Valleseco village is located in the north of the island of Gran Canaria. It is located at about 1000 meters of altitude, being one of the coolest and greenest areas of the island. This municipality is also known for its delicious apples. Nowadays, colourful umbrellas are displayed in the main street of the village, something that attracts many visitors to take pictures. But Valleseco is not just an Instagrammable place, here’s what you can see and do in this municipality.
Things to do in Valleseco, Gran Canaria
Valleseco went viral worldwide when one of the worst fires in the history of the Canary Islands took place in 2019. The well-known #IFValleseco devastated some 10,000 hectares affecting several municipalities and natural spaces. This event had repercussions in practically all the international media, not only because of the natural disaster, but also because of all the populations that had to be evacuated. Luckily, 2019 is behind us and the environment has been gradually recovering its greenness.
✔ Valleseco village
One of the points of interest of this municipality is its town centre, that is to say, where we will find its largest population and the Town Hall of Valleseco. The village can be covered in less than half an hour on foot. Here you can see the famous pedestrian street with its coloured umbrellas, the old Canarian houses, the church of San Vicente Ferrer, the Ethnographic Museum (free access) and the ecological market of Valleseco EcoValles. Here you can enjoy the local gastronomy with the Valleseco apple as the main ingredient (we’ll tell you about it at the end).
The apple is one of the main fruit trees in this municipality. For this reason, Valleseco celebrates the Fiesta de La Manzana (Apple Festival) every year and has several cider houses. On the other hand, when you walk around the centre of Valleseco, take a look at the houses and, above all, their roofs. They are full of Canarian veroles. This is a very typical image of the old Canary Island houses and you will always be able to appreciate it in this village.
✔ Nature and protected areas in Valleseco
In Valleseco you will be able to enjoy mainly its nature and protected natural spaces. And it is that practically all the territory of this municipality has some type of environmental protection. The Doramas Rural Park and the Las Cumbres Protected Landscape stand out. Although it also has within its territory part of the Integral Natural Reserve of Barranco Oscuro and the Natural Monument of Montañón Negro.
Many of these protected natural spaces are shared with its neighboring municipalities. These are Moya, Firgas, Teror, Vega de San Mateo and Tejeda. At the same time, you should know that Valleseco is located between two of the most beautiful ravines in Gran Canaria: the Las Madres ravine and the Madrelagua ravine. It is thought that the name of Valleseco comes from the abundance of water that the bordering ravines used to have unlike its central valley.
✔ Valsendero and hiking in Valleseco
Another area you should visit in Valleseco is Valsendero, both its urban area and its footpaths. Until recently it was possible to visit the spectacular Barranco de El Andén ravine shown in the previous photo. However, this ravine is located inside the private area called El Pinillo. Access to it is currently forbidden. A pity, as this area of the island is incredible. Anyway, we recommend this circular hiking route through Valleseco that passes through Valsendero which is also nice.
On the other hand, in the hiking in Gran Canaria section of the blog we also share with you one of the greenest routes on the island that runs through the Rapador ravine and the Las Ánimas ravine. The hike starts in La Laguna de Valleseco, which we’ll tell you about below.
✔ La Laguna recreational area
La Laguna is an ideal place to go with friends, family or even just to enjoy the outdoors. It has a renovated racecourse of almost 1 kilometre. A circular path has been left next to it, perfect for walking, jogging or cycling. In addition, horse races and various livestock-related events take place here. In the centre of this circle you can walk along several paths where you will find several explanatory signs about the flora and fauna of the Doramas Rural Park.
Inside, you will find the famous lagoon where several species of birds live. At weekends they usually put grain corn at the entrance to feed them. The recreational area also has a barbecue and picnic area, toilets, a children’s playground, etc. You have to pay to use the picnic areas. We tell you all about it in our article on La Laguna de Valleseco.
Restaurants in Valleseco
We recommend several places to eat in this part of Gran Canaria. First of all, you can eat very well at the cider house Sidrería Niebla, inside the organic market of Valleseco. Here, as well as being able to enjoy their award-winning ciders, their dishes with local produce and Valleseco apples will amaze you. We recommend the Canarian cheeses (Valsendero, Madrelagua, Fagajesto and Lomo del Palo), the cachopo filled meat with Valsendero cheese, Iberian ham and apple chutney and the pork ribs. The truth is that everything is delicious. Please note that they are only open from Friday to Sunday.
On the other hand, in Valsendero we really like the Asociación de Vecinos de Valsendero. The place doesn’t have many luxuries, but they have homemade food at a very good price. Finally, if you are looking for a place with more elaborate gastronomic options, we recommend the restaurant Los Arcos de La Laguna, just a few metres from La Laguna. Here you will find delicacies such as the steak, suckling pig or its famous French toast.
Rural houses
If you are looking for a rural house in Gran Canaria, this area of the island may well be one of the most prominent for rural tourism. As we have told you before, Valleseco is a paradise for hikers and even cyclists, both on the road and in the mountains. We take this opportunity to invite you to take a look at our bike routes in Gran Canaria. Below you can take a look at all the options that Valleseco offers to spend a few days.
Video de Valleseco
Below we leave you with a video about the hiking route from Valleseco to Valsendero with lunch in the cider house. The video has English subtitles, you just have to activate them 🙂 Subscribe to our YouTube channel to discover Gran Canaria with us!
Guides to Gran Canaria
Finally, as you may have seen, Valleseco is a very rural municipality with many plans to do in nature. In our guides we tell you more authentic places in Gran Canaria to visit and the restaurants that locals frequent. If you liked this content and want to support us, with the purchase of one of our guides or tracks, in addition to discovering the island, you will help us to keep this blog alive. Thanks!
Hi What days are the market open please .
Hi! It is open from Friday to Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm!