6 places to visit on Tenerife
Once we prepare our trip to Tenerife, the most important thing is to inform ourselves about what to see in Tenerife, independent if we are travelling alone or with our family. We search for them in Google and find ourselves with lots of different activities and places to visit in Tenerife and they are always very much alike,… The Teide, Loro Parque , Siam Park ,Masca etc. All these places are essential on a trip to Tenerife but there are so many spectacular places and activities that are not showing up in regular travel guides. These little secrets are ideal for the lovers of nature, local gastronomy and popular traditional festivals. So if you are planning your trip, let us show them to you and don’t forget to put us on your “to do list for Tenerife”.
Benijo and Taganana.
The beach of Benijo is a spectacular beach that is not over visited by tourist streams , since it is located in a remote area far from tourist centres, which is the reason why you can enjoy a swim in the sea far away from the usual crowds. Always watch out for the signs on the beach and be careful swimming in deep waters can be dangerous because of currents that can drag swimmers out into the ocean. The colour codes of the flags of the spanish coast are as listed below:
- Green Flag: it is safe to swim
- Yellow Flag: watch out
- Red Flag: it is not safe to swim
Close to the beach you find a variety of restaurants with fresh local fish and wine specialities to enjoy.
Taganana is a village of country houses that is situated in the Parque Rural de Anaga. You can reach Taganana from La Laguna, crossing the Monte de Las Mercedes, a thousand year old Laurel forest or from Santa Cruz if you drive via San Andres. You can expect some beautiful panoramic views from viewpoints, that are spectacular. A really unique llandscape to enjoy.
There are several, very small and isolated populations like the little country house village of Chamorga, that counts less than 100 inhabitants and gives you the impression that time time has forgotten about this place.
And last but not least you can reach the country house populations of Roque Negro, Afur and Taborno, where we recommend you to visit some of the trails that are available in that area.
El Palmar and the country houses of Teno Alto
If you visit Masca, a nice and interesting place to walk uphill to see is Teno Alto . You can reach it from one side on the road of Masca direction Barranco de Los Carrizales, or via Buena Vista from another direction. As soon as you reach the district of El Palmar a crossing awaits you to where you can follow the road in direction Teno Alto. There is a series of trails that have been installed by the Cabildo de Tenerife, very well indicated, in order to enjoy a panoramic view from the Macizo de Teno with the Teide in the background. It’s an ideal visit during the winter months, since the countryside is very green and it’s possible that you see the Teide with a white top, covered in snow.
Monte del Agua.
In order to reach Monte del Agua you can approach from Las Portelas, or from Erjos. There is a dirt trail that is ideal for a ride on a mountainbike or to go running and hiking if you rather prefer to stay on your feet. You breathe the pure and fresh air of a unique surrounding, since you are passing an old Laurel forest in which we find Heathers,Lemon Trees,Aceviños and Willows, etc. According to the high level of humidity of this forest, its trees are covered in moss and the forest ground is covered with an abundance of ferns. This forest is a huge living fossil, one of the remains of the Tertiary forests which covered Europe before the climatic changes forced them back to the Macaronesian Islands (Madeira, Canary islands and Cabo Verde).
Aripe and Chirche.
These are two districts that belong to the town council of Guia de Isora. Aripe and Chirche are ideal places to stay in a rural house and enjoy the setting, the peace and calm environment and the kindness of the surrounding neighbours. You have beautiful views over the southeastern part of Tenerife and the Tejina Mountain. Typical traditional architecture and a vulcanic landscape ,sprinkled with farm grounds and fruit tree cultivations. Every second week of July, the day of the traditions of Chirche is being celebrated, where the inhabitants of Chirche celebrate and revive the traditions of their former Tinerfeño ancestors of the XX Century. An interesting occasion for those who are interested in how the average live on the island of Tenerife looked like in the past.
Passing by Chirche you have the Trail PR-TF69 in direction Jaral, passing by the country houses of Las Fuentes, a little abandoned village, conserving the structures of their houses on the elevated part of the Tejina Mountain until the trail ends in Vera de Erques.
On this tour you can see the higher areas of Guia de Isora and the highlands of the south eastern Part of Tenerife. You have to consider that this is a route with big differences of the ground level, since it raises and drops by several canyons on the way, but you can enjoy a beautiful countryside and magnificent views.
El Paisaje Lunar.
The erosion of the soil over thousands of years has formed one of the most extraordinary scenery you can find on the Canarian Islands, the lunar landscape (Paisaje Lunar).
The easiest way to aproach is a forest track very close to the village of Vilaflor. On a trip of approximately 4 hours you can see the heights of Vilaflor and Granadilla and arrive at an area that has a magical charm, which doesn’t seem to be from this planet.
The 1000 windows of Güímar.
The 1000 windows of Güímar is a trail that is only fit for experienced climbers, who are not afraid of heights. Only for the lovers of adventure, emotion and beauty. It’s a way that leads past dangerous areas where you require to wear a helmet and headlights, stepping along the edges of steep canyons with possible rock detachments. Since the access is so dangerous, we recommend to book an experienced tour guide of one of the local tour guide offices.
Besides the warnings about the difficulties,this route will be probably one of the best moments you experience on Tenerife, if you can manage to make it.
You can read some reports of hikers who managed to get up there and you will see that it emotionally excites everybody – check Trip Advisor.
It’s a trail that passes through ancient water galleries, a tunnel in which a water channel was leading threw, and one of the most spectacular views on Tenerife.
On the website of wildcanarias.com you can find a detailed information about how to realize this trip
- http://www.wildcanarias.com/ventanas-de-guimar-tenerife/
- https://acrosstenerife.com/en/2017/04/22/mil-ventanas-de-guimar/
