Heart of Artenara

Start: Coming by car is convenient but time-consuming: about 1h15 from Las Palmas to Artenara.
By bus: line 220 from Las Palmas every hour. Seasonal information available.
Depart from the car park next to the bus stop on GC-21, Avenue Alcade Manuel Lujan, at the "Artenara Cultural Landscape Interpretation Center".

(S/E) Walk up towards the village square.

(1) Cross Plaça San Matias and go uphill along Calle de la Cuevita to the "los Poetas" viewpoint overlooking the "Mirador de la Atalaya" monument. Continue left on this cement path marked S-90, which leads to Montana de Artenara. Keep left towards the viewpoint. Here, turn right to reach a crossroad.

(2) Cross the crossroads and follow the S-90 trail in the opposite direction. Reach a crossroad.

(3) Leave the right-hand path for the return journey. Follow a track to the left. Take a shortcut on the left and then the track on the left again at its terminus. Ignore the right-hand access to Montana de Artenara and continue to the next fork.

(4) Turn right at a crossroads. Leave the S-90 for the path (S-05). Go downhill to the right for 50 m, then take the first path to the right that passes under Montana de Artenara. Keep left under the mountain and return to the junction.

(3) Turn left to take the S-90 path again, in the opposite direction, as far as the crossroads you passed on the outward journey.

(2) Ignore the cement path taken on the outward journey, and climb uphill to the cross in the pines, to descend a path and then a steep staircase to reach the end of Calle de la Cuevita, at the troglodyte chapel.

(5) Turn left down the stairs into Calle Parroco Domingo Baez, which you follow to the right. At its end, keep right until you reach the Mirador de Unamuno. Walk past the church.

(6) Immediately turn left up Calle Camino de la Cilla and left again up to the Corrazon statue of Christ.

(7) Climb back down the lava steps, then cross the road to take a staircase down to the "A los Piqueros" monument (S/E).

Start: Depart from the car park next to the bus stop on GC-21, Avenue Alcade Manuel Lujan, at the "Artenara Cultural Landscape Interpretation Center".

Driving to Start: Coming by car is convenient but time-consuming: about 1h15 from Las Palmas to Artenara.

Transport: By bus: line 220 from Las Palmas every hour. Seasonal information available.

Refreshments: All shops in the village of Artenara, restaurants and bars.

Gears: Good walking shoes are recommended, as paths can be steep.

• There are many viewpoints along the way, but there's plenty more to do!
• The Casas Cuevas Etnographic Museum in the village (Calle Parroco Domingo Baez) is well worth a visit. A much-requested but very pleasant museum, it lets you discover ancestral ways of life in the caves.
• Ditto for the Artenara Cultural Landscape Interpretation Centre, at the tourist office, where you can learn about the first tribes and how they adapted to this hostile environment.
• Beautifully decorated church choir.