Mount Teide Cable Car and National Park
Ride the cable car up Mount Teide, Spain’s highest peak at 3,715 metres, to a high station above the clouds with views across the crater, the lava fields and the neighbouring islands.
Spain
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and the most varied, a volcanic island off the coast of Africa where you can swim in the Atlantic in the morning and stand above the clouds on Spain’s highest mountain by the afternoon.
Mount Teide rises to 3,715 metres at the heart of a national park of lava fields, painted rock and pine forest, and a cable car lifts visitors almost to the summit, while the observatory on its flank and the clear night skies make the island one of Europe’s great places for stargazing. The sunny south is the holiday coast, with the beaches of Costa Adeje and Playa de las Américas, Siam Park’s water slides and boat trips from Puerto Colón to watch pilot whales and dolphins beneath the cliffs of Los Gigantes. The greener north has a different character: Puerto de la Cruz and Loro Parque, the old dragon tree of Icod de los Vinos, the colonial streets of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a World Heritage city, and the misty laurel forests and ridges of the Anaga mountains. This guide shows which tickets to book ahead, how to split your time between the north and the south, and where to stay, from a grand beach resort in Costa Adeje to a parador in the middle of the Teide crater.
Don't miss
Mount Teide Cable Car and National Park
Ride the cable car up Mount Teide, Spain’s highest peak at 3,715 metres, to a high station above the clouds with views across the crater, the lava fields and the neighbouring islands.
Loro Parque
Tenerife’s best-known animal park, in Puerto de la Cruz, with thousands of parrots, a penguin house, gorillas, and dolphin and sea lion shows through the day.
Siam Park
A Thai-themed water park in Costa Adeje with the Tower of Power slide, a lazy river, a huge wave pool and a white-sand beach, open every day of the year.
Whale and Dolphin Watching to Masca and Los Gigantes
Sail from Puerto Colón in Costa Adeje along the west coast to look for pilot whales and dolphins, then cruise beneath the towering cliffs of Los Gigantes and the bay of Masca.
Things to do in Tenerife
Loro Parque
Tenerife’s best-known animal park, in Puerto de la Cruz, with thousands of parrots, a penguin house, gorillas, and dolphin and sea lion shows through the day.
Siam Park
A Thai-themed water park in Costa Adeje with the Tower of Power slide, a lazy river, a huge wave pool and a white-sand beach, open every day of the year.
Whale and Dolphin Watching to Masca and Los Gigantes
Sail from Puerto Colón in Costa Adeje along the west coast to look for pilot whales and dolphins, then cruise beneath the towering cliffs of Los Gigantes and the bay of Masca.
Pyramids of Güímar Ethnographic Park
Six stepped pyramids of volcanic stone on the east coast, wrapped in a museum park with gardens, trails and exhibitions about who might have built them and why.
Teide Observatory Guided Visit
A guided daytime visit to the solar telescopes of the Teide Observatory, high on the volcano’s flank, with a workshop on astrophysics and a look at live sunspots.
Dragon Tree Park, Icod de los Vinos
See the Drago Milenario, the giant dragon tree that has become a symbol of Tenerife, in a botanical garden of native plants in the north-coast town of Icod de los Vinos.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna Old Town
Walk the colonial grid of La Laguna, a World Heritage city whose layout became the model for towns across Spanish America, with churches, palaces and lively student cafés.
2 to 3 hoursDetails →
Anaga Rural Park
Hike through ancient laurel forest and along jagged ridges in the Anaga mountains, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the island’s north-east with remote hamlets and black-sand beaches.
Half a day to a full dayDetails →
Playa de Las Teresitas
A long golden beach backed by palm trees and the Anaga mountains near Santa Cruz, with calm water behind a breakwater and fish restaurants in the village of San Andrés.
Half a dayDetails →
Where to stay
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Bahía del Duque
Costa Adeje
A grand beachfront resort in Costa Adeje, built like a Canarian village in more than sixty thousand square metres of gardens, with five pools, a wellness retreat and a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Rates on Expedia →H10 Conquistador
Playa de las Américas
A big, lively four-star resort on the seafront of Playa de las Américas, with heated pools, kids’ and teen clubs, themed restaurants and an all-inclusive option.
Rates on Expedia →Hotel Tigaiga
Puerto de la Cruz (Parque Taoro)
A family-run garden hotel above Puerto de la Cruz, with eighty quiet rooms, a heated pool and award-winning subtropical gardens looking out to the Orotava Valley and Mount Teide.
Rates on Expedia →Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide
Teide National Park
A mountain lodge in the heart of Teide National Park, at over two thousand metres beside the Roques de García, with a heated indoor pool and some of the darkest night skies in Europe.
Rates on Expedia →Laguna Nivaria Hotel and Spa
La Laguna Old Town
A good-value hotel in a sixteenth-century building on Plaza del Adelantado, in the heart of La Laguna’s World Heritage old town, with a spa and seventy-nine rooms.
Rates on Expedia →Tenerife guides
First Time in Tenerife: What to Book, How to Get Around & How Many Days
The practical primer for a first visit to Tenerife: which tickets and permits to book ahead, how to get around the island, how many days you need and where the headline sights fit.
Where to Stay in Tenerife: Costa Adeje, Las Américas, the North or Teide
How to choose your base in Tenerife, from a grand beach resort in Costa Adeje and a family seafront hotel in Las Américas to a garden hotel in Puerto de la Cruz, a historic stay in La Laguna and a night inside the Teide crater.
