The Botanical Gardens north Gran Canaria

The garden was opened in 1952, with the aim of preserving and displaying the many plant species endemic to this island. Its first director was the Swedish botanist Erik Sventenius, who did the preparatory groundwork of finding and classifying, planning and planting a task assumed since 1974 by Dr David Bramwell.

The garden has two entrances, one at the top of the 150m-high barranco and the other at the flat bottom, connected by paths and steps and taking you through the different varieties of vegetation, planted at different levels. Here is your chance to walk among Canarian palms and the trees of the laurasilva forest that once covered this island.

The Jardin de las Islas displays all the most important species of plants of the archipelago, and the Cactus Garden has cacti from allover the world, with rare examples from South and Central America. Endangered species are carefully tended in two nurseries with the aim of replanting them in their natural zones; there is also a library for study and research.

At the top of the garden are the circular lookout point and a white stone bust of historian and naturalist Don Jose de Viera y Clavijo. If you have managed to get this far up from the bottom of the barranco, reward yourself with some refreshment in the restaurant beside the garden entrance.