Another one of those places you can't get to by public transport, need a car for this one but a nice half-day out. If you are driving up there, go up almost as far as the airport and as you see the runway take the exit to Carizal, then follow the signs to Ingenio until you start to see the brown tourism signs for Guayadeque.
The village of Guayadeque dates back hundreds if not thousdands of years, I don't know but it's old and historic! The origional Guanches (Canarians) that settled here lived and farmed the land via cave dwellings and now, in modern times it's still the same - no modern buildings, just caves.
The villagers live in caves, the farmers keep their livestock and store crops in caves, the towns bar, restaurant and even the church are all caves and very much in daily use.
You can walk up the cobbled path through the center of the village and see it all for yourself any day of the week. Once you've marvelled at the village, get back in the car and go to the end of the valley where the restaurant "El Tagaror" is located - 12 caves all interconnected and a terrace with some spectacular views down the valley.
After lunch, you could head back to the south, half a day is enough there. Along the way you can take exit 28 and do some shopping at Vecindario maybe. Or, you can stay in the area and see the neighbouring towns of Aguimes and Ingenio and get a bit more cultural sightseing done.
Aguimes & Ingenio
These two towns are side by side and very close to the Guayadeque valley so do all three and make a day of it.
Aguimes - you need to head to the town center as the square and surrounding streets form the "Casco Historico" or old quarter. Multi-coloured stone buildings, cobbled streets, wierd bronze statues everywhere (I kid you not), the impressive and historic Casa de los Camellos rural hotel and the town church are all to be seen.
Every Wednesday there's a tour that spends the morning in Guayadeque then on up to Las Palmas for the afternoon. More details of that here.
