Landscapes of Gran Canaria (6th ed)

4 car tours, 50 long and short walks, 30 picnic suggestions.

Gran Canaria is gaining in popularity among countryside enthusiasts, and especially walkers, due to publicity about the old 'caminos reales' centuries-old cobbled trails criss-crossing the island, which have recently been restored with EU funding.

Gran Canaria has always been underrated as a holiday destination for lovers of the countryside, due to the fame of its sand-dune beaches and hours of sunshine.

But those who know the island would agree that it is truly a 'continent in minature', with a fantastic diversity of landscapes.

From the hub of the cumbre, the island's great saddle, ravines (barrancos) are born and fan out seaward like spokes on a wheel.

Each has its own little secret to share. In the Barranco de los Cernicalos there are knee-deep grasses and a chuckling stream; the Barranco de la Aldea hides an emerald-green reservoir; the Barranco de Guigui opens out to an incomparable beach.