Ten Things to do in Tenerife
Tenerife is a sun worshippers haven. Situated in southern Spain, just across the sea from North Africa, Tenerife enjoys temperatures as high as 35 degrees during summer, 25 degrees during winter, and is hot all year round. There’s more to this Canary island than sunbathing and beaches though, as I discovered when I spent a week here with my sisters on a girly holiday back in June. With its mountainous scenery, rugged coastline and vibrant atmosphere, here are my top ten things to see and do in sunny Tenerife…
1. Hike Mount Teide
If you’re an adventure seeker and want to keep active whist you’re on holiday, Mount Teide is the place to be! The third highest active volcano in the world, this mountain can be climbed, hiked, or reached by cable car all year round. My sisters and I booked an all day excursion to Teide whilst we were on the island, and it was definitely one of the highlights of our holiday. Rather than riding the cable car to the summit, we opted to hike around the base of the mountain and admire the views from down below instead. If I were to visit again I’d love to go to the top though as I’m sure the panoramic scenes from up there were even better! Whilst at Teide, we also visited Los Roques de Garcia, a UNESCO world heritage site with rock formations that are over 170,000 years old – it looked like something out of an ancient movie and the landscapes were breathtakingly beautiful.
2. Create waves at Siam Park
Voted the best water park in the world, this Thai themed adventure island boasts some of the biggest, most daring rides you’ll ever see. I’m a huge water park fan but sadly didn’t have time to visit this place during our time in Tenerife as we were very limited on days (and euros!). The park attracts over 850,000 visitors a year and is home to a lazy river, crazy rapids, a sealion island and it even has its own beach! Located in the family friendly resort of Costa Adeje, this place is amazing for a fun filled day out for all the family, no matter what your age, and is definitely one of the most visited attractions on the whole island – I am 100% checking this out next time I return!
3. Wander down Las Americas
We stayed at one of the Parque Santiago resorts, right in the heart of Las Americas, in front of the beach and on the main strip itself. Las Americas is a thriving resort brimming with bars, cafe’s, shops and restaurants and offers plenty of things to see and do. Tribute acts fill the bars and pubs every night, whilst water sports take over the beach and live music plays from the restaurants during the day. There’s always something going on in Las Americas, and that’s one of the main reasons I loved the resort so much. Everything is so close by, and you never have to walk more than 10 minutes in either direction to find what it is that you need. I’d definitely recommend Las Americas to anyone looking for a lively, fun-filled, stress-free holiday in the heart of Tenerife.
4. Have drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe
One of the most extravagant hotels in the whole of Las Americas, and one of the newest, The Hard Rock Cafe is arguably a tourist attraction in it’s own right, and for good reason! I love this brand and always try to visit whenever I’m exploring a new city, but the Tenerife chain is definitely one of the best I’ve ever seen. With a 5* hotel, enormous swimming pool, trendy restaurant, music hall and glamorous rooftop bar, the Hard Rock has it all. We found that this place was great for having a few cocktails before hitting the rest of the strip, but it was quite pricey so we had to limit ourselves!
5. Watch the fountain show at the Safari shopping mall
I wasn’t even aware this place existed until I wandered past one night and heard my favourite song booming from the speakers… When I heard Elvis – Can’t Help Falling In Love playing, I turned to see where it was coming from and was greeted with the most amazing sight! A beautiful sparkly fountain show right in the centre of Las Americas, that was set to music and attracted more and more people to the crowd as they stopped and stared just as I had done. The show lasts for around 10-15 minutes and a number of classic songs are played as the fountains do their thing. The show ends with the iconic New York, New York by Frank Sinatra and the fountains look even more beautiful lit up as they come to a sparkly end! You can catch the show every night at the Safari Shopping Mall, right on the Las Americas strip.
6. Explore Loro Parque
Loro Parque is one of the most popular excursions on the whole island and is situated in the pretty Puerto de la Cruz area, a bus ride away from Las Americas. Awarded the title of best zoo in Europe, Loro Parque offers an unforgettable day out for all the family and is home to over 4000 species of animal across its 33 acre gardens. As well as having numerous exhibits for visitors to wander around, the zoo hosts dolphin, sealion, orca and parrot shows daily too. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to tick this place off my Tenerife bucket list, but I will definitely be checking it out next time I’m on the island!
7. Sunbathe on Las Vistas beach
One of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever seen, Las Vistas is the perfect place to take time out and relax during your holiday to Tenerife. We spent many hours there sunbathing, swimming in the sea and watching the world go by. The beach was right behind our Parque Santiago hotel, so gave us direct access, and it was a stones throw from many of the cafe’s, bars and restaurants that are dotted along the sea front. The beach also offers a multitude of watersports for the thrill seekers out there who prefer keeping active to lounging around on the sand – I didn’t take part in these as was far too busy sunbathing – but it looked like so much fun!
8. Take a boat trip from Puerto Colon
Despite suffering from horrendous sea sickness, boat trips are totally my thing and I always try to do one when I’m on holiday! I think boats are a brilliant way of seeing places from different perspectives, and I adore marine life so take any chance I get to spot dolphins, fish and even whales whilst I’m out on the open sea. Sadly I was feeling absolutely AWFUL during the entire trip and spent most of the three hours at sea with my head in a sick bag!! Despite my sickness though I still managed to see dolphins AND whales swimming next to our catamaran and that alone was worth every minute of how I felt that day. Maybe next time I’ll just go on a bigger boat so I don’t feel the waves as much… I’ve suffered with travel/motion sickness for as long as I can remember and would love to know how I can overcome it… Suggestions on a postcard please?!
9. Go clubbing on the Veronica’s strip
This is something we only did a couple of nights during our trip; we much prefer bars to clubs so spent most of our time on the main strip in Las Americas, rather than wandering over to the Veronicas despite it being in the same resort. This strip is a ten minute walk from the centre of Americas and is filled with more bars and even more clubs offering cheap drinks deals, DJ’s and dance floors; think Zante/Ayia Napa/Kavos and you get the picture. I’m now 24 and this isn’t really my scene anymore (I’m so old!!) but it was fun to spend a few hours there and just a short stroll away from the lively resort centre so easily reachable on foot.
10. Watch the sunset from the sea front
Anyone that knows me will know how much I love my sunsets! Every time I’m away I always try and catch a sun set at least once during my trip, and luckily we were able to see a couple during our week in Tenerife. Plonking ourselves in a pretty restaurant on the sea front we sat and watched the sun go down over the Atlantic sea whilst we drank cocktails and stuffed our faces with yummy meals. I think we did this on our first night and it was really special – my sister captured a timelapse of the sunset and it looked totally magical! Would def recommend having dinner in front of the sun set during your time in Tenerife if you get the chance.
So those are just some of the many reasons why you should visit Tenerife this summer, or in fact at any time of year. There’s so much to see and do, the weather is fantastic all year round, and the lively atmosphere makes the island a hit with families, groups and couples alike. To be in the heart of the action, stay in Las Americas and take advantage of the proximity of the beach, bars, restaurants and lively nightlife. If however you’re looking for a more relaxed holiday, the smaller resorts of Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos are probably more your thing. I absolutely loved my holiday to Tenerife this summer and couldn’t have asked for a better location from which to unwind and enjoy some much needed sunshine. The scenery was beautiful, the temperatures were just right and there was so much to do we didn’t once get bored. Have you ever been to Tenerife? What resort did you visit? Would love to know what you thought of the island!
Love Jess x
