„If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.”
– Unknown
If you want to escape the winter in Europe then the Canary Islands are the perfect place to be. There is an evergoing spring on these islands, which makes the weather super nice at any time of the year. It never gets really cold or super hot. I decided to spend the month of November here, before heading back to Germany for Christmas. If you want to see more islands, there are ferries connecting each of them. For example, the ferry from Tenerife to Gran Canaria will take between 1 hr 20 minutes and 2 hr 45 minutes (depending on which ferry you choose) and the ferry from Tenerife to Gomera takes only about 1 hr.
What you should know about Tenerife before booking your accommodation is that the south is more touristy and there are more locals in the north. You will see the most hotels, resorts and shopping malls in the south by the beaches. Because of the height of the volcano the clouds rarely get to the south of the island, so it rains a lot more in the north. This explains the lush green landscape in the north and the dry landscape in the south of the island.
If I had to recommend you where to stay, I would say the south is better because of the weather. I had my airbnb in Santa Cruz and it was raining almost every day, while one hour driving south you can relax at the beach in the sun.
11 things to see in Tenerife
Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife and located on the north side of the island. When you explore the city you can tell that there are more locals than tourists. It feels a lot more local than the towns in the south. You won’t need much time to explore the city, because it’s pretty small but very pretty. The best place to start exploring is the Auditorio de Santa Cruz, because there are lots of parking spots and the main bus station is very close to it. If you think of Australia, the Auditorio de Tenerife might remind you of the Opera house in Sydney. It’s really nice to see the Auditorio from close up, but I think you get the best view from the Palmetum, the botanical garden. The project was started in 1995 on an old landfill and opened for tourists in 2014. You will find about 600 different palm trees here! From the hill you have the perfect view of the Auditorio de Tenerife.
When you are exploring the city you can start at the Plaza de Espana where you will find the Santa Cruz sign. From here you can walk up the Calle de Castillo, the main pedestrian street and the best place to go shopping. There are really beautiful old buildings on this street and lots of international shops. If you keep walking you will find the Parque García Sanabria, a really beautiful park with lots of fountains and cactuses!
Close to the park is the Plaza Los Patos with benches that are covered in painted tiles, giving you the feeling you are in Portugal. Another park I can recommend to you is the Plaza del Príncipe de Asturias with a big pavilion in the middle.
Santa Cruz also has a lot of Christmas decorations! If you are here around Chritsmas time you should definitely go for a walk in the city center.
Playa de las Teresitas
The beach Playa de las Teresitas is only a 15 min drive or a 30 min bus ride from Santa Cruz. It’s a very beautiful long beach with white sand and beach bars. In front of the beach is a rock formation in the water to stop the waves, which means it’s perfect for swimming. Next to the beach is a cute town with colorful houses and nice restaurants. The sand is actually imported, so it’s not a natural beach. Tenerife doesn’t have white beaches, because it’s a volcano island. Which brings us to point number 3…
If you have never seen black beaches before you might like these a lot more than the white ones in Tenerife. I personally was absolutely fascinated by the black beaches and literally fell in love with them. There is one black beach right next to Playa de las Teresitas that looks really natural. Another black beach, called Playa de Benijo, is on the north side of Tenerife. You have to drive a lot of mountain roads to get here, but it’s really worth it.
Playa el Beril is in the south of Tenerife, right next to Playa del Duque, a really beautiful white beach. I really liked this one, because you can literally spend some time at the white beach and then just walk over to the black beach.
These are just some examples of black beaches that are really amazing. There are countless beautiful black beaches in Tenerife that you can explore.
Teide National Park
The Teide National Park is absolutely breathtaking! If you want to book the cable car to go all the way up you should do it during your first few days on the island, because it often gets rescheduled due to strong winds. If you still have a few days left your chances are a lot higher that you will make it to the top.
When you book a bus tour, but the cable car isn’t running, they will still show you a lot of beautiful spots in the national park. The only thing is that they will never stop for long. We usually had about 10-15 minutes at each spot and felt a bit rushed. The best way to explore the national park is to rent a car and just drive around to do different hikes. There is actually one hotel in the national park, which is perfect if you want to see the stars at night or go for a long hike.
