2 Contrasting Sides of Tenerife
We spent the first two nights in a beautiful resort hotel in Costa Adeje in the south. We didn’t really need to leave the hotel with its lovely pools and restaurants, but we did go out for lunch and a wander to the beach. It was lovely and warm with lots of people making use of the loungers on the beach and strolling along the promenade with its huge range of restaurants. Costa Adeje has everything you need for a beach break with a wide variety of shopping and dining options but we thought the north-west sounded more our cup of tea so we headed there for the second part of our holiday.
Driving north is very scenic once you reach the top of the TF-1 highway at Santiago del Teide. From there the roads are much smaller and wind their way through the mountains. We stayed on the outskirts of Los Silos, found a lovely little local restaurant for our first dinner there and tried some of the local dishes of rabbit and chicken stews served with yummy patatas canarias – basically mini jacket potatoes.
There is much to explore in the area – lots of little town like Garachico and Icod de los Vinos with their old centres and cafes on the squares, which were very handy from parking up a sleeping toddler and enjoying a quiet coffee! Icod even has a butterfly house right in its centre which we visited twice the day we were in town. We took a short walk on one of the trails out of Los Silos – there are a number of beautiful routes to walk in the area and from what I saw they are well signed and the weather in February was perfect for walking.
Due to the mountains crossing Tenerife, including Spain’s tallest Teide - training ground for grand tour cyclists, the climate differs from north to south. Where the south was warm and sunny for our visit the north was still a nice temperature for sight-seeing but it was definitely not sunbathing weather. It was obviously seen as ‘off season’ in the north west as the public out-door swimming pools did not even have any water in them. It didn’t stop people making use of the beautiful natural pools dotted along the coast, though I must admit that the wind must have made it a bit chilly for people getting out!
One spot we found in the North-West which was very protected, warm and with lots of swimmers was the beach at Punta de Teno. With amazing views along the coastal cliffs of Los Gigantes and of the light house in it’s volcanic landscape it is well worth the 20 minute bus ride from Buenavista del Norte. You can’t drive yourself into the protected area due to new access rules that came in in 2019.
On our last day our flight home was late enough for us to squeeze in some sandcastle building in Los Christianos. It is slighty further down the coast than Costa Adeje where we spent our first couple of nights and nearer to the airport. From our quick visit I saw a good selection of restaurants and the beach is lovely and wide. There are many spots around the island that we did not visit and next time it would be good to go to the north-east for some great historic towns to visit and lovely mountains to explore. We would also like get the cable car up Mount Teide, we were recommended not to on this visit due to having a 2 year old with us and it getting a high altitude.
If you would like to visit Tenerife get in touch and I will plan the perfect trip for you. 020 3292 0515 sarah.coombes@travelcounsellors.com