Best time to visit Gran Canaria

Spain · Europe

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Gran Canaria

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Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Good for

Go in Apr–Sep — these months score within a whisker of each other; 26C max, 0 rainy days. Oct is the next best.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

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Things to do in Gran Canaria

Pico de las Nieves Mountain in Las Palmas Province, Spain
Roque Nublo Mountain
Maspalomas Dunes Natural space in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Spain
Playa de Las Canteras Beach of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Cathedral Basilica of St. Ann Cathedral in Las Palmas, Canary Islands
Church of San Juan Bautista Church in Arucas, Spain
Maspalomas Lighthouse Lighthouse in Spain

Tours and tickets in Gran Canaria

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	21°	2d	58%	9.7h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Feb	23°	2d	55%	10.5h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Mar	23°	5d	63%	11.3h	good	23C max, 5 rainy days
Apr	23°	3d	65%	11.9h	sweet spot	23C max, 3 rainy days
May	25°	1d	63%	12.8h	sweet spot	25C max, 1 rainy day
Jun	26°	0d	66%	13.3h	sweet spot	26C max, 0 rainy days
Jul	30°	0d	57%	12.7h	sweet spot	30C max, 0 rainy days
Aug	31°	0d	54%	12.0h	sweet spot	31C max, 0 rainy days
Sep	29°	1d	62%	11.5h	sweet spot	29C max, 1 rainy day
Oct	28°	1d	60%	10.6h	good	28C max, 1 rainy day
Nov	25°	2d	59%	9.7h	good	25C max, 2 rainy days
Dec	23°	2d	59%	9.6h	goodbusy	busier than usual

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at Maspalomas, 27 km from the airport (LPA): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest from December to February; quietest from April to June.

Then and now

Gran Canaria's August days now average 31.3°C, 3.7°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 11 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	19.7°	20.2°	21.8°	21.3°	22.5°	24.3°	27.0°	27.6°	27.0°	25.3°	23.0°	20.8°
2017–26	21.4°	22.5°	22.6°	23.3°	24.8°	26.4°	30.0°	31.3°	29.0°	27.5°	25.1°	22.5°
Change	+1.7°	+2.3°	+0.9°	+2.0°	+2.3°	+2.1°	+3.0°	+3.7°	+1.9°	+2.2°	+2.1°	+1.8°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Gran Canaria is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type C and F plugs at 230 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Euro. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Everything for Spain: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Credit and debit cards are widely accepted. Some shops ask for ID, sometimes a passport, before taking a card.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — Not expected; at better restaurants leave 5 to 10% in cash for exemplary service. Round up taxi fares if you like.

Getting around Gran Canaria

Apps — Rides: Bolt, Cabify, FreeNow, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp.

If you are in the possession of a driver's licence, a rental car is the best option for discovering the remote locations on the island—see Canary Islands#By rental car for more information. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Gran Canaria, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — 112 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (50)

Gran Canaria in pictures

Residential by Calle del Coronel Rocha in La Isleta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, 2023 May — i

Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Calle Hermanos Jorge Marrero by the coast of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, La Isleta, Gran Canaria, 2023 May — i

Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Plaza Mayor de Santa Ana, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, May 2018 — i

Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Puerto de Mogán, May 2018 02 — i

Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

GC Dunas de Maspalomas R04 — i

Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Gran Canaria is like

Gran Canaria is the third largest island in the Canary Islands and has the largest population. It's often described as a "continent in miniature" because it has so much variety to offer. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: The sand dunes in Maspalomas (ask for "Las Dunas de Maspalomas"). San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Palmitos Park, Barranco de Los Palmitos s/n. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Biking. The island is a paradise for bikers, with lots of trails for mountain biking, from easy to very difficult and long ones. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Gran Canaria International Airport (LPA IATA Gando Airport). A modern international airport which receives flights from Madrid, about 2½ hours, and from Barcelona and Bilbao, both about 3 hours. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: There is relatively little crime in the resorts, the main annoyance is drunks causing trouble. As anywhere, one should not leave valuables unattended on the beach. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Gran Canaria, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Gran Canaria

Also in Spain

Nearby

Kind of place

Gran Canaria is in Spain, Europe. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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