian with a traveling soul. With training and experience in the tourism and digital marketing sector. In this blog I tell you all the tips you need to get to know the most authentic side of Gran Canaria on your own. I also share my travel guides to all the places in the world that I am visiting so that you can discover the destinations like a local and save time planning. In addition to traveling, I love gastronomy and sports. I run and hike in the mountains with my “dog-children” (Silver and Plata). In all these adventures my partner accompanies me, Jorge, which you will also see a lot on this blog.
Just to go to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and back for a few days in Madrid, total approximately 20 days, thanks per person on a double basis.
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