Tourists make their way in the hundreds of thousands to Tenerife each year, but surprisingly few people think about walking holidays in Tenerife; but this is a mistake. The fact is that Tenerife has some breathtakingly beautiful rugged landscapes and amazing views. What’s more – you can walk comfortably at any time of the year.
Take, for example, a walk to the summit of Mount Teide, where you’ll be able to take in amazing views of Tenerife and the neighbouring Canary Islands. You can start a superb walk here from the base of the adjacent Montaña Blanca, for example, already at around 2,390m above sea level and climb steadily around the back of Montaña Blanca – with some wonderful views of the north of Las Cañadas en-route.
The view from the summit is Mount Teide is the ultimate prize of this walk. On a clear day you can usually see four of the neighbouring Canary Islands – and pretty much the whole of Tenerife.
Be warned, though; Mount Teide is a hard mountain to climb by anyone’s standards – and will include around five hours’ worth of serious ascent, so it’s suitable for experienced hikers and climbers only – or very fit people accompanied by more experienced walkers.
An alternative walk is the Chinyero and Volcan de Garachico where you’ll see some stunningly beautiful and rugged volcanic landscapes – shaped from relatively recent eruptions, geologically speaking.
The ascents here are more gentle and you’ll see some great views of Mount Teide en-route, which rises to 3,718m and its near neighbour Pico Viejo, which reaches 3,135m. These mountains usually retain their snowy peaks until early spring.
Alternatively – how about hiking from Guajara to Vilaflor, for example? This is a reasonably comfortable walk for most fit walkers of 16 kilometres during which you’ll ascend around 400m as you climb Tenerife’s fourth highest summit, taking in ash fields and pine forests on your way to the mountain town of Vilaflor on the way.
Tenerife has many such beautiful and sometimes quite challenging hikes. There’s a wealth of information out there from the Islas Canarias Tourist Authority, amongst others. It’s easy enough to combine a few days’ walking with a beach holiday if that’s your thing – or simply to walk and climb a different challenge each day – you won’t run out of options for quite a while here!
So don’t underestimate the amazing hill-walking offered by this traditional beach and sun-seekers’ tourist hotspot – this island has a lot more to offer.