You know, the mountain does not come to you, it is you who must go to the mountain. And here you'll find it, the magnificent "El Teide"... ;-)
For walkers, the northern parts of Tenerife will have what is most interesting, even if the weather might be a little cooler and more unstable here than in the more typical tourist areas in the south. Rain and fog is not uncommon. Luckily the fairly big but still very nice town of Puerto de la Cruz is beautifully situated just on the north coast. Its more genuine atmosphere and relaxed ways also makes it a favorite among many tourists.
It also has endless possibilities of reasonable eating. But you should preferably stay away of Plaza Charco and the touristy pedestrian street Calle Viejo. Instead move one more block towards the sea, and walk as far into the old town as possible along this street, the Calle de San Felipe, to find the Casa Antigua. The next street towards the sea also have some hidden gems. Then work, or more or less literally, eat your way back towards Plaza Charco during your stay. The last restaurant in that direction is Regulo. It is supposedly very good, but I have never gotten this far back myself...
The "capitol" Santa Cruz might also be used to have easier access to the Anaga peninsula.
There are possibly nice places in the south of the island as well, e.g Los Cristianos is survivable, but at least stay out of the horrible Playa de Las Americas. I did discover some superb dining though. "El Faro" is a very good pick. I probably had my best meal ever in the Canaries at that place. Try e.g. their "Fried Camenbert with Mulberry Sauce" as a starter, it is incredible...
Four areas can be singled out as essential to a walker. These are: The Orotava valley, Las Cañadas (with El Teide), the Anaga range, and the Teno range. You can find my suggestions below, but the possibilities are nearly endless.
Selected walks: For walks on Tenerife take a look in Noel Rochford's Landscapes of Tenerife (refered to below as /Rochford/, and PLEASE NOTE: walk numbers etc. are taken from the 6th edition unless otherwise noted) and Landscapes of Southern Tenerife and La Gomera. You should also check out Tenerife Hiking Map, Walk! Tenerife (refered to below as /Brawn/) by Discovery Walking Guides. There is also Walking in the Canaries Volume 1 by Paddy Dillon and Tenerife by Klaus and Annette Wolfsperger. Tenerife is even mentioned in Lonely Planet's Walking in Spain. I have done walk 1-7 below based in Puerto de la Cruz, walk 8-12 based in Santa Cruz.
◉ 1 PUERTO DE LA CRUZ - CAFÉ VISTA PARAÍSO - PUERTO DE LA CRUZ (my total time 4h28, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +-564m, 4 laps): This is /Rochford/'s walk 1, but adds the walk back to Puerto. This walk is easy to find and follow and the instructions in the book are more than sufficient. Do bring good boots for the climb to the Café. I would say a walking stick is needed if you are going to follow my example and descend back the same way.
◉ 2 LAS CARBONERAS - TABORNO - ROQUE DE TABORNO - TABORNO - CASA CARLOS - CRUZ DEL CARMEN - LAS MERCEDES (my total time 5h47, includes short stops for drinking and photography, as well as ONE HOUR LUNCH at Casa Carlos; +828m -747m, 4 laps): This is /Rochford/'s walk 24, but adds the walk from Casa Carlos to Las Mercedes, via Cruz del Carmen. The main parts of the walk are also walk 41 followed by walk 40 (in reverse) from /Brawn/. The last part of the walk, from Cruz del Carmen, is basically the first half of walk 38 in /Brawn/. If you are a fairly experienced walker you should have little problems doing the entire walk.
The instructions in /Rochford/ should be more than sufficient for the walk from Las Carboneras via Taborno and Roque Taborno to Casa Carlos, but do follow them CAREFULLY.
After lunch I continued by road to Cruz del Carmen. The road is mostly wide and with little traffic so it is quite safe. Just take some care at a couple of blind corners.
At Cruz del Carmen go left into the parking area and find the marked footpath to Las Mercedes. The path is for the most part wide, but it can be incredibly slippery after wet weather! At unmarked forks the correct way is invariably down and to the right. Cross the main road, and at the Las Mercedes Area Recreativa picnic area follow a sign slightly downwards and to the right, across the creek. This path will deposit you after 10 mins or so back onto the main road. Just walk down to the nearest bus stop. From Las Mercedes there are many buses towards La Laguna, most notably lines 70/71.
◉ 3 EL PORTILLO - PALO BLANCO (- REALEJO ALTO) (my total time 4h32, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +151m -1464m, 1 lap): This is /Rochford/'s walk 13. Take care to find the path as the book says "behind" the restaurant. Either walk a few meters more along the main road and fork right on the almost invisible path, or walk through the outdoors restaurant area and ascend stairs in the back where you first fork left, then right. You can also follow the road another minute up and start from the Visitors' Centre.
At my visit there were no cairn marking the "wide path, marked by a small cairn" a couple of minutes after the 1h point (where also table and benches were missing). Also, I would call this path a track, actually. Further along way-marks DO appear.
An added half hour to the time above takes you further down to Realejo Alto, where the are more buses. Most notably lines 390/391 directly back to Puerto. Both the text and the map in the book outlines how to get there, and you should have no problems finding your way.
◉ 4 ICOD EL ALTO - LA GUANCHA (my total time 5h58, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +813m -871m, 1 lap): This is /Rochford/'s walk 15. No noteworthy problems en route, just mind to ignore the unmentioned track forking right at the 2h50 point in the book (Lomo del Astillero).
As you can see from my measurements above, the book exaggerates the strenuousness of this walk somewhat.
