We are nearing our one year anniversary since taking the plunge and moving to Portugal. We have done a few short trips in Galicia, Spain and Northern Portugal, but nothing more than 3 nights. Until now. For our first legit vacation, we decided to hit up one of the Canary Islands — Tenerife. The Canary Islands are part of Spain, located off the coast of Morocco, North Africa.

We spent the first part of the trip exploring the cities of San Cristóbal de La Laguna and Santa Cruz (the capitol) and hiking in the Anaga Rural Park. Santa Cruz hosts the second largest largest Carnaval celebration in the world behind Rio de Janeiro. We had no idea and a bit overwhelming but it was a fun experience.

We hiked three trails in Anaga Rural Park:

1) Punta del Hidalgo to Chinamada. Tough hike up the mountain but well worth it for the views of the jagged mountains that go right into the ocean. We turned back after reaching the main viewpoint — we were a bit dehydrated from too many beers the night before and running low on water.

2) Las Vueltas de Taganana. The trail cut through lush forest whose canopy provided nice shade along the entire hike. Easy going down on way out with excellent views of the village of Taganana surrounded by mountains on three sides and the ocean. The hike back out was a struggle — all up hill.

3) Sendero de los Sentidos. A trail of historic significance for it was the only route between Anaga and La Laguna which was crucial for transporting goods from the city to the isolated region of Anaga. This hike featured a stunning viewpoint of the mountains, the city of Santa Cruz, and the Tahadio Dam.

After 3 nights in La Laguna, it was time to explore another part of the island. We drove along the north coast making a few stops along the way. The botanical garden in Puerto de la Cruz was well worth the price of admission. Some amazing fig trees from Lord Howe Island, Australia.

Next stop was Parque del Drago Milenario in Icod de los Vinos. This dragaon tree is claimed to be the oldest of its kind in the world at one thousand years old. However there is a dispute over its age. It may only be eight hundred years old — still pretty incredible. Finally, we stopped in Garachico to see the El Caletón natural pools which are a series of walkways, stairs, and pools built into the volcanic rock along the ocean. The waves crest the pool’s walls to circulate the water.

The next day included more sightseeing in the Teno Rural Park. We drove up the mountain to the village of Masca. Like Anaga, until recently, this region remained very isolated from the rest of the island due to the surrounding mountains. The narrow, windy road to Masca was crazy, especially when having to allow room for a tour bus to pass. After we made it back down the mountain, we drove to Punta de Teno to see the lighthouse built on the volcanic rock at the far north-western edge of the island. However, only the bus is allowed on the road. We decided to wait and take the bus. The bus ride was stunning — the road was built high up along the sea cliff — quite the engineering feat. The views of the Los Gigantes cliffs in the distance and the stark contrast of the red and white lighthouse, black volcanic rock, and bright blue ocean water made it well worth visiting this little part of Tenerife.

One of the gems of Tenerife is Teide National Park. It reminds me of Utah — places like Moab and Zion National Park. Teide really is that amazing. On our way up to the high altitude of Teide, we passed the Bora-Hansgrohe pro cycling team including one of this year’s Tour de France contender’s Primoz Roglic. He is one of my favorite cyclists. Alot of pro cyclists train on Tenerife for the great roads and big climbs. Mt Teide is actually the tallest peak in all of Spain.

For our first hike in the Teide area, we chose Chinyero. Chinyero is a volcano that erupted just over 100 years ago. The trail loops around the crater featuring a mixture of ponderosa pine forest and lava flows.

We stayed in Vilafor, only a 20 minute drive from the national park. A small, mountain village, we did not expect to find many restaurant choices. But turns out we had the best meal of the trip at Los Cipreses de La Casa Inglesa. We feasted and drank our fill.

Our final full day, we saved the best hike for last — Paisaje Lunar. Incredible hoodoos. More ponderosa pine forest. A treat and a great way to say farewell to this special island.

Tenerife really blew us away. And this time of the year is considered high season yet it never felt overran with tourists. We never had an issue with parking at any of the trailheads. Santa Cruz was a bit overwhelming due to Caranaval but that is to be expected. I can’t wait to go back. I want to do some cycling, snorkeling, and of course more hiking.

Hope you enjoyed this post. More adventures to come 🙂