Gran Canaria

Sitting in the centre of the island, gorgeous Tejeda is a charming hill village with a handsome church and steep, winding streets lined with balconied houses. Whichever route you take to get here by car, you'll drive through a splendidly rugged landscape of looming cliffs and deep gorges. Although pretty at any time of year, the town pulls out all the stops in February when the almond trees are blossoming. A fiesta celebrates all things almondy once the trees have bloomed. The village is scenically situated on the eastern edge of the Caldera de Tejeda, a huge volcanic basin at the heart of Gran Canaria. There's also an excellent restaurant or two, so it's worth finding some time to dine and recharge before moving on.

Las Palmas has a mainland-Spain feel, spiced up with an eclectic mix of other cultures, including African, Chinese and Indian, plus the presence of container-ship crews, and the flotsam and jetsam that tend to drift around port cities. It’s an intriguing place, with the sunny languor and energy you would normally associate with the Mediterranean or North Africa. The hooting taxis, bustling shopping districts, chatty bars and thriving port all give off the energy of this city, which is Spain’s ninth-largest.

Vegueta, the oldest quarter, is both atmospheric and fashionable, with a fine selection of boutiques and cool bars. At the other end of town, the sweeping arc of Playa de las Canteras provides you with the tantalising possibility of taking a plunge in between sightseeing and shopping. Venture into the confusing maze of streets behind the beach and you'll find excellent restaurants serving more than the usual array of Canarian dishes. Las Palmas is an authentic Spanish working city, and while there are areas you wouldn’t walk at night with a camera slung round your neck, overall, you should feel perfectly safe here.

One of the island's most captivating experiences and popular destinations, the sublime Barranco de Guayadeque (Guayadeque Ravine) rises up into central Gran Canaria in a majestic sweep of crumpled ridges. For most of the year the vegetation here is lush and green; if you can, visit in early spring when the almond trees are in blossom and the landscape is remarkably verdant and beautiful.

Dramatically positioned as the highest village in Gran Canaria, Artenara offers stunning views, including an astonishing perspective over the huge volcanic crater from Mirador de Unamuno (near Iglesia de San Matías), one of several signposted miradors.

In Artenara, it's also all about caves. People live in caves, the restaurants are in caves, the town museum occupies a series of caves and if you want to spend the night in the area, you can even sleep in a casa rural (village accommodation) that's based – you guessed it – in a cave.

The sleepy town is overlooked by the Corazón de Jesus, a Rio-style statue of Christ (albeit much smaller), with arms outstretched.

Just as Puerto de Mogán is a relief from the south coast’s relentless armies of apartments, bungalows and Guinness on tap, so the GC-200 road north from the port is another leap away from the crowds. As it ascends gradually up a wide valley towards Mogán, just 8km away, you'll pass craggy mountains and orchards of avocados, the main crop in these parts.

Mogán is an entirely relaxed, tranquil and unspoiled small town in a quite beautiful mountainous setting. There may be no real attractions, but it's a lovely spot for lunch, a stroll or an overnight in pastoral silence.

A short bus ride (or drive) south of Telde brings you to lovely Agüimes, with its perfectly restored historic centre. The town's standout building is the picturesque Iglesia de San Sebastián, which you can see grandly presiding over town as you approach from afar. The church was the inspiration for the ostentatious lobby building at the mega-luxury hotel Lopesan Villa del Conde in Maspalomas. Agüimes is sometimes overlooked by tourists, but it's one of the prettiest towns on Gran Canaria, and a couple of manageable museums offer excellent insights into the history of the settlement.

Discovered by a local farmer in the late 19th century, this is one of Gran Canaria's most important pre-Hispanic archaeological sites: a cave adorned with geometric shapes, possibly thought to relate to the lunar and solar calendars (though this is debated). It's also the most accessible of the island's archaeological sites, situated not halfway up a cliff but right in the heart of town (it is wheelchair-friendly also). The highlight is the cave itself, fully explained on the tour.