◉ 5 LA CALDERA - LOMO DE LOS BREZOS - AGUAMANSA (my total time 4h20, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +631m -775m, 2 laps): This is /Rochford/'s walk 6, or basically walk 5 in /Brawn/ in reverse.
The walk will take you above Los Organos and you will have exhilarating views down the valley (and into the local barrancos...), but there is really no need to worry. The path is rather good, and at the most vertiginous stretch a handrail is securely fastened to the cliff wall.
For the descent back down I disagree with the route selection in /Rochford/. There is no need to follow the LONG and winding track as indicated on the map (also I doubt that this can be done in the 35 mins indicated). The latest edition of the map even shows the shortcut path you should use. Within 10 mins or so after you join the track at the 3h point red-painted stones on your left clearly marks this path (just after a big bend to the right). As you see from the map, you cross one track straight over and continue on another path into the woods. Next time (with the La Caldera/Choza Almadi track) you do the same, but this time on an initially fairly narrow and stony track. You are now back on the route described in the book, and can just continue towards Aguamansa. The map in /Brawn/ more clearly shows all the route alternatives.
◉ 6 EL PORTILLO - PARADOR DE LAS CAÑADAS (duration 3h30mins): This is walk 9 in /Rochford/, or walk 36 in /Brawn/. A tremendous walk in a (at best) fantastic lunar landscape, with Teide looming over you. The walk is very easy to find and follow, just continue a few minutes up the main road from the bus stop and fork left on the marked trail. Do bring warm clothes just in case! And do not miss your bus back from the Parador, it's the only one! The official signs had the length of the walk as 15kms.
OBS: I did this walk last in 1999!
◉ 7 LA MONTAÑETA DEL PALMAR - TENO ALTO - TENO BAJA - BUENAVISTA (duration 4h45mins): This is walk 20 in /Rochford/. To ask the bus driver for La Montañeta (or even "el camino para Teno Alto") may not be a great success. Instead, buy your ticket to El Palmar and walk the few meters up to the clearly visible sign for Teno Alto.
The only real hazard on this walk may be the road back to Buenavista. The road itself is wide, mostly in excellent condition, and traffic is low. But beware that in windy and/or rainy conditions the possibility of falling rocks and landslides will make this stretch risky! AND YOU MUST REMEMBER TO BRING A TORCH FOR THE TUNNEL
OBS: I did this walk last in 1999!
◉ 8 CRUZ DEL CARMEN - PICO DEL INGLÉS - SANTA CRUZ (my total time 4h33, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +100m -1026, 1 lap): This is /Rochford/'s walk 26, just starting at Cruz del Carmen. I added the initial road walk because the walk looked rather short. This was before I realized that I could actually walk all the way back to my hotel without problems. So my timing goes all that way.
No problems to note with this walk.
◉ 9 MOUNT GUAZA (my total time 3h08, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +441m -431m, 1 lap): This is /Brawn/'s walk 9. My timing starts at the bus station and ends back at waypoint 1.
No problems to note with this walk, the way forward and uphill is mostly obvious, and not a lot of instructions are necessary. The faint turnoff you pass (Wp.3 8M) is so faint you will hardly notice it. You will be able to spot it only from above, where a couple of caves will also be visible. An (also very faint) arrow on a big slab of rock marks the spot.
◉ 10 LOS CRISTIANOS - PALM MAR - FARO DE RASCA (+RETURN) (my total time 4h55, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +477m -467m, 2 lap): This is (part of) /Brawn/'s walk 8, but twice as I returned the same way. My timing again starts at the bus station and ends back at waypoint 1.
The faint turnoff (Wp.3) is so faint you will hardly notice it. You will be able to spot it only from above, where a couple of caves will also be visible. An (also very faint) arrow on a big slab of rock marks the spot. I can suggest the alternative route of waiting to turn right until the 14-15M point, where a huge cairn on your right marks a crossroads. Then walk west from (big) cairn to cairn until the obvious "bald knoll". Also be aware that the descent to Palm Mar might not be for the faint-hearted.
◉ 11 IGUESTE DE SAN ANDRÉS - SEMÁFORO (+RETURN) (my total time 2h57, includes short stops for drinking, lots of time for photography, and a half hour break at the Semáforo before returning; +-457m, 2 laps): This is /Rochford/'s walk 30 Short Walk 1.
No problems to note with this walk.
◉ 12 BARRANCO DEL RÍO (my total time 2h27, includes short stops for drinking and photography; +-275m, 2 laps): This walk is part of /Rochford/'s walk 22 Alternative Walk, going both up and returning back down the barranco.
No problems to note with this walk, just follow the barranco up to where it meets the canal, then return back down. Be aware that the MAIN walk 22 is for suicide candidates only. The edge of the canal is only 15cms wide and there is fast running water inside the canal itself. Imagine balancing on that a couple of hundred meters up the hillside...
Pictures from other walks:
Walk numbers are from the 5th edition of /Rochford/.
Walk 2
Walk 3
Walk 4
Walk 9 Short Walk Walk 11
Walk 14
Walk 10
Walk 10
◉ Good starting points: • Puerto de la Cruz - from here buses will take you to most of the northern coast area and also into the Orotava valley and to Las Cañadas
◉ How to get there: • By air • Some ferries from other Canary islands do exist
◉ More info: • Tenerife Tourist Guide, travel guide to the island • TITSA, bus schedules and info
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This page was last modified at May 4, 2008. Pictures for main walks (except El Palmar) and top picture are all ©2006-2008 Harald Haugli. Pictures from "other walks" are ©2004-2008 Christopher Thompson, use must include his credits, full size high res JPEG copies available on request.
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