The best things to do in Tenerife

We spent about 10 days exploring the island of Tenerife, and I still feel like we could have spent longer there. Despite being a relatively small island, it has the most to do and see of all the Canary Islands. These were our highlights.

The best things to do in Tenerife

Los Gigantes

The huge cliffs on the west coast of Tenerife, known as Los Gigantes, are an impressive and imposing sight. There is a footpath that you can hike along, but the drop is steep and 100m above the sea with some very narrow areas. So we gave that a miss and instead took in the views from the starting point of the footpath above Playa de los Guios. The beach, which is overshadowed by the beach, was one of our favourites in Tenerife.

San Cristóbal de la Laguna

San Cristobal de la Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the first city in Tenerife. The buildings maintain their historic facades, making it a very pretty place to spend an afternoon wandering. Many of the municipal buildings and old houses are now open as museums, and it’s worth wandering around the beautiful courtyards and balconies.

Teide National Park

Mount Teide is a constant in Tenerife, as you can see its peak – which is often tipped with snow even in summer – from almost anywhere on the island. It’s the highest point in the whole of Spain, and is very impressive to see up close, which you can do best from Teide National Park. You can get a cable car to the starting point of some of the mountain’s most popular hikes. But if you want to reach the summit you’ll need to book well in advance. And even in summer, you’ll need warm clothes and plenty of food and water. In fact, Tenerife has recently introduced tourist fees to enter some of its hikes, including Teide, due to the amount of emergency rescues that are called out due to under-prepared hikers.

Anaga National Park

In the north east of the island is Anaga National Park, which stands out for being largely forested compared to the rest of the volcanic island’s landscape. We headed to Anaga to follow the Sendero de los Sentidos, a short 45 minute loop walk through the forests. But this turned out to be surprisingly popular even on a mid-week afternoon in November so we were unable to park in the designated area. Instead, we carried on down the road and explored Camino Viejo al Pico del Ingles and Mirador Pico del Ingles which offer amazing views across the valleys and Mount Teide.

Teno National Park

In the north west of Tenerife is Teno National Park (Parque Rural de Teno), which is a nature reserve known for its deep ravines, volcanic landscapes, steep cliffs, and laurel forests. Most tourists head to the Masca area which is famous for its stunning, secluded views across the valleys towards the sea. Masca is incredibly remote and the road leading to the village is treacherous and windy. For this reason, combined with a lack of public parking, many people choose to book a coach tour to this area, or complete a one-way walk through Masca and catch a bus or taxi back to their starting point beyond the village itself. Instead, we chose to explore some of the lesser-known (but just as impressive) hikes in the area. There are so many hikes to follow in Teno, and you can read about our favourites here.  

El Medano

This surf town in the south west corner of Tenerife is known for water sports, and attracts surfers, windsurfers, paragliders, and sailors from around the world to its beach. We visited on a hot Saturday afternoon, stopped for lunch at Manfred’s Soul Cafe, before spending an hour or so wandering through the small streets and along the back of the busy main beach towards Montaña Roja.

Antiguo Leprosería Abades

This abandoned leper colony on the edge of the village of Abades is a well-known site to explore in the south of Tenerife. While it was under construction, a cure for leprosy was found so it was never put to use. Now, the abandoned buildings still stand, including an imposing brick church. Parts of the grounds are used by the military, and it’s also used as a movie set. It has a slightly creepy vibe to it, but in the middle of the afternoon there were other people around and it’s not at all dangerous. You can park on various sides of the large site and spend an hour or so exploring for free. 

Central termoeléctrica solar abandonada

If you’re into exploring abandoned places, this thermoelectric plant close to El Medano is another cool spot in the south of Tenerife. A huge metal dish in the centre of the plant still stands, and has an eerie feel to it against the backdrop of deserted gravel paths leading to the sea. It’s easy to reach by car and we spent about 20 minutes exploring here.

Icod de los Vinos

In the north of Tenerife is the small town of Icod de los Vinos, which is home to the thousand-year-old tree, Drago Milenario. You have to buy tickets to enter (about £5 each) but the grounds are well kept and it’s a lovely, peaceful place to wander around. We also visited the Casa de Plátano (banana museum) where Canarian bananas are still grown. It doesn’t take long to explore, but we learned a lot about the history of banana farming in the Canary Islands, the difference between their bananas and ‘regular’ bananas, and even got a free sample as our ticket on the way in. In the shop, you can try and buy a range of products made from Canarian bananas, including a delicious banana liqueur. 

