Doramas Park

A waterfall spills over rocks into a pond, and on a sunny day a turtle climbs out onto the stones to bask. Doramas Park sits in the middle of Las Palmas, yet once you are inside the traffic mostly drops away and birdsong and running water take over. Lizards cross the warm rocks if you stand still long enough.

The planting is the draw: dragon trees, ficus and palms over well-kept beds and flowers, with benches in both shade and sun. Families come for the playgrounds and the lawns, which take a picnic blanket. After dark the lamps come on along the paths, and the gardens look different again.

• There are no drinking fountains in the park. Bring water, especially with children.
• Do not count on public toilets; the open-air café in the lower part of the park has toilets when it is open.
• Shade is patchy: some benches sit under the trees, others in full sun.
• Footpaths link the park to other green spaces up the hillside, but there are no signs to follow them.

Doramas Park lies inside the city, so the bus or your own feet will do. The nearest stop, Emilio Ley (Parque Doramas), is about 80 m away, and a second, Emilio Ley (piscinas Julio Navarro), about 100 m. Drivers have two car parks roughly 220–230 m away in a straight line.

Above the park, Paseo Chil runs north–south with wide pavements and a cycle lane. Followed north, it leads towards Plaza Mesa y López and on to Las Canteras beach, which makes the park an easy stop on a longer walk or ride across the city.

Best: late afternoon into evening, when the heat has gone out of the lawns and the lamps come on along the paths.

Avoid: the middle of a hot day if you plan to sit on the open grass or in the play areas.

The trees shade much of the park, but the lawns are open to the sun at midday, while the evening lighting gives the gardens a second character.