Discover our endless spring paradise: Tenerife
It is official: spring has arrived to Tenerife (if it ever went away :D) ant it has came together with El Teide pretty snowed. Meanwhile, just a few kilometers down hill, we enjoy a fantastic temperature of 21ºC from our pools at Hotel Suite Villa María. It is a wonderful experience to be enjoying this warm climate in our hotel and, at the same time, being able to descry the snowy volcano up to 3718 meters up over the mountains.
This unique climatological diversity, which is also found in an absolutely surprising variety of landscapes, is a consequence of the multiple micro-climates that live together along the island and which, joined to its cultural richness, offer the visitants the strange sensation that they have travelled to another country after just moving some kilometers inside the island, as if it were a small miniature of a continent. Would you like to discover it with us?
With the trip that we are proposing you in this post you will be able of enjoying the high contrast between the green and damp north and the ocher, drier and sunnier south of the island. From the warm beaches of the south to Isla Baja cliffs, you will see how everything in Tenerife turns around the immense and omnipresent National Park of El Teide.
Let’s start our trip from the south of the island. Specifically in La Caleta, Costa Adeje, where our Hotel Suite Villa María is located, within the infinite green of Golf Costa Adeje Club and with stunning views over the bay, crowned in the horizon with the silhouette of La Gomera, sometimes so clear that we can almost see its little white houses. It is because of the climate of this area that Tenerife is usually named as the “Island of the eternal spring”, with an almost guaranteed sun during all the year which makes it the favorite destination for those travellers looking for sunny and wonderful holidays. Enjoying our beaches, with sand that can be golden or ash black because of the volcano; the pleasant temperature during all the year, and the beautiful landscapes, makes Tenerife South the jewel of the crown of the island for the tourists.
But, from enjoying the warm climate and the best beaches in the south, you will surely surprise with the variety of Tenerife if you move to the north. The best idea to begin our trip is to climb Granadilla de Abona to the town of Vilaflor (the highest one in Spain), where you will not only enjoy stunning views of the whole south of the island or, if you are lucky enough to be cloudy, the charactristic “Clouds’ Sea”, a unique phenomenon that you will never forget.
If you continue climbing, you will soon reach Las Cañadas del Teide National Park, which is right now completely covered with snow. Thus, in just about 40 minutes you will have passed from the pleasant 20-25 degrees of the coast, to find you at about -5 degrees Celsius. Few places in the world offer this contrast so extreme and curious in a such short space.
Inside Las Cañadas National Park of The Teide you will get impressed by its spectacular volcanic landscape, almost lunar, declared Natural Patrimony of the Humanity by the Unesco. To climb up to the crater of El Teide is also an incredible experience, with the possibility of making part of the route in the cable car (if it is working, as in times of snow like this one, it use to be closed for security reasons). To discover the Atronomical Observatory of Las Cañadas is also an essential visit if you are a lover of the stars. You will be lucky if you have the opportunity of visiting this area by night (from the hotel we have several night excursions that will surprise you), as you will discover why this place is one of the most important international centers for the observation of the universe.
And as El Teide crowns Tenerife, you can follow your route in several directions from it. It is, without any doubt, the very heart of the island, with arteries that will take you to any point of the island. You can go down the route of Santiago del Teide, through La Orotava, through Arico… But today we are going to recommend you to do it through Las Mercedes. This is one of the most spectacular routes, as you will leave the arid and cold landscape of the volcano to find yourself in the middle of a really damp forest that looks like a fairy tale: Monte de Las Mercedes. Its towering pines forests, its perpetual fog and the smell of the woods will make you believe that you have traveled the northern part of Spain or even to England or Germany. That’s why this space has been chosen for movies with touches of mystery, such as the recommended ‘Intacto’ directed by Fresnadillo.
From this beautiful place, the logical path will take you to another essential place of the island: La Laguna. The visit to La Laguna is almost mandatory. This historic city, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, with its cathedral, the Nava Palace, the Plaza de los Patos, La Concepción, its beautiful pedestrian streets through the historic center and its multitude of palaces and stately houses (in which are inspired our villas with “Señorial” style), will take you to the early 16th century, when Tenerife had just been conquered by Spain, and this city welcomed the best families who came to settle on the island.
Leaving La Laguna you can head towards Bajamar to discover its impressive cliffs over the sea and its charming coves. The town has several natural pools on the rocks and the beach of Bajamar or San Juan are absolutely pretty.
It is also a must to enjoy the most wonderful panoramas in the north of the island discovering the mountains of the Rural Park of Anaga. Do not miss the route of their viewpoints and paths of poetry.
