Tenerife travel guide
¡Aguita! It’s a Canarian phrase that means ‘wow!’ – and this is indeed an island full of surprises. You’ve probably heard about the beaches and year-round sunshine, but did you also know that Tenerife is home to the highest mountain in Spain and some of the best stargazing in the world? And that the capital Santa Cruz lays on one of the biggest carnivals outside Rio?
Welcome to the biggest island in the Canaries. Whales and waves. Feasts and fiestas. Snowcapped volcanoes and starry skies. ¡Aguita!![]()
Then there’s the hiking: caminos reales, staircases to heavenly miradors, fairy-tale laurel forests, terraced valleys, and bleak volcanic peaks where violets somehow flourish. Along the way, look out for over 150 species of endemic flora and fauna, from royal-blue chaffinches to baobab-like dragon trees, plus pilot whales that mooch off the south coast all year round.
Ready to discover why the Canaries’ largest island has the ¡aguita!-factor? Keep reading our Tenerife travel guide.
Ready to discover why the Canaries’ largest island has the ¡aguita!-factor? Keep reading our Tenerife travel guide.
Tenerife is…
a winter sun favourite for a reason, with a coast and climate closer to North Africa than mainland Spain.
Tenerife isn’t…
just about the beach resorts. It’s a wild wonderland of whales, volcanoes and craggy coastlines.
Learn Spanish and yoga in Tenerife
Learn Spanish, explore North Tenerife, relax with yoga
From
€1850
8 days
ex flights
Learn Spanish in Tenerife
Speak Spanish daily while living Tenerife’s local life
From
€1850
8 days
ex flights
Tenerife holiday with Spanish lessons
Exclusive Spanish immersion holiday in the real Tenerife
From
€1105 to €1250
6 days
ex flights
Tenerife and La Gomera walking holiday, Spain
Explore the most scenic Canary islands on foot
From
£1646 to £1879
8 days
ex flights
Tenerife walking holiday, 8 days
Discover captivating Tenerife and natural beauty Mount Teide
From
£2199 to £2249
8 days
inc UK flights
Canary Islands cultural & walking tour
Cultural and walking tour of the beautiful Canary Islands
From
£2599
10 days
ex flights
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Tenerife map & highlights: the 6 best places to visit in Tenerife
Tenerife sits at the heart of the Canary Islands archipelago, in the Atlantic Ocean about 300km off the coast of north-west Africa. The island is completely shaped by its volcanic past, crowned by Mount Teide and framed by a three-point coastline: craggy cliffs and black-sand beaches in the north and long, sandy surf beaches in the south. Although the largest of the Canaries, Tenerife is only 80km at its longest point and easy to get around by car, tram and the guaguas buses. Your adventures don’t have to be bound by the coasts either: Tenerife is perfectly poised for island-hopping: ferries reach La Gomera in 50 minutes, Gran Canaria in 1 hour 20 minutes, and La Palma in 2 hours 30 minutes.
Teide National Park
Catch a cable car up Mount Teide for some of the best views in the Canary Islands. This is the highest mountain in Spain, where hiking trails wind between volcanic viewpoints and otherworldly rock formations, and blue-striped lizards and violets sprout from red rocks. Teide is also the platform for some of the best stargazing in the world – including over 80 constellations.
La Orotava
Embrace the good life in La Orotava – a town that thinks slow living, and slow tourism, is the road to contentment. Traditions are celebrated and rooted in its residents: millers making gofio flour, gardeners of the botanical gardens, shoemakers, and families who create the famous flower carpets each summer. The architecture is a wonder, too, including 17th-century mansions with carved pine galleries.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Is that you, Sydney Opera House? No, it’s Tenerife Auditorium – a music venue shaped like a crisp cresting wave. There are other art venues in Tenerife’s capital too, including the glass-and-concrete courtyards of Tenerife Arts Space and the colonnaded Museum of Fine Arts. Fresh empanadas come courtesy of the Nuestra Senora de Africa market, best enjoyed in the shade of the palm gardens.
Puerto de la Cruz
Art galleries come al fresco in Puerto de la Cruz, where street murals peer out from fishermen’s cottages painted in fruity hues. There’s even a staircase painted with book spines by Agatha Christie, who wrote The Mysterious Mister Quin in town. Elsewhere, explore botanical gardens, four fortresses, plazas, and a handful of black-sand beaches. With all that on the cards, it’s easy to avoid the cruel orca shows of Loro Parque completely.
Teno Mountains
Tenerife was born from three volcanic eruptions – and the third created the Teno massif, a mountainous strip that pokes out into the ocean in the wild west. It’s an ark of ecological treasures. Masca Ravine is the much-visited hiking highlight, but we recommend exploring beyond: to wetland reserves, laurel forests, volcanic ridges, terraced palm valleys and high-rise miradors.
San Cristobal de La Laguna
La Laguna was designed to be an ‘ideal city’ – a layout that became the blueprint for Spanish colonies across the Americas. Wander through grid streets to palm-shaded palaces and courtyards, a cacophony of churches, and houses in bright Canarian hues. A towering statue remembers the Indigenous Guanche king Bencomo, killed by colonial forces in the 1494 Battle of Aguere.
Practicalities
How do I get around Tenerife?
Tenerife has an excellent road and public transport system. Our holidays use minibuses to ferry small groups around to hiking trails and viewpoints, as well as the bright green guaguas buses that travel all over the island, including to the airports, beach resorts and Teide National Park. Trams run between the major cities too – especially handy for hopping between San Cristobal de La Laguna and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
How long do I need for Tenerife?
Around 7-10 days in Tenerife is ideal. That leaves you plenty of time to explore the array of beaches, footpaths, clifftop viewpoints and palm-shaded cities, while also leaving time for a leisurely mooch on the beach or by the pool. It also allows you to delve a little deeper and follow your interests, whether that’s nature, culture, yoga or Spanish lessons – or a combination of all.
Where should I stay in Tenerife?
Most people stay in the beach resorts of the south-west, but we recommend branching out. Tenerife’s capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a great spot to stay for hikers, thanks to its proximity to the trails of Teide National Park. Our cultural trips tend to aim for smaller towns like La Orotava for easy immersion in everyday life. Wherever you stay, our holidays prioritise small locally owned hotels with pools and delicious fresh breakfasts, sometimes with the possibility of room upgrades.
What is Tenerife famous for?
Tenerife is famous for its beaches, volcanic landscapes, stargazing, hiking and whale watching. Above all, though, it’s best-known for its warm climate and the year-round sunshine it brings. We don’t stop there, though – our trips always go beyond the famous bits, giving you a rounded feel for the island, whether that’s a briefing on precolonial Guanche history or lunch at an organic farm.
Is Tenerife good for hiking?
Tenerife is great for hiking! That’s down to its diverse landscapes, including volcanic plateaus, laurel forests, subtropical valleys, desert-like plains and bright green mountains. Footpaths often lead to dramatic coastal miradors, where views range from sweeping sandy beaches to tiny coves that lie far, far below your boots.
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