The Casa Romantica restaurant was an institution in the Agaete Valley for years before closing down in the 1990s. It's now reopened after an extensive refurbishment and with a brand new menu.

The food is a cut above the standard 'papas con mojo and ropa vieja' you get in most Gran Canaria country restaurants. It's right on the line between cookery and cuisine; accessible yet elevated. All dishes made with local produce, much of it from the Agaete Valley and Puerto de las Nieves harbour. 

See the menu here.

We visited on a Wednesday afternoon and chose to sit out on the front terrace because it was warm and sunny. However, the spacious indoor dining rooms, decoared with local art and plenty of plants, would have been just as pleasant. Next door is a museum dedicated to Gran Canaria rural life and its local produce.

The food at Casa Romántica

The welcome glass of Los Berrezales rosé from the bodega just up the road was a lovely welcoming touch. The green almogrote (a pesto of mature goat cheese, coriander and garlic) canapes delicious. 

We ordered a light lunch of rabbit gyozas in gravy, onion soup made from local Galdar onions, and baked vegetables with slow-cooked bonito flakes. For dessert an orange and chocolate montage with lemon grass and basil. 

Rabbit is a classic Gran Canaria country meat much appreciated by the locals (everybody loves free food). It's not the tastiest meat and is very lean. The rich gravy did the trick in this dish with each ravioli a little parcel of umaminess. 

The onion soup, with a cured cheese parcel lurking at the bottom, was rich and tasty, and beautifully presented.

The baked vegetables, cooked slow and topped with big flakes of just-cooked bonito, were superb. The veggies (local tomato, aubergine and leek) jammy and full of flavour, their richness offset by the intense fishiness of the bonito. 

The chocolate dessert, a deconstructed mousse with little blobs of citrus and basil jelly, worked well. 

Based on what we ate, we'll be going back ASAP to work our way through the rest of the menu, and to try the tasting menu and paired local wines (40 euros per head with wine). 

All in all, the Casa Romantica is a welcome return for the Agaete Valley and a recommended stop on a tour around the island. The surrounding are beautiful and the food is quality and made from the best local ingredients.

Alex Says: One of my earliest memories is at the Casa Romántica back in the 1980s. I was there with my mother to photograph their vervet monkeys, at the time probably the only monkeys in Gran Canaria. She got too close to the bars of the cage and one of the monkeys ripped out a big handful of her hair. The monkeys have gone and my mum's hair grew back in the end!

 How to get to the Casa Romántica

Located three kilometres up the Valley from Agaete town, you can't really miss the Casa Romántica. It's on the left as you drive up, tucked into it's own little side valley. If you don't drive, a taxi from Agaete town costs a few euros (taxis next to the church).

See the Google Map location.

There is plenty of parking at Casa Romántica. Book if you plan to visit at lunchtime at the weekend. 

There are three main types of Gran Canaria airport transfer services, each with its own benefits, risks and price point. Here's our guide to them all, and a shameless plug for the in-house transfer service that helps keep the lights on at Gran Canaria Info's headquarters. 

Man from pub with car

The cheapest airport transfer service is the 'man (or woman) from the pub with a car' service. This is operated by a Gran Canaria resident who picks people up in their own car from the airport. They often advertise in pubs or run pubs in resort areas, and get customers by word of mouth. They don't advertise online or in public because this type of service is 'under the radar'.

With the man with car model you are basically paying cash in hand for someone pretending to be your friend to pick you up from the airport (or drop you back). As such they will be parked in the public car park rather than in the public transport zone next to arrivals. 

Legal transfer cars have blue license plates, a VTC aand SB sticker in the window, and their own parking zone at the airport. A legitimate driver does not have to pay a parking fee. Read more about the differences between legal and illegal transfers here.

This airport transfer service is often the cheapest option because the bloke with car does not have to pay for advertising and often doesn't pay business rates, taxes or professional insurance from their takings. They  are cheap because they cut corners.

We don't really support this model of airport transfer service for two reasons. The first is that we don't know if a particular man with car is insured and / or a safe driver. The second is that we have no idea whether he pays anything back into the local Gran Canaria economy. We do know that informal transfers undermine the local drivers and companies who do pay their taxes and business fees.

Imagine the scandal in Puerto Rico if taxi drivers started selling tax-free beer to tourists!

The big branded airport transfer services

These are the services like Hoppa, Viva, Sun, etc.

These airport transfer services have large advertising budgets and websites that offer transfers from any airport. You book, pay upfront and when you walk through into arrivals, there is a driver with a sign waiting for you. The booking service takes a big chunk in commission and pays the rest to the company that owns the car and pays the driver.

