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Teide rising above the Orotava Valley, with pine forest in front and a sea of cloud along the north coast
The Milky Way over a hilltop in Teide National Park, with a person in silhouette
The hamlet of Masca under the peaks of the Teno massif, where the walk down the gorge begins
Two short-finned pilot whales surfacing between Tenerife and La Gomera
Thai-style towers and statues at the entrance area of Siam Park, Costa Adeje

Things to do in Tenerife: 15 experiences

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Photo: Currobay1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain

Las Cañadas del Teide

Watch the stars over Las Cañadas on a Teide night tour

Check dates and prices

Photo: AstroAnthony, CC BY 4.0

Masca

Walk down the Masca gorge to the sea on a booked slot

Check dates and prices

Photo: Thomas Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Los Cristianos

Watch resident pilot whales from a Barco Azul boat

Check dates and prices

Photo: ahisgett, CC BY 2.0

Costa Adeje

Drop down the Tower of Power at Siam Park

Check dates and prices

Photo: stephen jones, CC BY 2.0

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and the one with the most range: Spain's highest mountain in the middle, resort towns on the dry south-west coast, and greener, cloudier valleys with wine villages and old colonial towns on the north side. The Teide cable car comes from Spain's main list; everything else below is what the rest of the island offers.

The south (Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos, Los Gigantes) is where the boats leave to find the resident pilot whales, and where Siam Park and the paragliding flights are. The north holds La Laguna, a World Heritage town, La Orotava, Garachico and the laurel forest of Anaga.

The far north-west, the Teno massif with Masca and Punta de Teno, is wild enough that access is rationed: a booked slot for the gorge, a guagua for the lighthouse.

15 things to do in Tenerife

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Two short-finned pilot whales surfacing between Tenerife and La Gomera

Watch resident pilot whales from a Barco Azul boat

Los Cristianos

2 to 5 hoursBook ahead

About 500 pilot whales and 250 bottlenose dolphins live all year off Tenerife's south coast: no season to wait for.

Check dates and pricesShort eco-yacht trip from Los Cristianos
The hamlet of Masca under the peaks of the Teno massif, where the walk down the gorge begins

Walk down the Masca gorge to the sea on a booked slot

Masca

About 4 hours down, plus guagua and boatTimed entry

Walk down a gorge from a Teno hamlet at around 750 metres to a bay on the west coast, and leave by boat.

Check dates and pricesMasca descent with guide, transfers and the boat out
The pointed Roque de Taborno above the Afur ravine in the Anaga mountains

Hike Anaga's laurel forest from Cruz del Carmen

Cruz del Carmen

A full dayFree

The island's best laurel forest on the ridges of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with hamlets tucked into the ravines below.

Tours in Tenerife
Calle San Agustín in La Laguna, lined with painted colonial houses

Walk the unwalled colonial grid of La Laguna

San Cristóbal de La Laguna

Half a dayFree

Take the tram to a colonial town built without walls, on a street plan from around 1500 that survives almost intact.

Tours in Tenerife
The Milky Way over a hilltop in Teide National Park, with a person in silhouette

Watch the stars over Las Cañadas on a Teide night tour

Las Cañadas del Teide

About 9 hours with transfersBook ahead

Sunset in Teide National Park, dinner, then a telescope session under a sky certified as a Starlight Tourist Destination.

Check dates and pricesTeide sunset, dinner and telescope night with pickup
Telescope domes and instruments at the Teide Observatory in Izaña

Look at the Sun through a telescope at the Teide Observatory

Izaña

1.5 hours, plus the driveTimed entry

Look at the Sun through solar telescopes and step inside a night-time telescope, 2,390 metres up on the ridge east of Teide.

Check dates and pricesTeide Observatory visit and stargazing, with transport
Visitors with helmets and headlamps walking through the Cueva del Viento lava tube

Go underground in the Cueva del Viento lava tube

Icod de los Vinos

2.5 hoursTimed entry

Walk by headlamp through the largest lava tube in Europe, with 18 km mapped so far, on a guided visit.

Tours in Tenerife
El Caletón lava pools and the Castillo de San Miguel on the Garachico seafront

Swim in Garachico's lava pools and walk the rebuilt port

Garachico

Half a dayFree

Swim in rock pools left where lava met the sea in 1706, beside a castle built on Philip II's orders.

Tours in Tenerife
The carved wooden balconies of the Casa de los Balcones on Calle San Francisco, La Orotava

Walk La Orotava's balconied streets above the valley

La Orotava

Half a dayNo booking needed

Walk balconied streets above the valley, from a house famous for its tea-wood balcony to a Baroque church and a garden from 1788.

Tours in Tenerife
The Punta de Teno lighthouse on dark lava cliffs at Tenerife's north-western tip

Ride the guagua out to the Punta de Teno lighthouse

Buenavista del Norte

No booking needed

Ride the guagua along a road closed to cars to a red and white lighthouse on black lava at Tenerife's north-western tip.

