When is the best time to visit Gran Canaria?

The best time to visit Gran Canaria is May (Wk 19–21): it is the quietest stretch among the region's best weather weeks – crowd level around 1 out of 100, weather comfort about 78 out of 100.

When is Gran Canaria quietest?

May (Wk 19–21) is the quietest time in Gran Canaria. Crowd levels there sit at 0–1 out of 100, the lowest across the year.

When is Gran Canaria busiest?

Gran Canaria is busiest in December (Wk 52) with around 2,137,653 overnight stays in the peak week.

What is the weather like in Gran Canaria and when is it warmest?

It is warmest in Gran Canaria in August with an average of 22 °C and around 8 mm of rain in the month.

How do you get to Gran Canaria?

Gran Canaria is reachable via 6 destination airports with direct flights, including Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), Tenerife South Airport (TFS) and Lanzarote Airport (ACE).

Spain · Gran Canaria

Gran Canaria: a round highland with spokes of ravines

The near circular island measures about 50 kilometres across, and out of its highland the barrancos run to the coast like the spokes of a wheel. In the south lie the dunes of Maspalomas, in the north more than 290 caves that the original inhabitants cut into the tuff.

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Busiest week

DecemberCrowd level 100

Wk 52 · 2,137,653 overnight stays

Quietest weeks

MayCrowd level 0–1

Wk 19–21 · measured against the region's own year, not against other regions

Warmest month

22 °CComfort 96

August · around 8 mm of rain in the month

The overnight-stay figures come from a statistical area that this destination shares with Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Teneriffa. They cover the whole area, not Gran Canaria on its own.

Gran Canaria in brief

Gran Canaria is the third largest of the Canary Islands at 1,560 square kilometres, near circular and about 50 kilometres across. Out of the highland at its centre, crowned by the Roque Nublo, dry valleys run to the 236 kilometres of coast like the spokes of a wheel. In the south lie the dunes of Maspalomas, in the north-east Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the largest city in the Canaries. The original inhabitants left the Cenobio de Valerón with more than 290 caves cut into the tuff and the Cueva Pintada at Gáldar.

When is Gran Canaria busy, when is it quiet?

Click a week. The panel on the right explains why it is busy or quiet.

Weather profile

Weather comfort is an absolute scale (0 = poor, 100 = ideal) and a second axis next to the season-relative crowd level.

JanuaryØ 25

FebruaryØ 45

MarchØ 48

AprilØ 36

MayØ 7

JuneØ 25

JulyØ 65

AugustØ 92

SeptemberØ 45

OctoberØ 57

NovemberØ 59

DecemberØ 57

Colour = season-relative crowd levelBar = weather comfort (Sun & warmth), absolute 0–100

Why this week?

May · Wk 19

Crowd level0/100 · little seasonal variation

quietbusy

Weather comfort27/100 · Sun & warmth

-16 % versus the region's annual average.

Contributing months: May (100 %)
Overnight stays/week: 1,535,643
School-holiday pressure (source markets): 1 % of source markets on school holidays · -2 % crowding from holidays
Main source markets: Spain (44 %) · United Kingdom (19 %) · Germany (13 %) · 88% of guests modelled
Region range: 1,535,643–2,137,653 (avg 1,819,949)
Base years: 2022, 2023, 2024 (excluding 2020, 2021)

v1: Crowd-Score aus der Eurostat-Basisschicht (Übernachtungen), moduliert vom Schulferien-Druck der Quellmärkte, region-spezifisch gewichtet mit dem Quellland-Mix. Season-relativ zur Region. Event-Schichten folgen.

Plan your trip

Pre-filled with the next date in week 19.

DestinationGran Canaria

Travel datesPick a week in the calendar

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Photos: Johny Goerend · reisetopia · Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash

The travel year in Gran Canaria, month by month

The year as a table to read and to cite: crowd level for every month, plus weather comfort and temperature from the climate normals.

Crowd level, weather comfort and temperature in Gran Canaria by month – crowd score 0–100, season-relative to the region's own annual peak
Month	Crowd level0–100, season-relative	Weather comfort0–100, profile “mild”	Avg temperature
January	25	33	7 °C
February	45	34	7 °C
March	48	43	9 °C
April	36	61	12 °C
May	7	77	15 °C
June	25	90	18 °C
July	65	95	21 °C
August	92	96	22 °C
September	45	91	18 °C
October	57	79	16 °C
November	59	56	11 °C
December	57	38	8 °C

The crowd level is season-relative: 100 is the annual peak of Gran Canaria itself, not the busiest destination in Europe. The figures say when it is quiet here — not where it is quieter than elsewhere.

Weather comfort 0–100 from the climate normals, profile “mild” – the same profile as the recommendation above, not the selection in the calendar. A “–” means the data for that month is missing.

Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026

The windows worth catching

Three windows from the model: first whether the weather suits the region, then how busy it gets.

Recommended

May

Wk 19–21

The quietest stretch among this region's best weather weeks: crowd level around 1 out of 100, weather comfort near 78.

