TENERIFE: Island of Eternal SpringtimeTenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands, and also of volcanic origins. It is dominated by the 3718 meters high volcano Mount Teide with its mighty crater. The Teide is not only the highest mountain of all Spain, but also the mountain with the highest elevation in all the Atlantic Ocean.
At the sides of the montain range which crosses the island there are extremely fertile valleys with important plantations of bananas and tomatoes.
Tenerife's coastline is typically rugged and steep, however there are as well almost 70 kilometers of fine sand beaches, in particular in the islands' south, with Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos among the best known.
The Beaches of TenerifePlaya de las Americas,
being located at the island's south-eastern extreme, offers fabulous beaches of sand as well as the most modern infrastructure for tourism
Playa de los Cristianos:
fine beaches of golden sand and crystalline water, close to a picturesque fishing-village. Its outstanding infrastructure makes it one of the most attractive places for visitors
Playa de las Galletas:
at the island's southern extreme, with great hotel and sports installations. Punto de Rasca offers an outstanding panorama
Playa de El Puertito:
a 1,6 kilometers long beach of black sand, located close to the village Güimar.
Very close to it there is also Playa del Roque, another wonderful beach of black sand.
Playa de las Caletillas:
another center of international tourism, three marvelous small bays close to Candelaria.
Close to Santa Cruz there are the beaches Las Gaviotas, a small nudist beach with black sand, and Las Teresitas, a popular beach in the north of Tenerife with golden sand and palm trees.
In Puerto de la Cruz there is the famous Costa Martianez with its large artificial pond, Lago Martianez one of the most outstanding examples of coastal transformation combining elements of traditional Canary architecture with original sculptures and natural vegetation. It was created by the great architect Cesar Manrique, a native of Canary Islands.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, The Shining Town
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a very friendly town with 211.930 inhabitants. The first things to call your attention will be its beautiful parks, as Park García Sanabria, and its lively streets. Many cruisers from all the world touch at its picturesque port, which is surrounded by high rocks. The port area is the town's real center: Plaza de España, with its Cabildo Insular eat of the museums of archaeology and anthropology, and Plaza de la Candelaria with its impressive 17th. century Carta Palace.
More sights are the baroque church Iglesia de la Concepción, the Museum of Painting and Scultpure and the castle Castillo de Paso Alto.
Close to Santa Cruz there are the beaches Las Gaviotas and Las Teresitas, and a nice destination of an excursion might be the mountain Monte de la Esperanza, located at 20 kilometers from the town, offering an outstanding view over all the island.
Puerto de la Cruz: Beauty of the Island
Puerto de la Cruz is Tenerife's most visited site, and due to its favored climate one of the most visited towns of Spain all the year through. Its picturesque townscape alone makes it worth a visit, but there are many attractions more:
The famous Costa Martianez with its large artificial pond and most original sculptures. This outstanding example of coastal transformation combines elements of traditional architecture with natural vegetation and was created by the great Canarian architect Cesar Manrique.
Loro Park is another main attraction. Its name comes from the numberless parrots in those beautiful tropical gardens, but most impressive are certainly the spectacular performances of dolphins.
Highly interesting as well is the park Jardín de Aclimatación, between Puerto de la Cruz and Orotava, which was created in 18th century and offers a great variety of plants from all the world.
Worth visiting are as well the navigation museum Museo Naval de la Casa Iriarte, the fortress Castillo de San Felipe and the church Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia.
San Cristobal de la Laguna: The former capitalSan Cristóbal de la Laguna was formerly the capital of Tenerife and has the most important university on Canary Islands.
This small town boasts numerous monumental buildings and has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
La Laguna was founded in 1497 and the first houses were built around the church Iglesia de la Concepción, the oldest church of the island. In 1500 a concept for the further expansion of the town was developed, and it included philosphic principles as well as principles ruling the navigation of the epoch. This entire old town, with more than 600 buildings in the characteristic Mudejar-architecture, is conserved intact.
La Laguna claimed its greatest importance in the 17th and 18th century, when the town grew considerably.
