Best Things To See In Tenerife – Part One
Bunyan tree, village 600 m above the sea level and a towering giant
While staying in a luxury villa in Tenerife does make for an exquisite self-contained holiday, you would missing out on a lot if you confined yourself just to your four walls.
Surely, our heated private swimming pools, beautifully landscaped gardens, superbly equipped kitchens and amazingly comfortable bedrooms do have their perks, but Tenerife is such a unique place which allows you to reconnect with your inner peace and the nature, that you’d be doing yourself a huge disservice if you never tried to explore more.
Most of our villas are located in the southern part of the island, near Santa Cruz de Tenerife, but the whole island is easily traversable from there ; it should take you about 3–3.5 hours to go around the whole island, with a car of course.
And driving a car is definitely the best way to take in all the best that Tenerife has to offer. So fill up that tank, get (re)acquainted with driving on the right side of the road (ignore if you’re non-UK resident), put your shades on and enjoy!
One final caveat before we start listing each must-see place: most of them are best experienced on a sunny day! Right, here we go – part one:
1. EL TEIDE VOLCANO
The third largest volcano in the world, El Teide is Tenerife’s prime must-visit location. Together with the immediate surroundings it forms the Teide National Park.
It’s amazing just to drive up to the foot of this gargantuan mountain and admire its sheer size. Or you can go the full length and take the cable car to the top – the view is worth it.
2. EL BOTANICO
Another treasure of Tenerife, El Botanico is just what it sounds like – a botanical garden, situated in the north of the island. It’s among Spain’s oldest botanical gardens, housing more than 3000 species of plants, many of them highly peculiar.
Top attractions of the garden are the 200-year old Banyan tree with its rich, twisted top; the towering palms, central lily pond and the giant figs. You don’t have to be a botanist to appreciate the peace and quiet offered by this oasis.
3. SIAM WATER PARK
Like many things on Tenerife, Siam is not just any old water park – it’s a Thai themed water park. Crowned the best water park in the whole world by Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice, it is definitely an impressive place to spend a day, alone or with your family.
Among the dozens of different rides, one more adrenaline-enducing than the other, the most family friendly ones in our opinion are Naga Racer, Jungle Snake and Mekong Rapids. You will quickly forget the fact that it’s a little bit strange to have a Thai water park in the middle of Canary islands.
4. LOS GIGANTES
With the impressive height of 500–800 meters, Los Gigantes is a colossal rock formation that will leave even the most weathered traveller in awe. It’s simply mind-boggling to see such tall cliffs jutting out of the azure Atlantic.
The cliffs are situated right nearby a resort town of the same name. Unlike its namesake, Los Gigantes the resort is a serene place with marina as the symbol. It’s worth a visit for a walk before or after taking in the dramatic sight of the gigantic cliffs nearby.
5. MASCA
It’s impossible to mention Los Gigantes when talking about Tenerife’s best places, without mentioning the village of Masca. This isolated village is just 3 km from Los Gigantes but 600 m above sea level in the Macizo de Teno, so reaching it means either taking a very challenging ride up the mountain trail or a 3 hour hike (bring plenty of water!).
If you do brave the mountain path and reach the top you will bee rewarded with the spectacular views (along the way as well) and the experience of a unique place that is home to only about 100 inhabitants. You can enjoy several restaurants, bars and some nice local produce.
In the second part of the guide to Tenerife’s best places, we will be talking pyramids and sharks so make sure you sign up to receive our updates to your inbox or subscribe to our RSS.
