November 17
We flew into Tenerife North in the late afternoon. We were immediately welcomed with 20 C weather, which I had been craving after a few weeks of frigid temperatures in Amsterdam and Madrid. We took a TITSA bus into Santa Cruz (co-capital of the Canary Islands) and took a transfer bus to Costa Adeje, where my friends and I were staying. We dropped off our stuff at an Airbnb and made our way into the heart of Costa Adeje.
We were immediately confronted with Indian and Chinese restaurants along with a consistent babble of English tinged with a British accent. Seeing all of this suddenly made me realize that Tenerife is a popular spot for British retirees; in fact, roughly 18 million British citizens visit the Canary Islands every year, which is about a quarter of the entire population of the UK. There came a sudden relief of not having to navigate the island with only Spanish, which would have been a challenge with my bare bones knowledge of the language.
We quickly found a Chinese buffet restaurant and started scarfing down their food. We realized two things: Asian (including Indian) food in Tenerife is very good and very cheap. We were shocked by the cheapness of the food and other items in Tenerife. ChatGPT tells me that it’s due to lower taxes and import tarrifs; regardless, it made my time in Tenerife very cheap.
We then met up with two more of my friends and had deep discussions at the beach. I really loved this part of the trip! We then made our way back to the hostel and hit the hay.
November 18
My friend and I woke up early this morning to catch a tour bus that would take us to Mount Teide National Park (the highest point in Spain) and the western parts of the island.
Our first stop of the tour was Mount Teide and Roques de Garcia. This was a really unique experience because it straight up looked like a scene from The Martian. The eerie landscape combined with the beautiful red rocks was a jaw-dropping experience. Our tour didn’t go up Mount Teide, although there are many tours that can take you there to a cable car.
After Mount Teide, we crossed into the northern half of Tenerife and it was a night and day difference. Northern Tenerife is a lot more green and wet, while the southern half is quite dry and desert-like; due to this, I liked the northern part a lot more. We got dropped off at Icod de los Vinos, which houses a famous dragon tree. We also had one of the worst lunches at this town (whatever you do, don’t go with the recommended restaurant of the tour guides that visit this town, it’s not good) but it was only €11 so it was fine.
After Icod de Los Vinos, we took a quick stop at Garachico, an old port town of Tenerife. Garachico was partially destroyed by a volcanic eruption, which filled up its port and made it unusable. Regardless, the green backdrop of the mountains paired with the white buildings made for a spectacular landscape.
The last stop of the tour was Masca Valley, a quiet escape from the hubub of the rest of the island. This was my favorite part of Tenerife as it was very calm and peaceful without all the tourist noise that was common in other parts of the island. The afternoon sun painted the landscape in beautiful colors, which made this a great reflective spot on the tour. After Masca Valley, we then made our way back to Costa Adeje.
Our friends, on the other hand, were busy at the water park for the entire day. Tenerife has apparently one of the biggest water parks in the world and has a lot of unique rides, like a slide in the middle of an aquarium filled with fishes and sharks. After their fun-filled day, we got some Thai food and went back to Airbnb to chill and crash for the night.
November 19
After our busy days, we woke up late and mostly lounged around the house before we hit up a cafe for some breakfast. We then tried to go to the beach in the mornings, but it was packed with British retirees and Spaniards, so we decided to just hit up the airport and go home.
Tips
- Transit in Tenerife is really well organized. You only need to use your credit card to pay for your fare. Just tell the driver where you want to go and that you want to pay with your card (“con tarjeta” in Spanish) and that’s it!
- Try to catch the sunset on the western side of the island. Probably the best sunset I saw during my time in Europe. Try to do the high-intensity things before sunset
- The south is really good for sunsets and affordable accomodations! The north is where the locals live, so if you care about that, you should stay there
- The one area I missed during my Tenerife travels was Anaga Rural Park. This is exactly my type of area that I love to explore. One more day to explore this would have been perfect
- Try to travel to Tenerife in the off seasons. It is very touristy so avoid Tenerife during the high seasons of tourism
- Tenerife roads are really good, so if you can rent a car to drive around, it would not be a bad option. I would not recommend driving to Masca Valley, as the roads are built for single vehicles but tour buses sometimes require the entire road. Be careful!
- Tenerife is also known for its stargazing. Try to book one in advance