When our friends proposed us to join them in Tenerife for the New Year, we didn't hesitate. Especially when we found out that the price of this one week trip was only 900 euros for the three of us. All inclusive! As I've never been in any of the Canary Islands, I was very excited and of course looking forward to some sun during the cold and grey European winter.
The offer was probably so cheap because the departure date was 1 January, but I really did not care much where would we spend our New Year's Eve. So we spent it on packing for the trip :)
As it was the all inclusive trip, we didn't have to care about the transport, as the van, which was supposed to take us to the hotel was already awaiting us. We arrived to the southern airport, while our hotel was in the north in the town called Las Caletillas. The hotel Punta del Rey wasn't amazing, but it didn't matter much. We were in a nice company of our friends, the weather was excellent and anyway we didn't plan to stay much in the hotel - the idea was to visit the island as much as possible.
The offer was probably so cheap because the departure date was 1 January, but I really did not care much where would we spend our New Year's Eve. So we spent it on packing for the trip :)
As it was the all inclusive trip, we didn't have to care about the transport, as the van, which was supposed to take us to the hotel was already awaiting us. We arrived to the southern airport, while our hotel was in the north in the town called Las Caletillas. The hotel Punta del Rey wasn't amazing, but it didn't matter much. We were in a nice company of our friends, the weather was excellent and anyway we didn't plan to stay much in the hotel - the idea was to visit the island as much as possible.
As the first destination to visit we chose the city called San Cristobal de la Laguna. La Laguna (which is a shorter name of the city) was founded at the end of 15th century and for some time was the capital of the Canary Islands. Now it's famous for being the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The city was located quite close to las Caletillas and it wasn't very complicated to get there - we took a local bus to the capital - Santa Cruz and from there, another local bus to la Laguna. It was a very cheap and a relatively fast trip.
When we arrived to San Cristobal de la Laguna and we found ourselves in the historical center, I immediately thought of Cuba! The architecture was very much alike, it reminded me very much the city of Cienfuegos with its colorful houses and traditional wooden balconies. Well, both cities were built by Spaniards after all. We enjoyed the relaxing walk on the beautiful streets and admiring the colonial architecture of la Laguna, after which we stopped for a lunch in one of its multiple restaurants.
The city was located quite close to las Caletillas and it wasn't very complicated to get there - we took a local bus to the capital - Santa Cruz and from there, another local bus to la Laguna. It was a very cheap and a relatively fast trip.
When we arrived to San Cristobal de la Laguna and we found ourselves in the historical center, I immediately thought of Cuba! The architecture was very much alike, it reminded me very much the city of Cienfuegos with its colorful houses and traditional wooden balconies. Well, both cities were built by Spaniards after all. We enjoyed the relaxing walk on the beautiful streets and admiring the colonial architecture of la Laguna, after which we stopped for a lunch in one of its multiple restaurants.
On the next day we decided to discover a little bit surroundings of our hotel. We went for a walk along the beach. The beach was made of black sand and volcanic rocks, but there were also some man-made part of the beach with wooden decks sunbathing areas.
We continued the walk on the lovely promenade until we reached the next town - Candelaria. Main attractions of this very pleasant town were the Basilica de la Candelaria and the statues of the nine Guanche Mencey Kings in the Plaza de la Patrona de Canarias by the Basilica commemorating the original inhabitants of the island before the Spanish conquest. Another attraction - though only in this period was the mini version of Betlehem.
We stopped for a glass of wine and some snacks in one of the bars, where through a huge window we could admire the ocean.
These two trips were very interesting, but we wanted to see more. While landing on the island, it was impossible to miss the most characteristic spot of Tenerife - the Volcano. Its name is Mount Teide or Pico del Teide and with its 3718 meters ASL it's the highest peak on the Canary Islands and in the whole of Spain. It's also the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic and
third highest volcanic structure and most voluminous in the world after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
The volcano and its surroundings comprise Teide National Park, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. According to Wikipedia it is also is the most visited natural wonder of Spain, the most visited national park in Spain and Europe and – by 2015 – the eighth most visited in the world, with some 3 million visitors yearly. We couldn't then miss such a great touristic attraction and we decided to go for a daily trip there. The easiest way was of course by car, so we rented for one for a very low price.
third highest volcanic structure and most voluminous in the world after Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
The volcano and its surroundings comprise Teide National Park, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. According to Wikipedia it is also is the most visited natural wonder of Spain, the most visited national park in Spain and Europe and – by 2015 – the eighth most visited in the world, with some 3 million visitors yearly. We couldn't then miss such a great touristic attraction and we decided to go for a daily trip there. The easiest way was of course by car, so we rented for one for a very low price.
We knew from other guests of the hotel that in order to be able to take the cable car to the (nearly) top of the volcano, we needed to buy tickets in advance. However while checking the website we learned that children younger than 3 years were not allowed (or highly not recommended) to take the cable car, due to the altitude sickness. We decided then to give in and simply drive through the park and enjoy the views.
And it turned out that this idea was also a very good one and the trip a very enjoyable one. While driving up we were admiring the landscapes, which were changing every half an hour. From the green sceneries with a view on the ocean, to the moon-like panoramas. We were stopping quite often to take photos and every time we were going out from the car was colder and colder. In the coldest part of our trip - the closest to volcano - we had to put on the winter jackets!
One of the most popular sites of the Teide National Park are spectacular rock formations - los Roques de Garcia.
On the last day of our trip we changed direction and headed to the eastern north of the island. In order to get there, we drove again via the mountains in the central part of the island. Once again we were stopping countless times in order to take photos of the stunning landscapes.
Our main destination was Taganana, a small village located in the Anaga mountains. It's also one of the oldest villages of the island located in one of the oldest parts of the Tenerife - as the Anaga mountains were formed somehow seven to nine million years ago! The village itself is not very spectaculat and there's little to see in there, but tha nature around and the sceneries which we've seen while driving there were really breathtaking! At some point I had impression I was in Asia as I've seen the terraces reminding me very much of the rice terraces in Vietnam, China or Indonesia...