Among the most important religious buildings of La Laguna, there are the church Iglesia de la Concepción (as already mentioned above), the church Santo Domingo, and the convents San Juan Bautista, Santa Catalina de Siena and Real Santuario del Cristo de La Laguna. Examples of civil architecture which have to be mentioned are the palaces Casas del Corregidor: Casa Alvarado Bracamonte, Casa Riquel, Palacio de Lercaro and Palacio de Nava.
Excursions on TenerifeTacoronte: This picturesque village is located at the edge of an impressive steep coast is also famous for its excellent red wines.
In Candelaria, a well known place of pilgrimship, is located the church consecrated to the island's patroness, Basílica de la Virgen de la Candelaria
La Orotava is an extraordinarily nice town with manorial houses in the island's traditional style. Particularly well-known are the Casas de los Balcones, 17th. century buildings with those typical balconies of Canarian pine-wood. The best time to visit Orotava is during the celebrations of Corpus Christi, when the streets are covered with earths of six different colors which are found in the surroundings and ornamented with innumerable flowers
The town is located in the really paradisiac valley Valle de la Orotava . When the peak of nearby Teide is still covered with snow flowers are in full bloom here. Scientist Alexander von Humboldt, after whom is named a viewpoint here, reported that he was on his knees in front of so much beauty when he visited Orotava.
Güimar, located in a valley, is surrounded with breathtaking canyons and large plantations of bananas. Here we find the Ethnographic Park Pyramids of Güímar a complex of six step-pyramids which are oriented astronomically to the summer and winter solstices. The pyramids have been discovered in 1987 and show great resemblance to those found in Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, Peru and Mexico. The origins of the pyramids are still uncertain and subject to discussion among archeologists. In the opinion of the great explorer and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, who was involved in the early researches, they may have been constructed by voyagers who sailed the Atlantic in ancient times and possibly may have established a link with the pre-Columbian civilizations of Central and South America.
Close to Güimar there we find the small village Los Realejos, with the island's oldest church and several monuments of interest.
Icod de los Vinos is popularly called the "Town of the Mythological Dragon Tree". This mighty thousands of years old tree was a sanctuary of the Guanches who believed it had magic forces. The town itself is a nice settlement with buildings in colonial style and is well known for its wine production.
Garachico is a small village of unique beauty with a port that once has been the most important at the whole island. Close to it there are beaches of black sand with beautiful natural basins
Santiago del Teide shows an extraordinarily nice landscape with an impressive steep coast, the so-called Acantilados de los Gigantes
National Park El Teide This National Park offers a fascinating landscape, created by the elemantar forces of the volcano Teide. Christopher Columbus observed its last great eruption in 1492 from the nearby island La Gomera, just before continueing his discovery travel to America. In 1798 there was another smaller eruption. The Teide has piled up some 12 million cubic meters of volcanic material at its sides, those formations being popularly called the Narices del Teide, "noses of Teide".
With a height of 3718 meters the Teide is not only the highest mountain of Spain but as well the highest elevation in all the Atlantic Ocean and worldwide the volcano with the third-highest elevation, behind Mauna Loa und Mauna Kea, both on the island of Hawaii. A cableway takes visitors up to 3600 meters. From there you may climb the peak by foot.
On clear days you have a fantastic view. But at least equally impressive is the volcano's immense crater. After previous agreement with the park's administration you may participate (by free!) at a visit. You will then enter the crater, first with a cross-country car, then by foot, until you arrive to still active parts of the volcano.
Around the Teide there are several other smaller volcanos, such as Montaña Chahorra (or "Pico Viejo"), with a height of 3100 meters and a crater with a diameter of 800 meters, and Montaña Rajada, which has great amounts of the black volcanic glass obsidian.
At the side of Teide there is a large flat country called Las Cañadas del Teide, having been used by the island's original population, the Guanches, as pastureland. Today it is covered with petrified lava having very bizarre forms, as the Roques de García and several caves, as Cueva del Hielo or Cueva de los Cazadores.
In this area exist some extremely rare species of plants, as the Guanche Rose, of which are known only some 50 exemplares worldwide, the Teide Violet and animals, in particular lizards.
