Many a travel destination has a reputation written into popular perception in indelible ink. And perhaps nowhere more so than the Canary Islands. This much-loved Atlantic archipelago – with the biggest member of the group, Tenerife, sitting at its heart – renowned as a haven of winter sunshine, basking in temperatures which hover at around the 20C mark just as continental Europe is coping with the worst weather.
Hit the heights
And yet, for all that Tenerife is a place where you can soak up the sun while the rain is pouring back in the UK, there is more to the island that its year-round lovely weather. Here is a place where you can forge out for adventures on one of Europe’s most magnificent mountains, spot whales and dolphins in the sea, and sample Spanish culture at its most vibrant.
Teide National Park is a case in point – a vast protected space at the core of the island, framing the volcano that gave Tenerife life. Mount Teide is a geographical titan, tipping its hat at 12,198ft (3,718m) as the highest peak in Spain. It is, for visitors who like a dose of activity with their holiday, a challenge which cannot be resisted.
Volcano Teide Experience is a specialist operator in the park, offering a wide array of excursions. These include guided one-day hikes all the way to the crater (from which, on a good day, you can see the islands of La Palma, La Gomera, Gran Canaria and El Hierro) from € 71.50 per person.
For the less energetic, it is possible to take a cable car to Teide’s heights (adult tickets from €52.50), while the company also offers star-gazing evening on the mountain (from €21), making use of the light-pollution-free heavens over the Canaries to show off the constellations.
Prefer to look down into the ocean rather than at the firmament? Tenerife is one of the Atlantic’s best locations for encounters with marine mammals. It has resident populations of bottlenose dolphins and short-finned pilot whales – and sightings are especially common around the south-west corner of the island. Several local operators provide daily boat tours. For example, Tenerife Dolphin Excursiones Maritimas, based at Puerto to Colon in Costa Adeje, offers two-hour jaunts in search of fabulous flippers for €22 per adult (4.5-hour excursions, with lunch, €53).
Exploration rewarded
Tenerife is a place which rewards those who explore it. And with good roads criss-crossing the island, and hire cars available at the airport, even the furthest corners can be reached in a day trip from your hotel.
The north coast provides an intriguing contrast to the holiday zones of the south-west. A calm quieter side of the Canaries takes shape in the pretty towns and villages located here- little Garachico and San Marcos, with their slanted streets and shoebox churches. Further east, La Laguna is a delight. Its centre has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1999, and lives up to this billing – the balconies on brightly painted houses jutting over cobbled lanes.
A short hop further on, the capital Santa Cruz is a cultured city, worth a few hours of anyone’s time. Although less known to sun-seekers than the beaches of the south-west, the capital is a sizeable city. True, it is far smaller than the likes of Barcelona and Madrid, yet it is just as imbued with the things that make Spanish cities alluring. Things like, lively bars, evening laughter, busy food markets, and excellent restaurants. Stroll along the likes of Calle Ruiz de Padron here you are spoilt for choice at dinner time.
It is more than a working port on a distant shore. Its artiness is enshrined in its Auditorio de Tenerife, a performing arts centre with a striking curved roof with resembles a breaking wave dominating the seafront. While the Museo de Bellas Artes has some fine paintings via arrangement with the Prado museum in Madrid.
Tenerife may draw you in with its weather, but its charms linger long after the sun has set.