Gran Canaria Airport to Las Palmas City Centre
Roughly 18 km north; Global line 60 costs €2.80 to San Telmo or €3.45 to Santa Catalina, taking about half an hour.
The Canaries' largest city and a proper year-round one — the Vegueta old quarter where Columbus stopped, the Triana shopping streets, and Las Canteras, a three-kilometre city beach with a reef that keeps the swell down.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Las Palmas City Centre, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €32). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €2.8) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €2.8 | €32 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €5.6 | €32 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €11 | €32 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €2.8, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
The cheapest ride from LPA and the best-value airport bus in the Canaries. Pick your terminus by where you're sleeping: San Telmo for Vegueta and Triana, Santa Catalina for Las Canteras and the port hotels.
Where to catch it: Board at the arrivals-level Global stops. Line 60 runs to San Telmo station in the old town (€2.80) and the Santa Catalina interchange near the port (€3.45).
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
€25–35 on the meter by day, roughly 20% more at night and weekends. Reasonable for a group given the bus needs a walk at the far end.
Where to catch it: Rank directly outside arrivals; a straight motorway run north with no complications.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Vegueta's old streets are narrow and part-pedestrianised — name the hotel and let the driver pick the nearest legal stop rather than insisting on a specific corner.
Where to catch it: Booked in advance the price is locked, which sidesteps the weekend and night surcharge that a metered ride picks up automatically.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
A liability in the city itself — Las Palmas parking is metered, scarce and one-way-heavy. Hire later in the week for the mountains instead of from day one.
Where to catch it: Counters in arrivals, collection lots a short shuttle away; the Canary firms quote insurance-inclusive rates.
Best for travellers who want to exploreLas Palmas City Centre & Las Palmas in photos
Buying tickets in Las Palmas
There is no train on Gran Canaria. Two bus operators matter: Global runs the green intercity guaguas including every airport line, and Guaguas Municipales runs the yellow city buses inside Las Palmas only. Airport routes are line 60 to Las Palmas (€2.80 to San Telmo, €3.45 to Santa Catalina), line 66 south to San Agustín, Playa del Inglés (€3.90) and Faro de Maspalomas (€4.05), and the 91 express west to Puerto Rico (€6.25) and Puerto de Mogán (€6.90). Buying through the Global app or website is normally about 20% cheaper than paying the driver, and takes a moment while you wait for bags. You can also pay cash on board for any journey.
Taxi scams & safety in Las Palmas
Gran Canaria's airport is straightforward and taxi fraud is uncommon: cars are metered, the rank sits directly outside arrivals, and rates are regulated. Join the official queue rather than going with anyone who approaches you in the hall. Expect roughly 20% more at night and at weekends — that is the published surcharge, not a driver inventing a number. Because the airport sits between the capital and the resorts, the most common genuine mistake is not a scam at all but taking the wrong bus terminus: line 60 ends at two different points in Las Palmas, four kilometres apart, so check which one serves your hotel before boarding. For car hire, inspect and photograph the vehicle before leaving and confirm what the excess actually is.
Getting from LPA to Las Palmas City Centre
Las Palmas is a proper city — 380,000 people, a container port, a university, an old quarter where Columbus stopped on the way west — and it happens to have a three-kilometre beach in the middle of it. That combination is unusual and it's the reason a lot of visitors skip the southern resorts entirely. Getting there from the airport is eighteen kilometres north on the motorway, and Global's line 60 does it for €2.80, which is the best-value airport bus in the Canary Islands.
Two terminals, and picking the wrong one costs you a walk
Line 60 runs from the arrivals stops and has two useful endpoints. San Telmo station, in the old town, costs €2.80 and puts you within walking distance of Vegueta and Triana — the historic quarter, the cathedral, the Columbus house, the shopping streets. The Santa Catalina interchange costs €3.45 and sits up by the port, five minutes from Las Canteras beach and the hotels that face it. Sixty-five cents separates them and about four kilometres of city. Work out which half of Las Palmas you're sleeping in before you board, because the two are a €10 taxi apart at the far end.
Las Canteras is why the beach hotels fill
The city beach runs for three kilometres along the western side of the isthmus, protected by a natural reef called La Barra that flattens the Atlantic swell into something you can actually swim in. It has a promenade the whole way, cafés facing the water, and surf at the northern end where the reef opens up. Practically speaking, if your booking says Las Canteras or Santa Catalina, ride the 60 to the interchange. If it says Vegueta, Triana or anything described as "old town", ride it to San Telmo instead.
The rank is reasonable here, unlike the resort runs
€25 to €35 on the meter, twenty to thirty minutes, straight up the GC-1 with no complications. That's genuinely fair for the distance, and it's cheaper than the equivalent run south to Playa del Inglés despite being a similar drive — the southern resorts carry a premium the city doesn't. Night and weekend surcharges add roughly 20%. For two or three people with luggage heading to a specific hotel, the gap over the bus is small enough that nobody should agonise about it.
Booking ahead is about the weekend surcharge, not the distance
A pre-booked car runs €32 to €45 and locks the price before you fly. The specific value here is that the metered alternative picks up its 20% uplift automatically at night and at weekends — which is when a great many leisure arrivals land — while the booked figure doesn't move. One practical caveat for the old town: Vegueta's streets are narrow and partly pedestrianised, so name the hotel and let the driver choose the nearest legal stop rather than insisting on a particular corner. The car will get closer than the bus, but not always to the door.
Don't hire a car for a city stay
From €20 a day at the desks in arrivals, and for Las Palmas specifically it's a mistake. Parking in the centre is metered, scarce and largely one-way; the city runs on Guaguas Municipales yellow buses and on foot; and Las Canteras is a promenade, not a car park. The island's interior does justify a hire car — Roque Nublo, Tejeda, the Caldera de Bandama and the north-west coast road are all superb and poorly served by public transport — but pick one up on the day you want to use it, from a city desk, rather than paying for it to sit outside your hotel for a week.
Getting to the south afterwards
Worth knowing if you're splitting a trip. Global's line 91 is an express running Las Palmas to the airport and on down the west of the south coast to Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán, so moving between a city stay and a resort stay doesn't require going back to the terminal. Line 60 also runs frequently enough in both directions that a day trip from the south to Las Palmas is entirely practical on the bus, which surprises people staying in Maspalomas who assume the capital is out of reach.
So: €2.80 to San Telmo for the old town, €3.45 to Santa Catalina for the beach, and a taxi at €25–35 if you'd rather not think about it. Skip the hire car until you're leaving the city.