Crowd level: 0–1
Comfort: 74–81

Plan this period

Good alternative

September

Wk 37–39

A second option, also with usable weather: crowd level around 38, weather comfort near 89.

Crowd level: 36–41
Comfort: 87–92

Plan this period

Avoid

August

Wk 31–33

The region's peak: crowd level around 96 out of 100. Only if the dates are fixed.

Crowd level: 93–98
Comfort: 96

Gran Canaria compared with Europe

How full the accommodation is here, measured against Europe – on the only measure on which two travel regions can be compared.

Bed occupancy in Gran Canaria: 61.4
European median: 23.1

Furthest from the median: January, at 4.7× the value. Closest to the median: July, at 1.6× the value.

Mean across 12 months, weighted by their weeks. This occupancy compares travel regions with one another. The crowding in the table above compares Gran Canaria with itself. The two measures are never combined.

All destinations in the Crowd Index How we calculate

Climate through the year

Average temperature with day/night range and precipitation across the twelve months.

Avg temperature
Day/night range
Precipitation

Monthly climate values
Month	Avg temperature (°C)	Day avg (°C)	Night avg (°C)	Precipitation (mm)
Jan	6	7	4	24
Feb	6	7	5	35
Mar	8	9	6	32
Apr	11	12	9	22
May	13	15	12	15
Jun	17	18	15	15
Jul	19	21	18	12
Aug	20	22	19	8
Sep	17	18	16	19
Oct	14	16	13	26
Nov	10	11	9	29
Dec	7	8	6	31

The band shows mean daytime to nighttime temperature. Precipitation shown as monthly total (mm). Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.

How sunny?

How much sun a typical day delivers, month by month, expressed as hours of full midday sun.

Very sunny

≈ 5.8 h of full midday sun per day, annual average

Jun

Sunniest month

Sun by month
Month	≈ h of full midday sun per day
Jan	3.9
Feb	4.8
Mar	5.9
Apr	6.8
May	7.4
Jun	7.5
Jul	7.5
Aug	7.1
Sep	6.2
Oct	5.0
Nov	3.9
Dec	3.5

Basis: mean daily solar irradiance in kWh/m²/day; 1 kWh/m² is roughly one hour of full midday sun (1,000 W/m²). Not the same as measured sunshine duration. Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.

Directly reachable from

Destination airports of Gran Canaria and every European departure airport with a direct connection to them.

Destination airports

“Directly reachable” means a direct connection exists according to our sources. We do not show a live timetable. Availability and flight days can vary by season and airline.

Gran Canaria in detail

Location and shape

Gran Canaria is the third largest of the Canary Islands after Tenerife and Fuerteventura and covers 1,560.1 square kilometres. The near circular island is about 50 kilometres across with some 236 kilometres of coastline; it lies 210 kilometres west of the coast of southern Morocco, between Tenerife to the west and Fuerteventura to the east. By population it comes second behind Tenerife; its capital Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the largest city in the Canaries, and the island is divided into 21 municipios.

Highland and barrancos

The highest point is the Morro de la Agujereada at 1,956 metres. The emblem of the island is the Roque Nublo at 1,813 metres, an 80 metre monolith of volcanic rock and the remnant of a former volcanic vent. Out of the highland at the centre of the island, dry valleys called barrancos run to the coast like the spokes of a wheel. The last eruption lies some 2,000 years back and the volcanoes in the north are still counted as active; the Bandama nature park encloses the explosion crater Caldera de Bandama.

Coast and dunes

In the south lie the dunes of Maspalomas, a large dune field designated for the most part as a nature reserve. Its pale sand was washed ashore, and the dune peninsula is a work of wind and waves millions of years old; the Isleta peninsula near Las Palmas, by contrast, formed during the last volcanic activity. The city beach of Las Palmas, the Playa de las Canteras, runs 3.2 kilometres; a 200 metre reef offshore called La Barra shelters the bay. Tropical storm Delta tore part off the rock needle Dedo de Dios at Puerto de las Nieves in the north-west on 28 November 2005.

Caves, forests, names

The Cenobio de Valerón comprises more than 290 caves that the original inhabitants cut into the tuff. Cave dwellings also lie in the Barranco de Guayadeque near Agüimes, the Museo y Parque Arqueológico Cueva Pintada stands at Gáldar, and Artenara at the centre of the island has a cave church. Laurel forests prevail naturally in the north, shrunk to small remnants, and semi-desert vegetation with spurges in the south; much of the interior has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2005. The natural symbols of the island are the Canary mastiff and the Canary spurge; Pliny the Elder traced the name Canaria to the many large dogs, two of which were brought to King Juba II.

Diocese, conquest, city

Pope Clement VI established the diocese of the Fortunate Islands in 1351, called the diocese of Telde from 1369; in 1352 Majorcan missionaries landed near Gando and set up a house of prayer at Telde. The conquest by the Crown of Castile ran from 1478 to 1483; 24 June 1478 counts as the founding day of the camp at Las Palmas, and on 29 April 1483 the Canarios gave up the fight at the Fortaleza de Ansite. A tramway ran in Las Palmas from 1890 to 1937, the first rail transport in the Canary Islands; the botanical garden Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo lies at Tafira Alta, and the oldest golf course on the island was laid out at Santa Brígida in 1891.