Services like Hoppa and Viva never actually own the car or employ the driver that you meet. Nor do they have a help desk, or even employ any staff on the island. Instead they are based offshore and the savings they make mean that they caan spend huge amounts on advertising. Then they keep asking for lower prices from the drivers as they gain market share. None of the money they take in commission stays in Gran Canaria or any of the other destinations they offer. 

There is very little difference between these services because they all use the same local companies to do the actual driving. A licensed local driver will reach the airport and pick up the next passenger on their list without even knowing which website they booked with. The driver is paid and the car insured by the local transport company that owns the cars, not by the booking service.

That said, all big branded services tend to be reasonably priced and are quite reliable. However, if something does go wrong there is nobody on the ground to sort it out. If a big transfer service drops the ball, then you are likely to be on your own, or at least face a long delay until someone at the call centre works out what happened. 

Local Gran Canaria airport transfer services

The transport companies that operate the cars and pay the drivers that do Gran Canaria airport transfers do take direct bookings. However they also work with local transfer services to handle international bookings. It is easier and just as economical for them to pay commission as it is to take bookings themselves. 

This is what we do at Gran Canaria Info. We work with exactly the same drivers and cars as all the branded transfer services. However, the commission we keep is much smaller than the wedge that big services pocket. The commission we earn for handling the booking helps us to keep improving Gran Canaria Info. 

Gran Canaria Info's airport transfer service is reliable, fairly priced and is all operated from Gran Canaria. This means that if something does go wrong (delays, traffic, breakdowns) we are here to sort things out as quickly as possible. 

What about buses and taxis at Gran Canaria airport?

The local Gran Canaria bus network is decent and you rarely have to wait more than half an hour before hopping on a bus to the main resorts or to Las Palmas. Just follow the bus stop signs at arrivals, then check Google maps for the next bus to your destination. Then take a taxi from the bus stop or station closest to your accommodation. For one person, or a couple, using the buses saves money but once there are three of you or more, a taxi or transfer often works out cheaper. 

Taxis queue right outside the arrivals lounge at Gran Canaria airport. They are reasonably priced and you can normally just walk over and get one right away. However, there can be queues at peak times and prices rise late at night, on fiesta days and on Sundays. There is a limited supply of large taxis so if your group is bigger than four (three if the Covid Levels go up), then it is better to book a large vehicle with a local Gran Canaria transfer service. A transfer is always cheaper than using two taxis, and transfers are cheaper than the standard taxi meter rate for resorts like Mogán and Puerto Rico that are further from the airport. 

So, there you have it. The facts about Gran Canaria airport transfers. Obviously we'd love you to use our own reliable service, or to book an excursion or boat trip with us but the decision, like the holiday, is all yours. Thank you for visiting Gran Canaria Info and we hope to see you in our Gran Canaria Info Facebook Group soon. 

If you want to book the Gran Canaria Info airport transfer service, or a transfer back to the airport, you can do it here. Our service is reliable and well-priced and using it helps us keep the lights on at GCI headquarters. 

Morning or afternoon, a Gran Canaria buggy tour is the way to see Gran Canaria through fresh eyes. This is the thrill seeker's Gran Canaria tour and it takes right into the island's heart away from the resorts. 

Alex Says: A Gran Canaria buggy tour is great fun for the whole family!

This Yamaha Buggy Tour goes every morning and afternoon and is a two hour buggy driving experience with a limited number of buggies (so you don't spend the whole trip in a coud of someone else's dust). Return transport is included from your hotel in all resorts in the South of Gran Canaria. Great, new vehicles and a cool route into the wild canyons of south Gran Canaria that we call Marlboro Country. 

The buggies are very easy to drive and control and you can book one for yourself or fit two to a buggy. The buggies are in great condition and fully insured. Their small size and maneuverability means that the tour takes you to places that you just can't reach by car or bus. 

You are in control as you drive through the rugged Gran Canaria mountains over rough terrain and you'll get a great overview of the islands rock formations, steep valleys, cave houses and mountain roads. Bring a camera or even better a GoPro because you are going to want to record the experience and the views. Just make sure you keep it in a zipped-up pocket.

Reserve your spot on this wildly popular Gran Canaria buggy tour right here for just a small deposit. You won’t find a better buggy tour anywhere in Gran Canaria. 

Gran Canaria Info has teamed up with the island's best independent car hire company to offer you the best service in Gran Canaria..

It's a simple, personal service that delivers the right car to the right place with absolutely no hidden costs. 

