Travel Guide: Tenerife Best Attractions
Dear Alice,
Today, we will continue exploring our series concerning the “Places to Visit in 2016”. This time my recommendation is Tenerife in the Canary Islands. I will start with the beginning, and tell you that Tenerife is an amazing place to spend your holidays! An amazing place to appreciate the beauty of nature; an amazing place place to refill your batteries; an amazing place to taste the Spanish cuisine; all in all simply an amazing place.
I had the chance to visit Tenerife last year in September. And I must say I consider myself really happy for this opportunity. After carefully analyzing possible destinations to spend both a relaxing and a dynamic holiday, we agreed on Tenerife. Before going any further with our discussion, here are some reasons on “why?” to choose Tenerife as your holiday destination: located in the Atlantic ocean, Tenerife is the largest and the most populated Island of the Canary Islands.
It is the perfect mixture between unique beaches (with yellow to black sand) and challenging hiking paths (in non active volcanic areas) at reachable high altitudes. So if you like swimming, and relaxing at the beach, but you also love hiking and admiring the beauty of the nature, then, just as in my case, Tenerife is the perfect choice for you. You can combine the relaxing activities with small and repetitive dynamic adrenaline sessions.
We spend 10 days in Tenerife, and we choose the north of the island as our temporary “home” destination.
Basically, Tenerife is divided between north and south from a touristic point of view: in the north you get to enjoy the island with all of its traditions and all of its nature beauties. You get to mingle quite easily with the locals and you get to learn their mentality and habits, as there are not so many touristic places. Plus you get to always have a gorgeous glimpse at the “Pico del Teide” peak mountain. (Just for curiosity Mount Teide is the gigantic volcano on Tenerife and it reaches a height of 3,718-metre, thus being the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. For more information, Google is as always your friend). The south of the island is the opposite of its north sibling: it is definitely a touristic place, with a large range of touristic beaches and resorts, where luxury and comfort are both the main targets.
Since we do like to explore, we rented a car for the 10 days of our stay and thus we got to explore both the north and the south of the island. I enjoyed them both, as they offer different things, but I would always choose the north as my temporary “home” destination on Tenerife. That’s just me. So here’s my list with things you should definitely do in Tenerife (by the way I recommend a 14 days stay):
- Puerto de la Cruz: This is the resort we choose for our stay, located in the north of the island. Despite the large number of tourists (most of them Spanish), this place has a high Canarian character. Nothing else I would wish for from a holiday, then to get to know the place itself directly from its inhabitants.
- Lago de Martinez: This is one of the best attractions in the north (we actually booked our accommodation right across Lago de Martinez and it was the perfect choice). Lago de Martinez is a large open-air seawater swimming pool. Saltwater from the ocean is filtered into a large water park which consists of lakes, cascading waterfalls, beautiful landscaped gardens, bars, restaurants and cafes. And I would say this is a great invention in Puerto de la Cruz, as the waves here in the north are extremely large, so that most of the time you cannot even go for a swim. Even for surfers, there are quite often interdictions. But this is the beauty in choosing the north of Tenerife: you get to live the main differences between being at the see and being at the ocean 🙂 .
- Botanical Gardens in Puerto de la Cruz: Great place to go for a stroll, and to relax with a good book or a coup of good ice-cream.
- Loro Parque: Located in the vicinity of Puerto de la Cruz, this is a zoo and marine theme park, highly enjoyable for both children and adults. The shows are to be recommended and not to be missed!
- Plaja Jardin: This is a beach with black sand, very different from all the beaches I’ve had ever seen. But a delight for the eye and for the body! Swimming though might be a bit challenging, the waves are really large and powerful, so you have to trick them to get into the water. Also, a good place for surfers, so if you are a surfer this is your chance.
- Dragon Tree and Icod de los Vinos: This is a famous dragon tree with about 22 m high, and estimated to weight about 70 tones. It is a symbol of Icod de los Vinos and an Unesco World Heritage. It is definitely worth seeing it!
- Pico del Teide: If you like hiking and everything that comes with it, hiking on Pico del Teide will be another type of hiking experience for you! Full of small adrenaline doses. The altitude is really a challenge, plus the temperatures are changeable in relation to the beach temperatures. First of all, Pico del Teide is located in the Tenerife National Park, where the scenery and the rocks resemble the Moon scenery, I would say. After reaching Pico del Teide (with the Cable Car) you are offered the chance to complete two main hiking paths leading to the main volcanic craters. You are advised to do one of them, and this due to the difference of altitude and to the effect of pressure on your body. Remember: after all, hiking should be fun! We had the chance to do both paths, as the weather was quite friendly and the altitude was not a big problem for a couple of hours for us. We even completed part of another hike path leading to a side crater. I must say, I am a big fan of hiking, but hiking on Teide was a challenge in the beginning: not only the altitude was a problem, but the volcanic rocks were difficult for me to control. Still after 10-20 minutes I got used to the path and I managed to adapt my body to the challenges of nature and most important I got to enjoy a view I will never regret! So do choose to visit Tenerife when you can hike on Teide as well. My advice to you 🙂 .
- Plaja Los Gigantes: Lovely beach located in the south part of the island. It resembles the well known see beaches: the water is calm, you get to enjoy swimming and snorkeling, if you are properly equipped.
- Siam Park: Definitely a must do! It is located in the south of the island, next to the Plaja Adeje, and it is the sibling of Loro Parque. You even get a reduction to the price if you choose to visit both parks. Of course these two parks are very different in what they have to offer: Loro Parque is a zoo, whereas Siam Park is a water park! It is definitely the most spectacular water attraction I have ever seen! In fact it is assumed to be the most spectacular water park in Europe. Prepare yourself for some adrenaline doses here and for spending some unique adventurous hours.
So that is about all. I notice the recommendations are quite long in the case of Tenerife, but again it is an amazing place for spending your holidays!
Sincerely yours,
Madalina
Lago de Martinez View from our window.
Enjoying snacks at Lago de Martinez.
View on Lago de Martinez.
Plaja Jardin.
Loro Parque.
Dragon Tree.
Tenerife National Park and Pico del Teide.
Siam Park.