In Thursday evening I checked last minute offers. Gran Canaria return flight 100 euros! I had to buy it, because I had never been there and had planned to go there this winter. The price was exceptionally cheap. Already in Friday morning at 7.10 I sat in the plane.
I reserved the cheapest room in Las Palmas for one night through hostels.com, Hostal Alcaravaneras, 18 euros. Only for one night, because there was no availability after that.
There would have been a night bus from Tampere to Helsinki Airport, but there were no buses from Nokia to Tampere at night, so I went to the airport by car. P4 outdoor parking for eight days cost me 29 euros.
Bus no 60 (time table) from Gran Canaria airport to Las Palmas Santa Catalina bus station (photo above) cost 2,85 euros and took less than half an hour.
First day Friday I spent at Las Canteras beach (first two photos and one below in this blog entry), that is the main beach in Las Palmas right in the center.
Second Gran Canaria day Saturday I took blue (yellow is local) bus no 30 to Playa del Ingles. The journey is about 50 km and it took about one hour, price abot five euros.
Playa del Ingles sand dunes were great. Water was cold, I felt half a minute swimming was enough. I went swimming at the nudist beach, so I did not need to walk around in wet swimming shorts. It was strong wind and high waves at the beach.
There are very few if any budget hotels for independent travellers in Playa del Ingles. I asked at some hotels, but found nothing. So I returned to Las Palmas, walked around and found a cheap room at Anzofe street, Hostal los Palmeros for two nights, 25 euros/night.
Third Grand Canaria day Sunday I visited Vegueta, Las Palmas Old Town. You can reach San Telmo bus station near Vegueta from new Las Palmas center by local buses, for example buses 1 and 12 go there, price is 1,20 euros.
From San Telmo bus station starts walking street Triana, that leads to Catedral de Santa Ana, Casa de Colon- and other museums. I visited Casa de Colon (Columbus museum), that offers free entrance, saw there ex. Canarian birds.
Behind the Cathedral there was a market, live music and puppet show for children. Las Palmas is a candidate for European Capitol of Culture 2016.
Temperature was above 20 degrees Celcius, but some dogs had woolen clothes on. Also clothes people are wearing looked sometimes strage, ex. shorts with long leather shoes.
On Monday I made a trip to Maspalomas and Puerto Rico from Las Palmas. There is no need to rent a car (starting 29 e/day) for these places.
Bus no 30 from Las Palmas to Faro de Maspalomas (lighthouse) cost 6,45 e and the bus to Puerto Rico 1,90 e. The return by bus no 91 to Las Palmas cost 7,20 e.
In Las Palmas I returned to Hostal Alcaravaneras on Luis Antunez street, after weekend it had some rooms available again. My room was 20 e/night, shower and toilet at corridor, free wifi, sea view (photo above).
Every day in Las Palmas I walked the 4 km long Las Canteras beach from one end to another.
I went everywhere with my new camera, Olympus Pen PL-1 with 14-150 zoom. I decided to buy a polarizing filter to make landscape photos better.
In the photo above you see surfers at Las Canteras beach in Las Palmas. Is is possible to break your leg while surfing? I guess it is.
How much was the total cost of one week trip to Gran Canaria?
Hotels for 7 nights cost 148 euros, ie. on average 21 euros/night. So the comparative price (to package trips) was 248 euros. My hotels were probaly lower level, package trips usually have better hotels.
Transport in Gran Canaria cost me 45 euros in a week, I did not use any taxis. I used on average 14,5 euros/day for food and drinks. Good coffee was available even at one euro. I uses 0,89 euros for alcohol (the story is in Finnish). Gasoline was cheap compared to other European countries, about 0,95 euros/l.
My total costs per day were 43 euros.
