Handmade Tours, run by a good friend of ours called Masequera, is a fantastic way to really get into the Gran Canaria countryside and learn how the island turns its sunshine into gold.
Masequera takes you from your accommodation right up into the rural areas where the grapes and olive trees grow and the shepherds make the superb local cheese. She takes you into the vineyards and olive fields rather than just waving at them out of the bus window. You get to feel the soil underfoot, see the grapes on the vines, and talk to the vine-growers and local producers. It's a level of detail that you'll never get by taking a coach tour or renting a car.
Masequera is a guide who really cares about your experience. She plans everything from the route and the local restaurant (rather than a big place that caters to bus tours) to the music you hear in her car.
Handmade Tours offers themed tours that teach you all about the island's wine, coffee, cheese and olive oil and also offer fully customized tours. Contact her and tell her what you want and she'll make it happen.
For a real blast of local flavour in Gran Canaria, we can't recommend Handmade Tours enough.
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