What To Do In Tenerife If You Don't Like Beach Holidays?

If you are someone who prefers holidaying away from the seaside crowds, the Canary Island of Tenerife has, surprisingly, plenty to offer.

So what to do in Tenerife if you don't like beach holidays?

Here are a few suggestions.

If you love street art.

Visit the second largest city on the island Puerto de la Cruz.

Of all the places we visited on the island, Puerto de la Cruz seems to have the most to offer those with artistic inclinations.

It’s got lots of cool street art, some quaint churches, a really interesting botanical garden coupled with a beautiful atmosphere, as well as a nice mix of visitors and locals.

It certainly is a very touristy place, but it doesn’t seem to have lost its authenticity like so many places do when they become a major tourist destination.

Someone must have spent long hours crocheting a wall-blanket for this house in Puerto de la Cruz!

When wandering around in a new place, I love turing to less frequented streets for those not-so-picture-perfect shots.

Here’s one from Puerto de la Cruz:

Here's another one:

If You Are A Keen Gardener

If you are a bit of a gardener or simply enjoy nature, stay for a bit longer in Puerto de la Cruz and visit the Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz (Jardín de Aclimatación de la Orotava).

It was originally created in 18th century as an ‘acclimatization’ garden for tropical plants which were then introduced in mainland Spain, mainly in the royal court so as the king could enjoy the plants coming from his overseas territories.

It is quite easy to spend half a day in the botanical gardens just wondering around and admiring the fascinating colours, shapes and smells of flowers, trees and other plants.

If You Love History.

A short drive from Puerto de la Cruz, there’s a small town with a fascinating history, Garachico.

Garachico used to be an extremely prosperous trading port of Tenerife.

Unfortunately, in 1709 it was hit by the disastrous eruption of Teide volcano, after which the town never recovered its former wealth and glory as well as its status of the premier trading port.

Today Garachico is a popular tourist attraction by day and a sleepy town by night.

It has a beautiful old town, with the main square being the centre of attention, as well as some fascinating colonial buildings, old convents and lush gardens.

The seafront is also spectacular, where many tourists arrive to see and swim in the seafront pools formed by the volcanic lava.

If You love Mountains And Walks

The centre of Tenerife island has a national park with Teide Peak towering over all the island.

This photo is taken from pixabay

You can drive up to the volcano and take one of the numerous mountain walks to get even closer to the top.

Did you know that there has been a bit of seismic activity under Tenerife volcano Mount Teide as recently as October 2017?

Apparently, the media were predicting an imminent eruption at one point…

Apart from the Teide there are also many other walks on the island, where you can enjoy the rugged terrain and admire the mountain and the sea views.

This photo is taken from pixabay

You can get all the necessary information about walking trails and tours at your hotel.

Make sure to bring suitable footwear and check out the weather forecast – as I mentioned in my previous post, just because it’s sunny on the south side beach, it doesn’t mean the mountains will be as welcoming!

What to buy in Tenerife?

If you want some ideas about special souvenirs to buy in Tenerife see this post

This blog post first appeared on my blog www.curioustovisit.com as part of my 3 Part series about Tenerife.

All photos and text is my @originalcontent / @originalworks

You can see copyright signs on photos because they were taken for my blog.

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