8 Photos Proving The Rich Variety Of Tenerife

Tenerife and the rest of the Canary Islands enjoy one of the best climates in the world. Why won't you enjoy it too on a 7-day holiday?

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To some, I imagine, this might sound a bit lame, but once you get your keys of a car and an apartment, the first thing you should is to go out and head for the closest beach. Let’s start with a big chunk of Vitamin D, you know that it improves your mood, right? Good feels are what we are here for, be ready for a week of happiness as this feeling won’t leave you for the rest of the trip. A sunny beach with warm ocean water for sure is surreal once you get here on a winter out of cold Europe.

From what I heard it is very likely to see some dolphins on the tours from Tenerife. It might sound strange, but most of the dolphins seek out the boats themselves. They do it either for some wave-riding along the human vessels, or simply just because they want to befriend you. Either way, you won’t be able to tell the difference. The dolphins will be there to cheer you up and that combined, with more sea, and more sun will guarantee some quality time. What is impossible to guarantee is that you’ll be going to see a whale. If you do – take it as a lucky charm.

Besides Teide itself, probably the most popular natural attraction in Tenerife is Masca village and so-called Masca hike. The route goes down from the village through Masca Gorge to Playa de Masca at the sea level. Since it was closed down for safety upgrades, I never had a chance to do the track. From what I read and from what I saw, the Masca hike is usually a one-way walk to the beach from where a water taxi will take you back to Los Gigantes.

You can find plenty of tours to Masca Hike in Los Gigantes. If you want to do the hike – I’m sure they’ll know if it is upgraded already or not. Despite the hike being open or closed, Masca village is highly recommended for any Tenerife visitor. The Teno Massif surrounding the settlement is absolutely breath-taking. In fact, the whole Teno region used to be a separate small island, which later on joined forces with other islets to form what is now called Tenerife.

While the main reason to go to the Canary Islands is its stable climate, the main reason to pick Tenerife for your holidays is Mount Teide. Yes, it is the biggest island of all the Canaries thus infrastructure and beaches are here. There is nothing similar to Mount Teide in other islands and as a matter of fact – the whole of Spain. Teide is the highest mountain in the whole country and did I mention that it is an active volcano too? At the narrowest point up in the north, the sea level and the top of Mount Teide are separated only by 13km / 8mi. That alone makes the landscape of the island truly breath-taking. The one you cannot mistake with anything else.

What is even better – the various possibilities to reach the peak of Mount Teide. Most of us will reach it by the cable car running from the base station (2,356m / 7,730ft) to La Rambleta (3,555m / 11,663ft). The very peak of Mount Teide (3,718 / 12,198ft) could be only reached by foot with a special permit from the park authorities.

Many ask which side of Tenerife they should go. North or South? There is no such thing as the right answer to this question. Both faces of Tenerife Island are totally different. It’s is like Two-Face from the Batman series – the southern part sees more sun, has more spaces and golden beaches, the northern one has more of that volcanic island feeling: dark, exotic and even colder.

Los Gigantes is located on the edge of both sides. Today we go further to the North than we ever did before. The whole route will slowly bring you to a totally different world. First stop – Garachico – an old port founded in 1496 by Genoese banker after Tenerife was conquested by the Crown of Castille. Its importance diminished in 1706 when volcanic eruption destroyed part of the town. Today, Garachico is an interesting tourist destination offering informational historical walk around the city surrounded by 500m+ / 1500ft cliffs.

After visiting Garachico drive along the coast towards Puerto de la Cruz and don’t worry about the road quality. Once you pass Teno region the road quality is as good as it is on the south part of the island. The rest of the day should be spent based on your preference. It is time to visit Loro park or walk around Puerto de la Cruz. Our choice was to have a picnic on Playa de los Roques, or you can visit La Orotova instead. Just don’t press too far – tomorrow is the time for La Laguna and Anaga Rural Park.

The whole Anaga Forest is growing in a mountainous area formed between 7-9mya, after a volcanic eruption. Ever since life transformed this landscape to something more exotic than you’d expect from Tenerife. That is so for a reason – Anaga Rural Park has more endemic species than any other area in the whole Europe. For that reason, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Biosphere Reserve in 2015.

These unique natural features attract many outdoor enthusiasts but the Anaga Forest does something way more important. The forest controls the humidity and fertility of the island. Back in the days, when wood was the most important building material, people started deforesting the area. It was noted that the microclimate of Tenerife has changed and ever since the forest started to be preserved.

Even though Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the most populated city in the whole archipelago, don’t underestimate Santa Cruz. After all, it does share the Capital status of Canary Islands with Las Palmas and has that feeling of a major city. There is plenty of cultural stuff to do during the day and more than enough things to do at night. It is especially so during the Carnival at the end of February or at the beginning of March. It is not a well-known fact that Santa Cruz de Tenerife hosts the second biggest Carnival in the whole world, bowing down only to the famous Rio de Janeiro.

There were things I expected with high expectations and they didn’t disappoint me. The Crown Jewel of Tenerife – Mount Teide exceeded even my most optimistic hopes. The whole Teide National Park was beyond my imagination, I never expected to see a new type of landscape ever again.

Nevertheless, it was not Mount Teide which made the whole journey across the island so exceptional. Not a single day left me disappointed, every day it felt like I was on another island and if you follow this itinerary, I’m sure you’ll experience the same. Tenerife has more than enough to offer to anybody.

If you want to do a similar trip yourself, you can find more details on my trip on my blog.