Siam Park

We stayed right next to Siam Park, which is often rated one of the best water parks in the world. We had heard good things, and since we could hear people screaming and laughing in the park from our garden, we decided we had to experience it for ourselves. Tickets cost about £40 per person, and this quickly adds up. We had been advised to purchase fast passes, which are limited to a first-come-first-served basis and get you one fast-tracked ride on each of the waterslides. That’s £28 each.

Then we paid about £7 for a locker – which is advisable if you’re not leaving someone on a sun lounger to watch your things all day. Then I had to pay £11 for water shoes as I didn’t have any with me (you can wear flip flops and sandals to walk around, but you often need to leave these at the entrance to slides whereas you can wear water shoes everywhere). Then I paid another £7 for a waterproof phone case so I could take it with me everywhere – again, worth it but another expense. 

So it was an expensive start to the day, but things just got better from there. Our day at Siam Park was one of the most fun (and most tiring) experiences in Tenerife.

Do you need a fast pass at Siam Park?

We arrived at 9:30am and were allowed to enter the park and buy our passes, locker, etc before the rides opened at 10am. If you’re there in peak season, this is advised so you can get a fast track pass as they often sell out by 10am. 

We visited in November not during school holidays, and while the park did get busy, we probably would have been okay without a VIP pass. We were able to go on every ride by 11am, without queuing for more than 10 minutes for any of them. 

That said, when it got to the afternoon and we were ready to go round all the slides again, we did use the fast-track on three of them so it wasn’t totally wasted. The only slide you can’t use the fast-track pass on is the Tower of Power. And in peak seasons the queues can be as long as 1.5 hours for rides so if you can arrive in time to get a pass it’s definitely worth it.

How long do you need at Siam Park

We started heading around the slides at 10am as they opened, and had been on all of them by 11:30am. A lot of this time is actually spent walking around the park as it’s a fairly large area. There are a lot of stairs and rides like the Mai Thai River and Rapids take quite a long time to float around.

We then spent about two hours in the wave pool, getting lunch at Siam Beach Club (which is fairly priced and has a variety of different foods and drinks), and relaxing on sun loungers with a beer before we were ready to head back around the rides again. In the afternoon this took longer as the park was busier, but we also knew which ones we were happy to skip, and which to use the fast-track pass for.

We left at about 4:30pm, so we spent pretty much a full day at the park.

How to get to Siam Park

We were staying within walking distance of Siam Park, but there are various ways you can travel there. There is a paid parking lot close to the Siam Mall for drivers. Some hotels and tour companies arrange package coach trips you can join. Siam Park runs its own bus service that runs between the park and Las Americas, Costa Adeje, and Los Cristianos. 

Go for a hike

Tenerife is famous for its hiking trails. From coast paths to volcanic landscapes and forests, the walks on the island are diverse and impressive, and they attract visitors from around the world. Some hikes are dangerous, as tourists underestimate how challenging the rocky ravines can be. But if you come prepared and follow a defined route, they’re safe and beautiful places to explore. These were our favourite hikes in Tenerife:

• Pico Verde

• Samara

• Chinyero

• Barranco del infierno 

• Montaña Roja

Find out our favourite walking routes in our blog: The best hikes in Tenerife.

Stop at the miradors

If hiking isn’t your thing, you can still take in incredible views across Tenerife from the many miradors. These viewpoints are usually marked, with spaces to park on the side of the road. Some are great for sunsets, like Mirador de los Poleos. Others are great for landscapes, like Mirador de Samara and Mirador de Jardina. The good news is, they’re all clearly marked on Google Maps so you’ll be able to look out for different miradors on any driving routes you have planned.

Go to the beach

Most of the beaches on Tenerife are volcanic, meaning the sand is black not white or golden. But that doesn’t make them any less beautiful. Our favourites were:

• Playa del Duque

• Playa del Diego Hernandez

• Playa Tejita

• Playa de los Guios

Discover more about these beaches in our blog: The best beaches in Tenerife.

Other places to visit in Tenerife 

If we’d had more time in Tenerife I would have like to explore:

• Santa Cruz de Tenerife

• Puerto de la Cruz

• Punta Hidalgo

• Bajamar

• Costa del Silencio

• Palm Mar

• Pico del Teide

• A stargazing trip

• A surf camp

• A boat trip to La Gomera

Find out more about how we spent our time in Tenerife in our blog: Three weeks in Tenerife.