Top Things To Do Away From The Coast
If you’ve booked yourself a luxury holiday in Tenerife, you may well be planning to spend your days doing little more than sunning yourself on the beach. Personally, I think there’s a lot on offer inland too, so here are my ideas for some beach-free days out:
Explore Teide National Park
Teide National Park (or Parque Nacional del Teide, to use its Spanish name) is the real gem of the island’s interior. In fact, it’s one of the most popular national parks in all of Spain and a place of huge geological importance – so much so that it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Plus, it’s home to the country’s tallest peak – Mount Teide. You can go walking or mountain biking in the park – whichever most takes your fancy – but there are a few sights in particular you should look out for.
Mount Teide: you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that this is the park’s main attraction. From the summit, you get some really great views, so it’s worth either jumping on the cable car or taking a hike up to the top (guided walks are available if you’d rather follow someone familiar with the route).
Roques de Garcia: these are pretty weird-looking. They’re strange lava pinnacles that have occurred as the result of erosion, and they’re an almost unearthly sight. Roque Cinchado is perhaps the most famous, thanks to its unusual appearance and the fact it is wearing away faster around its base than anywhere else.
Pico Viejo: this last erupted back in 1798 – the most recent of Tenerife’s major eruptions. What’s really interesting about taking a walk here is spotting the marks the lava left behind. Keep an eye out in particular for the huge scar in its western side (700 m long, in fact) where the power of the eruption actually ripped the mountain open.
Hone Your Golfing Skills
Tenerife’s also got a growing reputation as a golfing destination, so if you’re into the sport it’s a great place to come – especially since the year-round good weather means you can play pretty much whenever you please. There are a lot of courses to choose from (particularly around Playa de las Americas, which is a popular resort), like Golf del Sur and Los Palos Centro de Golf. If you fancy making golf a big feature of your holiday, it’s worth considering choosing a hotel with its own golf facilities. The Abama Golf & Spa Resort is one option; you’ll find it in Guia de Isora.
Visit Urban Attractions
Given Tenerife’s gorgeous climate, you by no means want to spend all your time here indoors. That said, there’s some great museums and historical buildings to see, so it’s well worth dedicating at least a little of your time to them. OK, so Santa Cruz isn’t exactly situated deep in the island’s interior, but since it’s the capital city and you won’t actually be on the beach or anything, I think we can let that slide – especially since it’s a good place to learn some local history. For example, you can see the artefact the city was named after – which is the Santa Cruz de la Conquista – by taking a look inside the church Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion. Alternatively, pay a visit to the Museo de la Naturaleza y El Hombre – also in Santa Cruz – to see a great selection of ancient relics. These include pottery and Guache mummies, while there is also a lot of interesting information about the island’s geology and plant life.
These are just a few ideas of what to do when not sunning yourself on the beach; have you got any tips to share?