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Maspalomas holidays – The perfect position for a rewarding Gran Canaria holiday

Maspalomas is a great family resort with wide-ranging appeal right in the heart of Gran Canaria’s popular south coast holiday region. The key here is variety.

There’s a terrific resort centre beach backed by a wide assortment of shops, bars, cafes and restaurants. This leads on to the famous Maspalomas sand dunes, a beach nature reserve offering undisturbed sunbathing and terrific shoreline walks. This in turn leads on to Playa del Ingles, a famously lively resort with limitless nightlife. Walking west you reach the quieter beach at upmarket Meloneras.

Add first-class golf courses, great shopping, a wide choice of dining options and the island’s best family attractions and you have one of the most complete resorts in the Canaries. Children of all ages will enjoy easily accessed attractions like Holiday World, Palmitos Park, Sioux City and Aqualand. www.aqualand.es/grancanaria. Complement beach relaxation with jeep safaris, camel rides, boat trips and excursions to mountain villages.

When to go to Maspalomas

Holidays to Maspalomas are rewarding all year round. The resort has plenty of life at any time of year and neighbouring Playa del Ingles remains genuinely lively outside of the Christmas and summer holiday seasons. Spring is beautifully warm and is a delightful time for quiet sunbathing. June to September is the time for serious sun addicts but even winter sees long hours of warm sunny weather. Autumn into winter is often quiet and is a great time to enjoy sea view fairways at Campo de Golf. July and August see family attractions in full swing and Playa del Ingles at its very liveliest.

The weather in Maspalomas

Nowhere in Europe can match the Canaries for year-round sunshine. Perfect weather for golf throughout the winter, with 7 hours of sunshine a day and temperatures around 20º. Not bad for sunbathing too! Spring is simply idyllic; with temperatures hitting the mid 20’s as early as April.

Average daytime temperatures are around 30º between June and late September. Nothing too extreme but do protect yourself from strong sunshine in the summer months if you are sunbathing among the suntraps of the Maspalomas dunes. Summer evening temperatures around 20º are made for holiday romance.

Getting the best deal to Maspalomas

We recommend an early search if you wish to travel at busy times like Christmas, Easter and the summer school holidays. You will find a much wider choice of Maspalomas holidays and can take advantage of early booking deals. Look out for cheap winter holidays before and after the Christmas holidays and during quiet months like October and March. Maspalomas holidays in June and September are often considerably cheaper than July and August.

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Airport and transport need to know

All package holidays to Maspalomas fly to Gran Canaria Airport, also known as Las Palmas Airport (LPA). A relatively small airport with a modest collection of shops, bars and restaurants. Regular flights from London, Birmingham and Manchester. Airlines like Ryanair and Thomson fly from regional UK airports like Bournemouth, Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and Cardiff. Flight time is about 4 hours 15 minutes.

Transfers to Maspalomas take around 35 minutes. Public transport is easy, with at least three bus routes from the airport to Maspalomas. Fare is just €4 (£3) www.globalsu.net. A taxi from Gran Canaria airport to Maspalomas should cost €40-45 (£33-37). Self-drive is a relaxed affair. Take care on narrow mountain roads and avoid congested Las Palmas. A motorway links the airport with Maspalomas. Drive on the right.

Good resort buses to beaches at Playa del Ingles and Meloneras. Metered taxis are a cheap way to enjoy a big night out in Playa del Ingles.

The best beaches in Maspalomas

Gran Canaria beaches have exceptionally wide-ranging appeal. Most beaches are more developed than islands like Fuerteventura or Lanzarote. The major resorts often combine a good all-round family beach with smaller beach areas with appeal for naturists, walkers and watersports fans. Good local buses and the short distance between resorts make it easy to combine several resort beaches in one holiday.

Beaches are invariably clean and well supervised. Expect to find toilets, showers, changing rooms, beach bars and sunbeds plus quieter areas as beaches extend into dunes. Gran Canaria beaches are great for relaxed sunbathing, safe swimming and watersports like windsurfing and scuba diving.

Maspalomas has one of the best beaches on Gran Canaria. The main central section is a broad family holiday beach of fine pale sand with good facilities and large areas of sunbeds. Beachfront bars and restaurants are close at hand. Moving clear of the sunbed area you will find more space. For a quieter scene walk past the rocky lighthouse area to the spacious beach at upmarket Meloneras.

The Maspalomas sand dunes are a protected nature reserve popular with serious sun worshippers and naturists. Terrific walks along the seashore and through the dunes. The most developed areas, with lifeguards and restaurants, are found leaving Maspalomas and entering Playa del Ingles. In between is an unspoilt stretch of wild dunes with regularly spaced beach bars. A great spot for horse riding and camel rides. Sand is hot on the feet and shade is at a premium.

It’s only 2km to the famously lively resort of Playa del Ingles and its magnificent beach. The main resort area is enjoyably animated all year round and is especially busy in July and August. This superb sandy beach is well over a mile long and has entertaining promenades lined with restaurants, bars, shops, and nightlife venues.

Useful links:

• http://www.directline-holidays.co.uk/blog/hassle-free-gran-canaria/
• http://www.directline-holidays.co.uk/blog/best-of-the-best-of-gran-canaria-beaches-and-sights/
• http://turismo.maspalomas.com/index_en.shtml
• http://www.maspalomasgolf.net/English.142.0.html
• http://www.aqualand.es/grancanaria/index.php?wlang=en
• http://www.holidayworld-maspalomas.es/index_en.html
• http://www.palmitospark.es/index.php
• http://www.siouxcity.es/
• http://www.grancanaria.com/patronato_turismo/283.0.html