Tenerife is a beautiful island: sun, sea, nature, beach, cities; whatever you are looking for, you will find it in Tenerife. Over the years, Tenerife has been stamped as a sun vacation for couples, a getaway for friends or a hiking vacation for the elderly, but Tenerife has much more to offer than this. It is advisable to rent your own car or motorhome in Tenerife. This way you are not stuck to one place and can see all the beauty during a road trip around the island. Check out all the great places to tour Tenerife below.
Tip: all the places we name have a link to Google Maps so you can save them for yourself. Furthermore, at the bottom of each destination we list the best places to stay if you are driving the Tenerife round trip by car instead of a motorhome.
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Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos
In the southwest of the island you will find the towns of Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos. These are the typical towns that most people expect when they think of Tenerife: garish cafe signs, stores, cafes, restaurants everywhere and a huge amount of tourists. Don’t let this stop you from checking out the city and the beach, because it can be hearty here, too.
What you do need to keep in mind is that there are a lot of (drunk) Brits who can get very noisy at night. The best places to stay in Playa de Las Américas are Gara Suites Golf & Spa and Club Olympus in Garden City. In Los Cristianos, Paloma Beach Appartments is a very nice place to stay.
El Teide
El Teide is the figurehead of Tenerife and all of Spain. This huge volcano can be seen from the entire island on clear days. El Teide is Spain’s highest mountain, at 3718 meters above sea level.
El Teide is a must-visit during your Tenerife road trip. You can easily drive up here through the beautiful scenery. The best part is: it is possible to get to the very highest point. You can take a cable car from 2,300 meters to the top. You must buy tickets for different times(note: these are the times you go up in the elevator. This has nothing to do with how long you can stay at the summit):
- Between 09:00 and 11:00
- Between 11:00 and 13:00
- Between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- Between 15:00 and 17:00 (the last elevator down goes at 16:30. Keep this in mind!)
Buy tickets for the cable car in advance online through this site. Note that the cable car is sometimes closed in winter due to ice on top. This can happen between December and the end of February. In that case, it is smart to book an excursion from where you are staying in Tenerife. If the cable car is not open then you can arrange with the provider to get your money back. If you don’t have your own transportation, an excursion is also recommended. Unfortunately, the cable car was closed during our visit to Tenerife and we could not get to the top. A good reason to go back to Tenerife again.
Masca and Buenavista del Norte
In the northwest of Tenerife you will find a beautiful route. At Santiago Del Teide, turn left. After this, winding mountain roads take you to Masca. A nice, small village from which you have a beautiful view of the mountains. It is somewhat similar to Machu Picchu. You can take beautiful walks here and have a drink on the many terraces. You continue your Tenerife road trip where you will drive past many more beautiful roads and viewpoints. You eventually arrive at Buenavista del Norte. This is the road to get to Puerto de la Cruz.
Puerto de la Cruz
This is a nice town in the northwest of Tenerife which is on the rise with tourism. The boulevard that runs through Puerto de la Cruz is miles long and takes you past all the great spots. Relax on one of the cute terraces, have a delicious paella or buy fun souvenirs at the stores.
Puerto de la Cruz is also popular with surfers because it is conveniently located in a bay. In the morning and afternoon, you will see many surfers here performing cool stunts. While sitting on the black sand you can enjoy this view.
From Puerto de la Cruz you can take a bus to La Caldera. This is a 45-minute bus ride. In La Caldera, you can do beautiful hikes ranging from 5 to 15 kilometers. Upon arrival, you will see a clear sign with the different hikes and hiking times. Be sure to download maps.me in advance so you can find your route back offline as well. La Caldera can be found at this point in Google Maps.
There is so much to do in Puerto de La Cruz. Therefore, make sure you stay here for at least 3 nights. Coral Teide Mar is ideal because it is just outside the busy center and on top of the mountain. From here you have a beautiful view of the black sand beach. You walk through a very nice route to the center in 10 minutes.
You also have a small kitchen and refrigerator which is especially nice for digital nomads who want to work from Tenerife. Besides Coral Teide Mar, Hotel Monopol (which is close to the center, very cheap and has a pool) and Puerto Azul (with its own balcony and very nice pool) are also recommended for your stay in Puerto de La Cruz!
From Puerto de la Cruz you can continue your road trip and take a scenic drive through Benijo after which you will eventually drive on to San Andrés Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
San Andrés Santa Cruz de Tenerife
This is a lovely (quiet) place in northern Tenerife. Anyway, North Tenerife is a lot quieter than the south while the nature in the north is also more beautiful. San Andrés Santa Cruz de Tenerife you visit mainly for the (wide) beach where you can relax. If you want to be a little more active, you can also hike nicely here, or run along the beach. The village itself is small and from a distance looks similar to the Cinque Terre in Italy because of the colored houses on the mountain.
Santa Cruz
This is the capital of Tenerife and by far the largest city. You will find here mainly many stores for shopping and nice terraces. Santa Cruz is located by the sea so there is also a long boulevard. A really fun activity is the Palmetum. This is a huge palm garden where you can see hundreds of different species. Admission costs €6 for adults and €2.80 for children. It is recommended to walk around here for an hour to see all the beautiful trees and plants.
Best travel time Tenerife
April through October are the best travel times in Tenerife. It will be dry with pleasant temperatures. In the summer months of July and August, it can get up to 30 degrees. Because Tenerife is an island, you often have refreshing breezes along the coast. During the winter months, Tenerife is also good to visit. Temperatures then range between 14 and 21 degrees. Ideal for a brief escape from the winter months!
Tenerife touring with a motorhome
We ourselves took this road trip with an RV. This allowed us to wake up in the most beautiful places. This is really quite extraordinary. You can stand anywhere in Tenerife, even in the middle of nature. Therefore, we really recommend doing your tour in Tenerife with a motorhome. So you go to sleep under the stars and get up with the morning sun between the mountains.
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