Today, KTVSS realizes a guest article on our travel blog and will give you its Top 5 things to do/see in Tenerife. Passionate about crime, KTVSS travels mainly in Europe and with the family and shares its favorites, like this one!
All of our friends who were leaving far had to postpone their journey because of ash clouds drifting towards Europe and preventing planes from flying. To not disappoint the children, we still prepared the suitcases … Without believing it. Arrived early at the airport, what is our surprise to finally embark safely, direction Santa Cruz de Tenerife, north-east of the island!
Our first impression of Tenerife and its coastline traveled by car is not very enthusiastic. The last island of the archipelago conquered by the Spanish in the late 15th century at the cost of major massacres, it is today its coast that is largely massacred by mass tourism and also by the many banana plantations protected high walls in blocks. Good luck for us, because of the Icelandic cloud and the paralysis of the air traffic in Europe, we discover this high place of English and German tourism (7 million tourists each year on a territory representing the third of Corsica!) Practically empty, at the end of April when the thermometer commonly displays 30 ° C. The residences in which we rented an apartment in Puerto de la Cruz, on the North Coast, and Puerto de Santiago, on the West Coast, is practically empty, ideal conditions to radiate throughout the island and discover some of his finest treasures.
Top 5 things to do in Tenerife
Stroll through the lunar landscapes of the Teide Volcanic Park
Natural site inscribed on the List of World Heritage of UNESCO since 2007, the Teide National Park (area: 18,990 ha) is located in the center of the island and its visit, in an unreal scenery of ridges and craters, cast dark lava, fields of slag extending as far as the eye can see, but also lava stones and tufts of vegetation laid here and there in the sand (daisies, mustard, red viperine of Teide, brooms …), constitute a unique experience.
No need to climb the summit or the Teide Peak, which rises to 3.718 m altitude, when the paved road allows walks in real movie sets (that of the “Planet of the Monkeys”, “Star Wars” or “Shock of the Titans”)! Sports hikers have about twenty itineraries of a few hours a day and a cable car to bring them in 8 minutes to 3555 m, before the final ascent. The time of a hike, we are on another planet and we do not get tired!
Picnic in the mountains in the Corona Forestal Natural Park
On the way to Teide, you will play hide-and-seek with the thick fog sheets that suddenly envelop the splendid forest of Canarian pines of the Forest Crown Nature Park. A unique place for a picnic (clean) in nature, provided you do not forget a sweater and sunglasses!
Swimming on the black sand beaches of Playa de las Américas
If the Playa de las Americas is a lively resort, very popular with tourists and partygoers, a sea bath after a hike of several hours can combine pleasant sea and mountains and test a black volcanic sand beach. Must have!
Nearby, in Los Cristianos, the departure point for ferries to the nearby island of La Gomera or further away from El Hierro, boat trips allow you to meet whales and dolphins or organize a diving session.
Walk in the historic center of San Cristobal de La Laguna
It is the historic capital of Tenerife, declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1999 for its urban layout subsequently applied to many American cities, and a most enjoyable visit, in sometimes pedestrian streets, lined with rich houses. and the 18th century, with colorful facades. To visit the Cathedral of Our Lady of Remedies and the Museum of History and Anthropology of Tenerife for its Building 16th-century colonial style and its superb patio. University town, La Laguna is also a good place for shopping.
The Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz
If Tenerife, even in the city, does not lack flowers, colorful planters or trees, the Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz or garden of acclimatization of Orotava is worth the visit. We can walk there for hours, in the shade of exotic tropical and subtropical species gathered here since 1788, in a pleasant and refreshing humid atmosphere, carefully maintained by frequent and careful watering. From palm trees of all kinds to the impressive creeper tree, from American jasmine (imported from Brazil) to the water lily pond, to the collections of carefully labeled cacti, we find here the ideal complement, exotic and lush, of hiking in the forest or on the slopes of the volcano.
We smiled at the airport on the day of departure, noting the number of our co-passengers equipped with hiking shoes, backpacks, water bottles, and walking sticks, wondering who of us or them was wrong on the destination … Sports holidays, me? Mountain holidays? Believe me or not, I ‘ve been dreaming about this week-long stay in Tenerife and I’m even ready to train to go a little further on the very special experience of hiking in the Teide National Park!