A comparsa in feathered costumes dancing in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife carnival parade

Join the street carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

One or two nightsFree

Murgas, comparsas and hundreds of thousands of people in costume fill the capital's streets, and the street events are free.

Thai-style towers and statues at the entrance area of Siam Park, Costa Adeje

Drop down the Tower of Power at Siam Park

Costa Adeje

A full dayBook ahead

Drop 28 metres almost vertically on the Tower of Power and finish in a tube through an aquarium of sharks and rays.

Check dates and pricesSiam Park admission for the day
The official guachinche plaque: a white V on a wine-red square with the words Vino de cosecha propia

Eat at a guachinche in the northern wine villages

Tacoronte

A long lunchNo booking needed

Eat a few home-cooked dishes in a wine grower's room, with the family's own wine, until the wine runs out.

Tours in Tenerife
A tandem paraglider coming in to land by a beach bar on Playa de La Caleta, Costa Adeje

Fly a tandem paraglider down to the coast at Adeje

La Caleta, Adeje

Book ahead

Take off in the hills above the resorts with a tandem pilot and glide down towards the coast at Adeje, no experience needed.

Check dates and pricesFly tandem from the Adeje hills, hotel pickup
Mount Teide above the Las Cañadas caldera and the Roques de García

Ride the Teide cable car to 3,555 metres

Tenerife, Canary Islands

Half a day with the cable carBook ahead

The Teide cable car climbs from 2,356 m to 3,555 m in under eight minutes, with trails over both sides of the island.

Tours in Tenerife

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Tenerife has two airports. Tenerife South (Reina Sofía), in Granadilla de Abona off the TF-1, is the larger and busier one and sits close to the southern resorts. Tenerife North (Los Rodeos), in La Laguna about 10 km from Santa Cruz, mainly handles inter-island and mainland Spain flights. Titsa guagua 343 links the two airports in about an hour. Ferries from Cádiz and Huelva reach Santa Cruz in roughly 36 to 48 hours.

  • Getting around

    A hire car makes Anaga, the north-west and the drive up to Teide much easier to combine, but two of the best places are bus only: gorge walkers must ride Titsa guagua 355 into Masca, and line 369 is the only way to Punta de Teno. Titsa's guaguas cover the island, including line 342 from Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos up to Las Cañadas del Teide and 348 from Puerto de la Cruz. The tram links Santa Cruz and La Laguna. Mountain roads in the north and west are narrow and slow, so plan fewer stops than the map suggests.

  • How many days

    Five days covers the essentials: Teide (see the Spain page), a morning at sea from the south, the north-west with Garachico, Icod and Teno, Anaga with La Laguna, and La Orotava with an evening in a guachinche. A week leaves room for the Masca gorge, if its status page shows it open, a Teide night tour and a slow beach day.

  • When to go

    Tenerife works all year. Pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins live off the south coast all year, so whale-watching boats run in every month. February brings the Santa Cruz carnival, and winter is the only season when paragliders may land on La Caleta beach, but winter storms can also close the roads up to Teide with snow or ice. Summer is the busiest time at the natural pools of the north, such as El Caletón in Garachico.

  • Where to base yourself

    The south (Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos, Playa de las Américas) has the most sunshine, the whale-watching ports, Siam Park and the paragliding landings. The north (Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava, La Laguna) puts you close to the old towns, Anaga, Garachico and the guachinches. For a week, split your nights between the two rather than driving across the island every day.

Questions travellers ask

Do I need a car in Tenerife?

Not strictly. Titsa guaguas reach Las Cañadas del Teide, Anaga, Garachico and both airports, and the tram links Santa Cruz with La Laguna. A car makes it far easier to combine several villages of the north-west or Anaga in one day. For Masca and Punta de Teno you leave the car behind anyway, because both are reached by Titsa guagua only.

Is it better to stay in the north or the south of Tenerife?

The south is drier and sunnier and has the boat trips, Siam Park and most beach hotels. The north is greener and cooler, with La Laguna, La Orotava, Garachico, Anaga and the guachinches close by. If you want both, split your stay.

Can you still hike the Masca gorge?

Yes, when it is open, but only downhill and on a slot booked at caminobarrancodemasca.com, with the compulsory Titsa 355 guagua from Santiago del Teide to the start and a compulsory boat out to Los Gigantes. Children under 8 are not allowed. The trail closes for weather, conservation or maintenance, and it was shown closed when this page was checked in October 2026, so look at the official status page before you plan the day.

When can you see whales in Tenerife?

In any month. Around 500 short-finned pilot whales and 250 bottlenose dolphins live in the channel between Tenerife and La Gomera, so sightings do not depend on a migration season. Choose a boat that flies the yellow Barco Azul flag.

Is Tenerife worth visiting in winter?

Yes. Boat trips, the old towns and the Cueva del Viento run as usual, and late winter brings the Santa Cruz carnival, from 19 to 28 February in 2027. Pack for cold nights if you go up to Teide or out on a stargazing tour, and expect the odd day when snow or ice closes the mountain roads.

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