alicat54

We are planning a week in Tenerife in 2 weeks time and want to avoid the southern beach areas.We fly to Tenerife South, but want to stay in the North. I have found some beautiful hotels in Garachico. Is the drive up the western side of the island OK? How long would this take?
Should we also stay in Puerto de la Cruz or Santa Cruz, we like old Spanish towns. I also love gardens.
Any advice welcomed as we have not been to Tenerife before

Thanks Alison

lincasanova

we went to tenerife years a go for 5 nights.
we stayed in puerto de la cruz.. as there was more to do there at that time.

have you considered breaking up your stay, or going over to another island for a few nights?

we rented a car a couple days and drove the entire island. it is very big and one of the scenic roads was quite impressive going from the southwest back towards the north.

willit

I was pleasantly surprised by Tenerife. I had expected it to be nothing other than "El Bingo" and "El fish and chips", but it was far more than that (although particularly in the south that existed).

We stayed in Puerto de la Cruz, and drove down to the airport. I seem to remember it taking between 90 minutes and an hour driving up the Eastern side on the dual carraigeway. The Western side drive, particularly inland, the roads can be quite tortuous, and full of buses.

The Southern parts of the Island can be quite desolate, but the scenery gets greener as you get further north.

My favourite place was Mount Tiede and the national park. The views are spectacular, and the landscapes quite bizarre. Despite myself, I quite enjoyed Loro Park as well.

Maria_H

We went to Tenerife a few years ago and stayed just outside Puerto de la Cruz, here: http://www.fincaelrincon.com/

Don't miss the trip up Mount Teide. The landscape round the volcano, which at over 12,000 feet is the highest mountain in Spain, is realy wierd and fantastic. There is plenty of interesting hiking in the north of the island.

Puerto de la Cruz is a tourist town but has a more Spanish feel than the purpose built southern beach resorts. There is a nice botanic garden in there, apparently one of the oldest in Europe, with all sorts of exotic plants growing outdoors. There are some nice terraced gardens and some old Canarian houses with carved balconies in Orotava and the hotels and houses all had colourful gardens too. There was also an interesting garden at Icod de Los Vinos boasting an ancient dragon tree.

We didn't go near any of the big southern resorts, when we were in Tenerife, they really don't look enticing to me.

elina

hah, I have stayed at finca El Rincon! I got lost in the middle of bananas, and it was dark

We drove all over the island and stayed in beautiful small places, Carachico included. I just wish I would remember the names... One was in (or near) Tacoronte, a charming old manor house turned into a five-room hotel, kept by the young man who had inherited it. His boyfriend was a chef, and cooked the best meals in Tenerife.

If you are on the western side and like hiking, do walk he Masca gorge. Arrange a boat from Los Gigantes to come pick you up when you reach the seaside.

Maria_H

Hi Elina, We walked from the finca to Puerto del La Cruz, through all the banana plantations. We saw lots of lttle lizards and some fantastic views to the coastline below.

I'd forgotton about Masca - a lovely village in the mountains with spectacular views and well worth visiting. We didn't walk the gorge though. The road was quite narrow and winding but fortunately my other half did the driving. It's certianly possible to have a very different holiday away from the mass tourism of the southern package resorts.