Anaga Rural Park
The Anaga Rural Park is a national park in the north of Tenerife. This is where you will find high mountains and lush green forests. There are countless hikes you can do and I would recommend you to choose one where you get to see the coast. I chose to do the Roque de Taborno hike, which starts in a small village in the mountains. The rock formation offers one of the best panoramic views of the west coast of the Anaga. Roque de Taborno is 700m high, but the hike goes around the mountain, giving you a 360º view. The hike is only 2.5 miles (4 km) long and should take you about 1.5 h or longer depending on how many times you stop to take photos. Even though it’s a pretty easy hike, the path is very narrow in some parts, so be careful when hiking here.
Once you get to Taborno you can walk to the left side of the red church where the hike begins. When you start walking you will see a viewpoint after a few minutes that is absolutely breathtaking. After visiting the viewpoint you can keep walking towards the Roque de Taborno. The hike will lead you to a little farm on a small hill. From here you can follow the narrow path all the way to the panoramic viewpoint. This is one of the wildest areas of Tenerife that is incredibly beautiful.
Puerto de La Cruz
Puerto de la Cruz is a really nice city on the west coast of the island. The city has two botanical gardens: the Jardin Botanical Garden and the Sitio Litre Garden. Both of them have beautiful tropical plants and aren’t far away from the city center. On the coast you will see the Lago Martiánez, an outdoor swimming pool with sea water and right next to it Playa de Martiánez, a fantastic spot to go surfing.
As you walk along the promenade you will see Playa de San Telmo, a small black beach with really clear water. From here it’s only a short walk into town to Plaza del Charco, a small park with a beautiful church. A really nice place to have lunch is El Limón, a vegetarian restaurant.
If you keep walking through the town to the west side of the city, you will see three beautiful beaches: Playa de San Felipe, Playa Chica and Playa Maria Jiménez.
Garachico
When you keep driving south from Puerto de la Cruz you will find a town called Garachico. In this town you will find a beautiful white church and a small plaza with a pavilion where you can buy coffee and lunch. Walking around Garachico won’t take you long, because it’s a very small town. When you walk to the ocean you will see that there are lots of places where you can go for a swim. I personally really liked Garachico, because it has its very own charme and is not overflooded by tourists.
Garachico used to be known as a port town, but the volcano eruption in 1706 changed the landscape and made it impossible for ships or boats to get to this town. The town literally rose from the ashes and is now a beautiful destination for travelers.
Masca Village
When you look at Masca, you might feel like you just got to Peru. The small village, located on a hill between mountains is a very scenic photography spot. The village itself is very small and often gets crowded by tourists. I decided not to walk down, but to enjoy the view from the street that leads to Masca. Once you saw the view you should keep driving to the Los Gigantes cliffs. The road is a zig zag shape that leads even higher up the mountain. You should stop at one of the curves to see the view, because the higher you get the more beautiful it gets.
Los Gigantes Cliffs
The Los Gigantes Cliffs are a lot more beautiful when you see them in real life. The shrap cliffs on the coast create a dramatic scenery that is especially nice when you see it at sunset. The golden light from the sunset changes the color from the cliffs and lets them glow over the dark ocean.
In the town next to Los Gigantes you will find a lot of restaurants right by the harbor. There is also a black beach that you can visit. With the cliffs in the background it’s one of the best beaches in Tenerife.
Costa Adeje
Costa Adeje is where you will find most resorts, hotels and white sand beaches. It’s probably the most popular place for tourists, because the beaches are beautiful and everything is within walking distance. The most popular beach is Playa de las Américas. What you will really enjoy about Costa Adeje is that there are so many beaches right next to each other. You could literally explore a new beach every day or just walk along the coast and find your favorite beach. There are also some beaches where you can go surfing.
El Médano
One last place I can recommend you is the town El Médano on the east coast of Tenerife. This town is very close to the Tenerife South airport and one of the best spots to go kitesurfing. When exploring Tenerife you will notice that there is a lot more wind on the east side of the island. This is not a place to go swimming, but if you love water sports like windsurfing or kitesurfing you will love this town.
The best place to have lunch is the Ubuntu cafe. This cafe has a lot of vegetarian and vegan options and is right next to the beach. From here you can watch the kitesurfer while enjoying a tasty lunch.
I hope this guide will help you to make the most of your time in Tenerife. If you love wild and untouched nature you will love Tenerife. If you have any questions about Tenerife, just put it in the comments down below.