Please not that we don't say that this is the cheapest car hire on the island. However, the combination of full insurance, no-wait airport service or resort delivery and 24-hour assistance makes it the best value car hire service we known of in Gran Canaria. 

Here are the main benefits...

• Multilingual service with 24/7 Personal Travel Assistance
• Full All Risk Insurance SCDW with zero Excess
• FREE Cancellation, and NO Deposit or NO hidden fees guaranteed
• Wide Variety of cars; Small, SUV, Cabrio etc…
• Airport pickup (met at arrivals) or free delivery at your accommodation in resort areas. Drop off anywhewre on the island.
• No Desks, or waiting at the airport. Personal service in 2 minutes you're on the road. Help with your luggage and no need to search the car for yourself.
• Clean and disinfected cars

To ask for a quote at the best possible price, please contact Mister Gran Canaria Car Hire (Nick) and use the Discount Code “GC-INFO” 

Ask for a quote from Nick via Whatsapp

Or fill in this form and Nick will be touch very soon...

Renting a car in Gran Canaria is the best way to explore the island and it doesn't need to be a stressful experience if you follow our tips for the perfect Gran Canaria car rental.

One of the most common questions we get asked at Gran Canaria Info is "what is the best way to rent a car in Gran Canaria?".

The answer is always the same: It depends what you are looking for...

The cheapest deal is always too good to be true

If you want the cheapest possible car, it is tempring to go online and choose the lowest price from a car rental website. Howver, be prepared for extra charges once you arrive at the airport. Things like extra insurance that is only obligatory once you go to collect your car, fuel surcharges, deposits blocked on your credit card, or claims for damage to the vehicle or unpaid fines after you get home. The cheapest deals in Gran Canaria are hardly ever as good as they sound, especially on comparison websites.In fact, we get so many complaints about cheap Gran Canaria car rental that ends up being expensive that our advice is to never take the cheapest online deal.

Book local with a reliable company

To avoid the extras that almost invevitably come with the cheapest online car rental offers, go to one of the reliable Gran Canara car rental companies and book a car direct. Autoreisen, Plus Cars and Cicar are the three that offer consistetly good value cars with no hidden extras from Gran Canaria airport. 

You may have to queue to get your car, or even wait for a bit as there is still a shortage of budget cars on Gran Canaria after Covid: The leasing companies sold their fleets and are now having trouble getting new cars to replace them. 

The big box hire companies are expensive in Gran Canaria

Car rental in Gran canaria is really good value but nobody seems to have told the big boys like Hertz and Avis. Their standard offer is often way more expensive than all the other options. If you have a business account, or come at a busy time and there is nothing else available, go for it. But first, contact our trusted car rental partner...

Use Mr Car Hire Gran Canaria for a good deal and peace of mind

There is no way any small local operator can match the cheapest prices on offer online or with the big local companies. However, local companies can compete by offering a quick pickup , fully comprehensive insurance as standard, ongoing support during your holiday, and even pickup and dropoff at you accommodation.

So, if you just want to arrive, grab your keys and go, rather than queueing at a car hire desk, get in touch with Mr Car Hire. If you want a car delivered to your hotel or apartment building, then picked up at the end of the holiday. Get in touch.

If you'd rather have complete peace of mind and instant communication with, ask for a quote.

Mr Car Hire offers the complete Gran Canaria hire car service with car-to-door delivery anywhere on the island, fully comprehensive insurance and 24/7/365 support. 

Best of all, he does it at great prices and offers top service, no queues, dirty cars or long waiting times

You won't get the cheapest possible price because they are almost always loaded with hidden extras.

Alex Says: For a hassle-free Gran Canaria car rental and complete peace of mind, Mr Car Hire is Gran Canaria Info's recommendation.

Rent your car via Mr Car Hire and you'll get:

• A wide choice of cars at reasonable prices with absolutely no hidden extras
• Delivery to anywhere in Gran Canaria and car collection anywhere on the island
• Comprehensive insurance and 24/7/365 support and breakdown cover
• Personal service and a completely stress-free car rental experience

Contact him right here and Mr Car Hire be right back in touch.

Fundgrube started back in the 1980s with one shop in the CITA centre in Playa del Inglés and has now grown into the biggest Gran Canaria-based retailer in the Canary Islands. It sells a huge range of quality cosmetics, perfume, tobacco, jewellery and fashion accessories like shoes and sunglasses. It's a must-visit store on a shopping day in Gran Canaria thanks to both the range of brands it stocks and the excellent value for money it offers.