Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the north-east of the island of Gran Canaria, is the city with the highest population in the Canaries. Here we find some of the most beautiful and popular historic quarters in the Canary Islands: Triana and Vegueta. Starting out from the port in the direction of San Telmo, you can discover Triana and Vegueta, wandering freely through their streets on a route that combines leisure, history, culture and shopping. If you prefer, you can take the tourist bus that passes the Santa Catalina Pier every 30 minutes and stops in 12 places in the area of Pueblo Canario, Vegueta and Santa Catalina Park, amongst the places of most tourist interest in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Ticket prices for the 1.5-hour tour start at €18.

San Telmo: first stop after the boat

The best way to get to the historic quarter of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria when you have a few hours free is public transport or the tourist bus. You will find the entrance to the bus station close to the port, where you can get connections to take you to San Telmo in half an hour – a pleasant area surrounded by trees, with benches, a children's play area and a pretty bandstand. Its attractions include a fabulous art-deco café with multicolour tiles, where you can enjoy the open air while having a drink or a bite to eat. The little Shrine to San Telmo, in late-Baroque style, dedicated to the fishermen and sailors, is another interesting, must-see monument.

Walk around Triana: a shopping tour around the shopping district.

Triana is one of the oldest districts in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, besides being the city's most important shopping area. Along its main street, Calle Mayor de Triana (declared a national historic monument due to its large buildings with architecture ranging from the 18th to the 20th century), you will discover a wide range of modern fashion boutiques, shops that have retained their old traditions and a large variety of cafés, bars and restaurants where you can have a drink or a snack, which altogether make Triana the most popular area for fans of shopping and leisure amongst residents and visitors alike.

Short tour amongst stately buildings: enjoy a tour through the culture of Triana

Triana also has places that are of cultural and architectural interest that you can discover as you stroll. To the south of the pedestrian street, beyond the shopping area, you will come across the Pérez Galdós Theatre – one of the most iconic buildings in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Plaza Hurtado de Mendoza and Plaza de Cairasco are meeting points in the area that also house some historical buildings with great architectural value: The Hotel Madrid and the Gabinete Literario in neoclassical style with modernist decor; the Pérez Galdós House-Museum – the building is a sample of domestic architecture from the end of the 18th and start of the 19th centuries.

Vegueta: a tour through the history of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Declared a national site of historic and artistic interest in April 1973, the Vegueta district was where Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded, in the north of Gran Canaria, and it is one of the areas of most interest for visitors to the city. The best way to discover Vegueta is strolling around its cobbled, pedestrian streets on a full cultural tour that you can do and enjoy on your own, admiring specimens of traditional Canary Island architecture. In Vegueta, you will find Columbus House – one of the best centres on the history of the Canaries and the Americas, the Museo Canario (Canary Island Museum) – on archaeology and the aborigines, and CAAM (Atlantic Modern Art Centre).

Cathedral of Santa Ana: religious and cultural tour before heading back to the boat

The Cathedral of Santa Ana, considered the most important monument in Canarian architecture, was the first church on the Canary Islands and it took more than four centuries to build. Highly impressive, you can see up to three different architectural styles in it: Gothic, Renaissance and neoclassical – one of the reasons why the Cathedral of Santa Ana is one of the most popular and attractive places to visit in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The Cathedral of Santa Ana is a cultural and touristic must-see before returning to the port to board the boat again

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the north-east of Gran Canaria, is a friendly, cosmopolitan city overlooking the sea that is really easy to get around. Strolling along its streets and avenues, you can quickly see all of the city's most iconic and popular spots, such as La Isleta (the old fisherman's quarter) or the Las Canteras Beach, on a walk that will combine swimming, leisure, gastronomy, history and culture. You will enjoy the urban beach at Las Canteras (the favourite of residents and tourists alike), the architecture of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium and the fisherman's quarter of La Isleta on this route designed for cruise-goers visiting the city.

Castillo de la Luz: cultural tour heading from the boat towards La Isleta

Walking north from the port and very close by, you will find La Isleta, the old fisherman's quarter in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, with its narrow streets where you will find stalls, shops and bars. In La Isleta, tourists can also take different cultural tours. The Castillo de la Luz (castle of light), to the south of the quarter, was declared a national historic monument in 1941. Built in 1491, it defended the Port of Las Palmas for centuries. It is currently The Martín Chirino Art and Thought Foundation, with reference to one of the Canary Islands' most universal artists, which hosts numerous cultural activities and national and international exhibitions.

Las Canteras Beach: leisure and relaxation close to the boat

Just a few minutes from the port's area dedicated to cruise liners or coming from the south of La Isleta, you will come across Las Canteras Beach, more than three kilometres of fine, golden sand surrounding the city. Las Canteras Beach is the most important urban beach in the Canary Islands and also one of the best in the world. The sea is calm as it is protected by a natural sandstone reef, known popularly as "la barra", which you can reach from the shore. Its pleasant climate means you can swim and do water sports all year round, and it's the favourite beach of the city's residents and visitors alike.

Las Canteras Seafront Promenade: enjoy the gastronomy before heading back to the boat

You can also visit the promenade at Las Canteras Beach. From the area of La Puntilla to the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium (a masterpiece of modern architecture) or vice versa, you will find a lots of terraces and restaurants where you can savour typical Canary Island dishes —especially those made with fresh fish— in a lively, friendly atmosphere while enjoying views of the sea and Las Canteras Beach and the pleasant climate before heading back to the boat. The promenade is one of the most popular areas of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a meeting place for its residents and a point of reference for tourists.

To disembark in the Port of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria —also known as La Luz Port— is to do so in the most cosmopolitan city in the Canary Islands. Known popularly as Las Palmas, it is in the north-east of the island of Gran Canaria and is also its capital city. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has what is considered “the best climate in the world” all year round, which entices you to wander around its streets full of history, swim at its beaches and enjoy the wide variety of leisure and culture; in fact, it is one of the most important and popular tourist destinations in the Canary Islands.

Family walk from the boat to Santa Catalina Park

About 25 minutes' walk from the pier, Santa Catalina Park is strategically located due to its proximity to the Port of Las Palmas. Pretty, central and near the sea, Santa Catalina Park is the first thing the cruise-goers come across when they disembark on the nearby pier for cruise liners. Enormous and bustling, life in the park revolves around its enormous palm trees, kiosks and terraces, where you can sit and have a drink or a snack as you take in the cosmopolitan atmosphere at this reference point and meeting place for tourists visiting the city. It also has a children's play area, which is a perfect place for adults and children.

Elder Museum: short cultural tour near the boat

Perfect for children, the Elder Museum of Science and Technology is one of the main places of interest in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Located in Santa Catalina Park, the museum has its headquarters in the Elder Building, which belonged to an old shipbrokers and dates back to the end of the 19th century. The museum has rooms for temporary exhibitions, a digital planetarium, a large-format 3D cinema and different exhibitions. With the motto “not touching forbidden”, it can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is €6 and kids up to 6 years of age go free, making it a fun and cheap cultural visit.

Shopping Centre Sprees – shopping on the way back to the boat

If you'd like to get a souvenir of your visit to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, before going back to the boat, you can do some shopping at the different shops and establishments around Santa Catalina Park, although a very good option for a full day spent shopping is the El Muelle Shopping Centre, near the park and Port of Las Palmas. It is a modern shopping centre that combines lots of clothes shops, cinemas, open-air restaurants and cafés, where you can do your shopping or just relax having something to eat while enjoying views of the port.