After that we can follow our route to the north. Tacoronte, La Matanza, La Victoria or Los Realejos, are all small and pinturesque villages that will surprise you, especially for their gastronomy. In this area you will find the best “guachiches”, a type of typical establishment of the island which open only in wine time (from November to April approximately). They are small familiar businesses dedicated to the sale of their own wine, where you can taste the most traditional Canarian dishes (Ribs with potatoes and corn, rabbit in salmorejo, onion cod, stewed octopus, wrinkled potatoes with a lot of “mojo” types…) with unbeatable prices and accompanied by the most authentic wines of the island.
Once you have passed all of them, you can not leave without visiting Puerto de la Cruz with its Lago Martianez, designed by the famous painter and sculptor from Lanzarote, César Manrique, and above all with its majestic architecture, full of stately and colonial houses, mainly these ones, which inspire our Colonial-style villas in the hotel, with their colorful colors and the English touch of the late 16th century. Here you can rest sunbathing with the ocean views and enjoying one of the most wonderful panoramic views to El Teide. Now that it is completely snowy is a real spectacle.
Just 10 or 15 minutes from El Puerto you will find the Villa de La Orotava and its 15 degrees average temperature. You will be amazed by its wonderful subtropical valley, surrounded by lush vegetation, green and banana trees, which looks to El Teide from the foot of the volcano. The Villa de La Orotava, has been declared as Monumental and Artistic Ensemble since 1971, therefore, it is a must see!
In this area you also have three beautiful beaches that you can visit: El Ancon, Los Patos, and the best of all, El Bollullo. They are beaches with black sand and round stones that are accessed by descending between small cliffs. Their views are spectacular, but if you are not an expert swimmer, it is better not to dare bathing on them unless, since this zone of the island owns strong sea currents. If you are passionate of surfing, you cannot avoid enjoying the waves of these bays.
From the Orotava, you will also find a road that leads you directly to El Teide, crossing its valley. But if you decide to continue through the North Route, another necessary visit is Icod de Vinos, most of all to see the millenarian Drago and the Botanical Garden. The famous Millenarian Drago is a majestic tree which receive the admiration from the residents and the outsiders when calculating that its age could be of several centuries or even a millennium. If you want to know a curiosity, do not miss the little hole that is in the center of its trunk and the small “cave” inside it, that you will find the opposite side of the hole. The legend says that a “Guanche” (Tenerife’s aboriginal) princess tryed to escape from the capture of the Spanish conquers by hiding in that cave inside the tree. When the soldiers threw an arrow to El Drago and they saw its characteristic red sap came out of it, they thought they had killed the princess and left the place, leaving her alive. Funny story, isnt it?
Now, if you continue in the north route, you will not be able to resist to make a stop in the curious village of Garachico. Its access through a road with infinite curves may frighten you, however it will be worth it when you arrived to the beautiful hamlet that preserves a Historic Artistic Complex with valuable samples of the Canarian architecture. It is a locality founded by the Spanish colonizers in XVI century. But in the XVII century a volcanic eruption destroyed the town which was submerged under the eruptive materials of the volcano, over which the present town was rebuilt. It has beautiful stately houses including the one of the Counts of La Gomera, or the fabulous monasteries of San Francisco and Santo Domingo.
After Garachico you can take the route back to Costa Adeje through the newly opened “ring freeway” that will take you directly to the municipality of Los Gigantes. However, it is worthwhile to get lost in the infinite curves of Santiago del Teide to get to the most curious of all the villages of the island: Masca. This small hamlet located on the edge of a huge ravine stands out for its impressive views towards La Gomera and, above all, for its curious architecture. Our “Rural” style villas at Hotel Suite Villa María are inspired by some of their small houses. A narrow and twisted path that can only be walked on foot, if you dare to follow it, will lead you downhill through a really wonderful space full of endemic plants, caves, ravines and waterfalls, until you reach to one of the most beautiful beaches in the whole island: Masca beach. This small volcanic sand cove, only accessible on foot or by boat, is a really wonderfull place to relax out of hustle and bustle. You will feel like being in a lonely island.
You can also lose yourself in one of the most photographed places of Tenerife, after the volcano of El Teide: the fascinating Los Gigantes cliffs, with their vertical walls that in some areas reaches more than 600 meters of height. Or you can enjoy La Arena Beach, located next to the cliffs that give the town its name and which is probably the bay with the darkest, totally black, sand of the whole island. A curiosity that you will doubtless save in your retina.
And after traveling through the north, with its exotic landscapes and beaches of volcanic sands, changing from the heat to the cold and the dry to the wet and cloudy weather, you will arrive again to our beautiful village of La Caleta with its nice weather, to continue enjoying your relaxing getaway at Hotel Suite Villa Maria. Would you like to try? Let us know if you do it!
Categories: Descubre Tenerife