Tenerife

Tenerife is the largest and most popular with tourists’ island of the Canary archipelago. On the island lives a significant part of population of the Canary Islands. The majority coming to the Canary Islands tourist
chose as travel destination just this island. Due to its wonderful climate the island is perfect for all travelers, for families with children and for the elderly people.

The largest city of island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is one of the capitals of the Canary Islands (jointly with the “Las Palmas de Gran Canaria” city). Carnival Santa Cruz de Tenerife is held here every year in February. It is the second most popular carnival in the world.

According to the statistics, the Tenerife Island was visited by more than 5.16 million people in 2011. It is about 36 percent of the total number visited Canary Islands tourists.

What country residents most often spend their holidays on the Tenerife? Below is the information for the year 2011 (thousands people).

• United Kingdom (UK) - 1658,3
• Spain - 1302,3
• Germany - 589,2
• France - 161,4
• Sweden - 155,7
• Netherlands - 154,1
• Belgium - 140,7
• Finland - 131,1
• Italy - 117,7
• Russia - 111,7

Overall information

Tenerife is located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 300 kilometers from the coast of Africa (Morocco). The area of Tenerife Island is about 2.034 thousand km2. The shape of the island resembles a triangle with sides of length approximately 90, 90 and 50 kilometers. The coastline of the island is about 340 kilometers long.

Most of the island territory occupies hills and mountains. In the western part of the island is the highest point on the island (and Spain), Teide volcano. The height of the volcano is 3718 meters. Valleys are another feature of the island. The most famous are the “Valle de La Orotava” and “Valle de Guimar”.

The island coastline is largely a steep, rocky coast. However, the island has many excellent beaches with total length 67 kilometers. On the north coast is dominated beaches of dark, volcanic sand and pebbles. Best beaches are located on the south and south-west coast of the island.

One of the well-known is “Playa de las Teresitas” beach, which is located in the eastern part of the island, at a distance of about 7 kilometers from the Santa Cruz city, near the San Andrés village. Millions of tons of yellow sand have been delivered from the Sahara desert b (Africa) to create this beach. To protect the beach from the ocean waves made an artificial reef and breakwater. Many consider this beach the best beach on the island.

The island has begun to attract the attention of tourists in the late 19th century. At that time Europeans most often have been coming to the northern part of the island, to the cities Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and area “Valle de la Orotava”. Currently, most tourists come to the south of the island. Here, near the town of Arona, are located famous resorts “Playa de las Américas” and Los Cristianos. Approximately 65% of all hotels are located in the south of the island. Creating conditions for tourist service continues in a northerly direction (in the direction of La Caleta village). To improve the quality of services (and income), local authorities banned construction new hotels in the level lower than “5 stars”.

Places to visit

Diversify your vacation - travel to interesting places.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This is the largest city on the island. There is a lot to offer tourists in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. We recommend visiting.
Learn more.

Teide National Park. Teide Volcano is the most famous and most visited tourist attraction of the island of Tenerife. We recommend visiting.
Learn more.

La Laguna. The city of San Cristobal de La Laguna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located near the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Learn more.

Jardin Botanico. The Botanical Garden is one of the most popular attractions in the city of Puerto de la Cruz.
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Siam Park. Siam Park is the most popular water park in Tenerife and undoubtedly one of the best in the World.
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Los Gigantes. Los Gigantes (Acantilado de Los Gigantes) is a small resort town on the west coast of Tenerife. Tourists come to this village to admire the high cliffs that rise above the seashore.
Learn more.

Tourist map of the island of Tenerife.

Climate and weather

The climate of the Tenerife Island (like all the Canary Islands) is the main thing what attracts here large number of tourists from many countries. The climate of the Canary Islands was repeatedly named as “the best climate in the world”. The island of Tenerife is also often called the island of eternal spring (Isla de la Eterna Primavera).

Warm weather is on the island throughout the year. Here is warm enough, but not too hot at any time of the year. The average daytime temperature in winter is 20 - 22°C and 26-28°C in summer. The air temperature in winter is not very different from the temperature in summer (difference is not more than 7°C). The temperature of the water near the coast varies insignificantly throughout the year varies and about + 20°C. This is one of the few places in Europe where you can swim and sunbathe all year round. (But it can be some cool water for swimming sometimes.) The number of sunny days is sufficiently large even in the winter months.

The climate of northern and southern parts of the island has significant differences. Temperatures in northern parts of island usually may be somewhat lower than in the south (5-10 degrees). In the north of the island are more rain and cloudy days (here falls about 70% of the total precipitation). (For example, in the town of Buenavista del Norte, which is located in the north-west, are falling three times more rainfalls than in the island's capital “Santa Cruz de Tenerife”.)
The southern part of the island has a dry and hot climate. The total number of rainfalls is small during the year (no more than 5 rainy days in winter). The hottest month is August, the coldest - January.

However, when you travel to the island of Tenerife, you should also take with you a little bit of warm clothing. It can be cool even in summer in the evenings. Often, breeze can blow from the ocean. Warm clothing is necessarily useful when riding in the mountains and on the trip to the highest mountain of the island, the Teide volcano.

When planning a trip, you may want to see weather forecast. Often it (forecast) shows the cool weather and rain. In practice, the rains are usually short and sparse. The southern coast is warm enough even in the presence of clouds. But in winter the water can be not enough warm.

Information about the weather, air temperature, rainfall in the region of Santa Cruz (the north-eastern part of the island).

Useful links for those who are planning a trip to the Canary Islands:
Find flights and buy tickets.
Book a hotel in Canary Islands.
Book a transfer (taxi, minibus) from the airport to the hotel.