A little bit of winter sun, in Canary Islands

There are few bank holidays in London, so given that I'm a freelancer - don't get paid on them- I need to make the most of them. Maria, who's like a sister to me was visiting family in Gran Canaria. "Can I come along, please?"

We were meeting directly there, however because my flight arrived earlier, I grabbed the car and headed to the closest beach to wait - La Garita - but unfortunately there was black sand, and a man pestering me to be his girlfriend, so not great a great experience.

Below are the top best things I saw in Gran Canaria. And some tips if you are travelling by yourself.

If you are travelling by yourself: Not too sure if there are any good hostels but one thing is for sure - you need a car. The nice beaches are in resort style places that are outside of the city.

But if you go with friends read below:

A beach - Mas Palomas - turisty and resort style beach, however full of sandy dunes - yellow sand. Las Canteras is the beach of las Palmas. It's pretty, however not beautiful and if you want to surf you've got Cicerea at the end of Canteras however not nice sand (black sand).

A restaurant - El Allende - the best best food I've ever had. We ended up going twice, because I loved it so much. Try the Herreño Cheese with sweet tomato sauce. And that cold soup. And the Lomo de Ternera. I want to go back!

Going out - Friday night we headed to El Viajero with average age was 35. Saturday was party time at the local area, behind the Auditorium. Lots of rock and roll and full of young people partying in a big square surrounded by a few bars. Ask around. Average age between 20 and 40.

Shopping area - the 'posh' shopping area is in Triana, however not too glamorous, i thought. I was a bit disappointed.

Other places - We had the car so we also headed to Mogan, a colonial style town, with lots of flowered trees. Quite picturesque, more on the romantic side, but seems too nostalgic and boring for me. Too many old people.