How it differs from the other Canaries

By area Gran Canaria comes third within the group of four: Tenerife measures 2,034 square kilometres, Fuerteventura 1,660, Gran Canaria 1,560 and Lanzarote 846; against Lanzarote the island is thus roughly 1.8 times the size. Shape also comes out differently on all four: Gran Canaria is near circular at about 50 kilometres across, Fuerteventura stretches close to 100 kilometres in length and is five kilometres wide at the Istmo de la Pared, Lanzarote runs 58 kilometres north to south and 34 east to west, Tenerife 83.3 kilometres in length. In the highlands the heights lie far apart: the Roque Nublo rises 1,813 metres and the Morro de la Agujereada 1,956, Tenerife carries Teide at 3,715 metres, on Fuerteventura the Pico de la Zarza reaches 807 metres and on Lanzarote the Peñas del Chache 671. The original inhabitants left their own traces on each of the four: here the Cenobio de Valerón and the Cueva Pintada, on Fuerteventura the wall running across the island between the territories of the two kings of the Majoreros, on Tenerife the menceyes, those of the northern side capitulating in May 1496, and on Lanzarote the old Canarian island name Titerrogatra, the red mountains.

Frequently asked questions about the best time to visit Gran Canaria

Short answers on timing, weather and getting there, all from the data on this page.

When is the best time to visit Gran Canaria?: The best time to visit Gran Canaria is May (Wk 19–21): it is the quietest stretch among the region's best weather weeks – crowd level around 1 out of 100, weather comfort about 78 out of 100.
When is Gran Canaria quietest?: May (Wk 19–21) is the quietest time in Gran Canaria. Crowd levels there sit at 0–1 out of 100, the lowest across the year.
When is Gran Canaria busiest?: Gran Canaria is busiest in December (Wk 52) with around 2,137,653 overnight stays in the peak week.
What is the weather like in Gran Canaria and when is it warmest?: It is warmest in Gran Canaria in August with an average of 22 °C and around 8 mm of rain in the month.
How do you get to Gran Canaria?: Gran Canaria is reachable via 6 destination airports with direct flights, including Gran Canaria Airport (LPA), Tenerife South Airport (TFS) and Lanzarote Airport (ACE).

The Crowd Report names the emptiest weeks of the coming months — for every region, not just this one. Free, unsubscribe any time.

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How we calculate

Sources and data vintages

Every provenance note on this page, collected in one place.

Cover photo

Photo by Timon Reinhard on Unsplash

Cover video

Video by Adrien JACTA on Pexels

Crowding figures

Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026. v1 approximation, calculated from Eurostat overnight stays. Day tourism and cruises (Venice, Dubrovnik …) are still missing, so we show these destinations as quieter than they are. The crowd score is a model-based forecast, not a measurement.

Climate data

Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2025.

Reachability

Data sources: direct connections from Wikipedia (“Airlines and destinations”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, aggregated and modified by us), cross-checked with Eurostat, Destatis and the UK Civil Aviation Authority; airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain). The derived connection data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Data as of: September 2026

Region text

Text by HolidayHub, written from Wikivoyage „Gran Canaria“ (1741288) · Wikipedia „Gran Canaria“ (267999653) · Wikidata Q178925. Wikivoyage and Wikipedia are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikidata CC0.

Data basis

All figures are approximations derived from open data (crowd level from Eurostat overnight stays, climate from Copernicus/ERA5-Land), not measurements.

Month	Avg temperature (°C)	Day avg (°C)	Night avg (°C)	Precipitation (mm)
Jan	6	7	4	24
Feb	6	7	5	35
Mar	8	9	6	32
Apr	11	12	9	22
May	13	15	12	15
Jun	17	18	15	15
Jul	19	21	18	12
Aug	20	22	19	8
Sep	17	18	16	19
Oct	14	16	13	26
Nov	10	11	9	29
Dec	7	8	6	31

Month	≈ h of full midday sun per day
Jan	3.9
Feb	4.8
Mar	5.9
Apr	6.8
May	7.4
Jun	7.5
Jul	7.5
Aug	7.1
Sep	6.2
Oct	5.0
Nov	3.9
Dec	3.5

Month	Avg temperature (°C)	Day avg (°C)	Night avg (°C)	Precipitation (mm)
Jan	6	7	4	24
Feb	6	7	5	35
Mar	8	9	6	32
Apr	11	12	9	22
May	13	15	12	15
Jun	17	18	15	15
Jul	19	21	18	12
Aug	20	22	19	8
Sep	17	18	16	19
Oct	14	16	13	26
Nov	10	11	9	29
Dec	7	8	6	31

Month	≈ h of full midday sun per day
Jan	3.9
Feb	4.8
Mar	5.9
Apr	6.8
May	7.4
Jun	7.5
Jul	7.5
Aug	7.1
Sep	6.2
Oct	5.0
Nov	3.9
Dec	3.5