9 Days in Tenerife

When flying to Tenerife, you will land either on the south or the north part of the islands. This should play no role in your accommodation choice since the island is not that big and you can get to either airport easily. We took the plane from Paris CDG to Tenerife Sur with easyJet.

We rented a car directly at the airport and we used RentalCars to do it. It cost us around 100€ for 10€ days, but this is because of the time we went (end of May, covid travel restrictions). The prices were much higher in July and August later that year. I personally think renting a car is a great option because it allows you to explore the whole island easily and at your pace, but I’ve also been told that it’s well connected by buses as well.

As far as accommodation goes, we decided to spend the first half of the week in the south and the second in the north. We opted for an Airbnb because the prices were very affordable and the apartments spacious. This one was located right on the beach Playa de las Vistas.

The first was reserved for the beach because we wanted to relax so we went to Playa de las Vistas, close to our appartment. The beach is family and couple friendly, mostly peaceful. The area is full or bars, restaurants and shops - classic touristic experience.

Next day we went on a dolphin and whale watching excursion at Los Gigantes - west part of the island. The cruise lasts for 2 hours and cost us 20€ per person. The website we used to book is Maritima Acantilados.

The rest of the day we spent on the Los Gigantes beach. It is very small and secluded, not at all touristic. It has black sand and it’s surronded by rocks. The nature and the views are beautiful.

In the evening we went for some sangria (which is a must in Spain) to a bar/restaurant in El Medano, on the south part of the island.

For all hiking and nature lovers, this park is beautiful to explore. El Teide is a big national park in the central part of the island. It is very desertic and has a martian-like landscape which made it interesting for NASA to perform its tests for the Curiosity rover. We arrived here by car, but I think there should be public buses that will take you to the park as well.

Once there you can take a funicular to the top of the volcano. The roundtrip to go up and back cost us 37€ each. In case you decide to hike down, you can pay 21€ for the one way ticket. You can buy these tickets on volcanoteide.com This volcano is the third highest in the world, the highest point in Spain and the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic. As you walk around the lava zone you can distinguish the ancient formations from the new ones.

For dinner we went to The burger café in Playa de las Americas, which was close to our accommodation. The place has good vegan options and delicious jackfruit tacos that you can see in the picture.

We ended the evening with a walk by the beach and watched the sunset at Playa de las Americas, a 3 minute walk from the restaurant where we ate.

Next day we came back to Playa de las Americas. This is a surfers beach because the waves get quite strong. Around the beach you will find a lot of places that rent surf equipment and offer surf lessons.

We ate at in a restaurant right on the beach. As you can see, the view is amazing. In this area alongside Playa de las Americas there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. For me it was important to have a veggie option and here I did, but I think going to either restaurant would be a good option.

This beautiful sunset behind the clouds was captured on our way to the top of the El Teide mountain. We went there in the evening for an astronomical observation of the stars. This cost us 35€ each and lasted for about 1-2 hours. Looking at the stars from the top of the mountain was a beautiful experience, but be prepared because it gets veeery cold.

We decided to relocate north to a part that’s less touristic and explore what’s on that side of the island. Once again we stayed in an Airbnb, very spacious and affordable (25€ a night). It was a bit further from the sea but it had a nice view. Important to note that during the period we were there (beginning of June), it was a bit cold in the evenings, certainly colder than the south.

The rest of the day we wanted to explore the northern beached and found this beautiful one - Playa El Bollullo. This beach is very small, has black sand and very strong waves. It’s not ideal for swimming but the waves be pretty fun.

Day 7 was reserved for exploring the small colonial towns on the island, that have very cute architecture. The first one we started with was Garachico, which is also the smallest. You don’t need to spend a lot of time here, just make a quick stop and go for a walk.

The next city was Orotava. It’s bigger and there’s a bit more to see. Again I suggest walking around and exploring, paying attention to the architecture. There is also a botanical garden in Orotava that we didn’t visit, but maybe it will interest you.

The third city we visited is La Laguna. As you’ll see in the photos the houses are very colorful and they are all done in the same style. Once there you can visit Casa Muse Cayetano Gomez Felipe (shown in the photo). The entrance is free and this house is a good example of the traditional Canarian architecture. It’s characterized by a heavy use of wood, both inside and out.

Finally, we ended our day at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the island’s capital. The biggest monument of the city is the Auditorium. It’s the work of Santiago Calatrava and it is considered the finest contemporary building on the Canary Islands. It hosts various music performances throughout the year.

For dinner we went to La Hierbita, which was recommended in a travel guide we used. The food was good and the price for two people ended up being around 40€.

Teno is another national park on Tenerife, located in the north-west part of the island. It is much smaller than El Teide and the vegetation is also very different - not at all volcanic. You can get informed about the hikes you can do here in the tourist office. They are different durations and difficulty levels, so even a non-hiker like me could do it.

One place you should visit in this national park is Masca. It’s a tiny mountain village that looks super charming and the views from there are spectacular. From there it’s possible to hike down to the beach, but it’s not a very easy hike so I personally didn’t try it.

On our final day we went to El Médano again to eat, because we liked the place when we visited for the first time. The decor of this restaurant was super cute, the prices okay and the same goes for the food. It is also not too far from the south airport where we were headed next.

Like that our trip came to an end and it was time to go back to Paris. We have seen so many different things and parts of the island and this is how I recommend it should be explored. Don’t only stick to the beach, don’t only visit the volcanic mountain, don’t only visit the cities - do it all! Tenerife has so much to offer so take advantage of it and try to avoid going in peak tourist season for the best experience.