Tenerife - don't miss anything! Sights and impressive excursion destinations
If you ask people what they know about Tenerife, most will give you following answers: it is a Canary Island, there is a volcano called Teide, there is the Loro-Parque in Santa Cruz which is not only about parrots and the Siampark, which is a waterslide park in the south.
But is this really everything to know about Tenerife?
No it's not. Tenerife has so much more to offer.
Read this page and learn something new about the sights on the various island Tenerife.
Most of the sights on Tenerife are made by nature, are historical buildings or amazing architecture.
Los Gigantes
The „Los Alcantilados de los Gigantes“ in Los Gigantes have a size of around 500metre and the second highest cliff in Europe. These cliffs got used to scare enemies who arrived from the sea way.
You will have the best view of the cliffs when you are on the water. You could do a boat trip to watch dolphins and also take a look of the amazing cliffs. Read more...
Pyramids of Güimar
The pyramids of Güimar are rectangular terrace constructions in a pyramid shape made out of lava stone. This sight remembers a bit on the pyramids in Mexico and Peru. So far, no one can tell for sure how they got build, who built them and that they were for. There are many sayings about them but all they know for sure is that they got build in the 19th century.
The pyramids are located in the east of Tenerife in the town Güimar and you can visit every day from 9:30am until 18:00pm. After the visit you could go to the museum Casa Chacona and get more information. More about Güimar...
El Teide
One of the most famous sights in Tenerife is the Teide. You could say: Just because of the Teide Tenerife does exist.
The former active volcano is a must do for tourists.
The Pico del Teide is located around 3700metre above sea level and is surrounded by an approximately 9.000ha large nature reserve, the Teide National park. The crater around the Teide looks like the moon landscape and is made out of lava rocks. It is an amazing feeling to be in the fantastic nature and knowing, that this is the place where hot lava broke through. Read more...
Cueva del Vientos
This lava cave is located in Icod de los Vinos and is a very special sight. It got created around 30.000 years ago at the volcanic eruption of the Pico del Viejo. A dream for every adventurer and hobby volcanology. The cave got found by shepherds and is allowed to visit since 2008. If you want to discover Tenerife from the inside, you should go to this cave! But please bring good shoes.
Masca / Masca Canyon
The hike through the Masca-canyon takes around 3 hours. Due to this amazing landscape the hike is really worth it.
When you reach the end of the tour you get to a pretty bay with clear water. Here you can relax and refresh while waiting for your boat back to Los Gigantes.
If you are brave enough and still strong enough you could also just hike the way back up. Not only the Masca Canyon is worth a visit. Also the Masca village is really nice. It is located north-west in the Teno-mountains.
The small mountain village is well-known for it treats like Palm-juice or goat-cheese. The inhabitants of Masca still work in the agriculture. Hiking down the Masca-gorge.
Barranco del Infierno
The Barranco del Infierno is a canyon. It is a special nature reserve do you have to follow the opening hours if you want to go here. You can visit the Barranco from Monday till Sunday from 8:30am till 17:30pm but a maximum of people each day is 200. In the end of the Canyon there is a beautiful waterfall - not comparable to the Grand Canyon but the highest on Tenerife (560m). A hike through the Barranco with the small natural spectacles takes around 3 hours through an easy area. Read more...
>
Las Montanas de Anaga
The corkscrew roads in the north-east of Santa Cruz and La Laguna will lead you to the laurel forest in the Anaga-Mountains.
Thanks to the clouds of the trade winds, the plants can grow well and everything looks green.
You will have an fantastic view of the landscape and the sea from some of the observation points.
Taganana is the biggest village in this sparsely populated area.
It is located in a nice valley underneath the mountains. Read more...
Garachico
Garachico is a village with many blows of fate.
-
In 1645 several boats sunk because of a storm tide
-
In 1666 there were disturbances
-
In 1697 there was a huge fire
-
In 1706 there was a volcanic eruption and destroyed the village completely
Today Garachico recovered from all of this and has a beautiful skyline with white houses and red roofs.
Astronomical observatory Izana
The astronomical observatory Izana is located around 2500 metre above sea level on the mountain Inzana in the Teide national park. The observatory got opened in 1985 and is part of the observatory on the Spanish mainland. This place got choose because of the clean air and the darkness.
There is no light from villages to be seen. Here they have perfect conditions to look at the stars.
Inside the observatory is e.g. a telescope that gets used to find rubbish in the orbit. More about the observatory...
More sights:
-
Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Candelaria (More about Candelaria...)
Know you know about some sights on Tenerife and there is even more to be discover!