A Guide to Volcanic Tenerife

A guide to Volcanic Tenerife
With Jane Dunford

Tenerife may have a reputation for mass tourism but, in fact, away from the resorts on the south coast you’d be hard pushed to find a crowd.

Accompanied by local guide Jose Ramon, travel writer Jane Dunford takes a look the other side of Tenerife – the lush valleys and traditional towns of the north, the beautiful coastline and the volcanic landscapes

Behind me here is Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain. When you come up to the National Park, you are surrounded by evidence of volcanic activity. It really is spectacular. But wherever you go on the island you will be aware of the volcanic origins, obviously in the dramatic landscapes but also in the food, the buildings in fact in all aspects of life in Tenerife.

Volcanic soil, it turns out, is incredibly good for growing all kinds of exotic crops. Aside from its most famous export, Tenerife is building a steady following for its wines. A tour of one of the many Bodegas is a great way to find your favourite

Wine tasting

And to get the bird’s eye view of the vineyards and banana plantations, how about this as a holiday experience?...

Paragliding

Back down to earth but still with breathtaking scenery on the agenda Jane headed to the north east corner of the island and the Anaga Rural Park. On the coastline, from the tiny hamlet of Taganana, the jagged cliffs and rocky outcrops provide a spectacular coastal drive but inland, its all about the very special forest as local guide, Jose Ramon explains

Heading east to west, there are some fascinating towns and villages to explore. Santa Cruz of course is the capital but nearby is La Laguna, the oldest settlement on Tenerife. In 2007 the historic centre was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site and many of the buildings have been beautifully restored. Its a really lovely place to wander round and explore.

Another town not to miss on the north coast is Garachico. More volcanic connections here as this was once the island most important port until it was destroyed by an eruption in 1706.

I think people would be surprised by the places in the north, places like Garachico, Oratava, La Laguna there just some really authentic gorgeous places to stay. Beautiful old buildings, quite plain facades and then you go inside and there’s these lovely courtyards, very atmospheric. Wandering round the town there’s little windy street, beautiful squares. Its just charming.

From Garachico it’s a short drive to yet another spectacular area: the Teno Rural Park, occupying the entire north west corner of Tenerife. Formed over seven million years ago, Teno is effectively an island within an island with dramatic inland cliffs, ravines and gorges. At the heart of the park is the village of Masca.

Its very well known nowadays, for obvious reasons as we can see its very scenic but the road was only opened in the early 70s, so in actual fact Masca was not known, not even to the islanders, til the road was open in 1971

I guess the hiking in the area must be incredible

That’s the main thing, they can hike from Masca to all different places towards the coastline, towards the mountains and wherever you go here there is always something that will surprise you…there is a beautiful path that links the village
with the seafront. Once you get down to the seafront you have the biggest cliffs, Los Gigantes we call them because those are the biggest cliffs on Tenerife.

And of course, aside from the amazing scenery on land, the surrounding ocean has its surprises. The diving here is world renowned – with the Flyover experience, even complete novices can take to the water for an assisted one to one dive ...

More stars of the ocean are just a short boat trip away…

Whale watching