Tenerife: Spain’s tropical paradise. Beautiful sunny beaches, towering cliffs, ancient volcanic landscapes.
If you are coming from the UK and looking for a holiday destination; you’ve probably considered going to Tenerife. Now I will say,if you are looking for a place to get away from the cold and enjoy beaches and copas for a few days, this is a great choice. The island has a wide range of hotels available, from hostels to luxury 5 star hotels. There are lots of activities for people of all ages, as well as beautiful beaches with year-round warm water.
See: Tenerife Photo Gallery
Now for My Honest Opinion:
As we were coming from Spain, it was a bit of a let-down for us. There are definitely parts of the island which are beautiful, but the areas we stayed in were so touristy it was a bit unbearable. The cities we saw didn’t seem that different from where we live and spend our time. We stayed in la Granadilla (inland from the TFS airport), Los Cristianos, Playa de Las Americas, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. La Granadilla is a rural town, it has easy access to Teide and camping, it’s also far from the beach and requires a car to get to. Los Cristianos is right next to Playa de Las Americas but significantly less touristy (though still mostly tourist based), hotel prices were significantly less than Las Americas. We flew into TFS and out of TFN, the island has a well established & effective bus system which made it easy to get up the the north side.
The Good:
The things I liked most about the island were the landscapes. Teide National park is definitely a bucket list experience. We drove up on a scooter and the views on the way up were amazing. It can get chilly up at the peak so pack some extra warm clothes to put on as you go up. We took the cable car up & down, it costs about 30€pp but in my opinion is well worth it. -Note: tickets are only purchasable online (official website or 3rd party). There is wifi at the top but it’s a bit spotty,so if you don’thave a data package when visiting remember to book ahead.- As you go up the cable car you can see the entire island and the calderon, on clear days you can even see Gran Canaria and La Gomera. At the top you can do a nice small hike close to the peak; getting up to the very top requires a special permit and hiking guide. The hike from the top of the Cable car is on very uneven ground, don’t make the same mistake I did by wearing sandals!
Watch: Teide National Park
Los Gigantes is also a beautiful sight to see, these cliffs are gigantic and awesome to see. There are some hiking trails around the top, but the one that leaves from the town is closed due to poor conditions. We took the coastal road there from Costa Adeje, which is a very windy but interesting road. There are many beaches and small towns you can stop at on the way. I recommend stopping at Playa Abama (right next to the Ritz Charlton), it’s a beautiful small beach surrounded by rocky cliffs. Los Gigantes itself is only a short stop, it can easily be done in a half day;if you are planning on doing the hikes plan your time accordingly.
My Tips For the Best Trip
In the future, there are some things we would do differently if we were to go back.
- Go for a package holiday rather than book it all ourselves. This is not something we normally do, we usually love to spend a couple days in different areas when we travel so generally we find it easier and cheaper to book separately. Since Tenerife is such a popular destination, getting a good deal on a package holiday is really easy and convenient (even if you are coming from Spain). This is one thing we realized after we booked the flights and first hotel. Generally you can find 7 day trips for less than 500€ (per person), which includes the hotel, the flights, airport transfers, and breakfast (at minimum). We found that getting a half decent hotel was a minimum of 75 €/n and usually didn’tinclude breakfast.
- Choose 1 hotel rather than stay in different areas. The island is pretty small, if you want to get around you can either take a bus, rent a car,or find a day tour to visit different areas. We rented a scooter and were able to see a lot of the south part of the island with it. Though as we changed hotels a couple times we felt pretty limited as we had to take our bags with us some days so we couldn’tsee some areas we wanted to.
- Avoid Playa de las Americas. We spent a few days in a couple hotels in this area, my feeling about the area is that it’s a tourist trap. The boardwalk is filled with tourist shops and bars with overpriced drinks. Though it has a large beach area, there are other parts of the island that aren’tso developed and have even more beautiful beaches.
- Plan excursions ahead. We would’ve had more options for things to do if we had booked them ahead. Even though we were there in the low season (late April),a lot of the tours were booked up for the days we were there. We would also plan ahead and choose a day to do an observatory tour and starwatch.