TENERIFE · CANARY ISLANDS
Above the clouds, beside the whales.
Mount Teide rises over a sea of cloud while pilot whales swim the strait below. Volcano summits and stargazing, whale and dolphin cruises, black-sand coves, Masca’s gorge, and the ferry across to La Gomera.
Only in Tenerife
Three things you can only do here.
Stand on Spain’s highest volcano, watch resident whales in the strait below, and find some of the darkest skies in Europe, all on one island in the Atlantic.
Resident all year
Whales in the Strait
The deep, sheltered channel between Tenerife and La Gomera holds resident pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, one of the few places on Earth you can count on seeing them in any month. UNESCO named this stretch a Whale Heritage Site, the first in Europe.
- 1 Tenerife: Eco-Yacht Whale and Dolphin Watching and Swimming
- 2 Los Cristianos Respectful No-Chase Whale and Dolphin Safari
- 3 Costa Adeje: Whale & Dolphin Eco-Cruise with Snacks & Drinks
3,715 metres up
The Roof of Spain
Teide is the highest peak in Spain and the third-tallest volcano on the planet measured from its base on the sea floor. The cable car lifts you to 3,555 metres in eight minutes, the trade-wind clouds breaking on the slopes far below.
- 1 Tenerife: Mount Teide Tour with Cable Car Ticket & Transfer
- 2 Tenerife: Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tour
- 3 Tenerife: Sunset and Stargazing at Teide National Park
A Starlight Reserve
Skies Above the Clouds
Teide National Park sits above the cloud layer in a certified Starlight Reserve, with some of the clearest, darkest skies in the northern hemisphere. It is why observatories cluster on the ridge, and why the Milky Way turns up on almost any clear night.
- 1 Tenerife: Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tour
- 2 Tenerife: Sunset and Stargazing at Teide National Park
- 3 Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing with Dinner (Star Safari)
The one everyone books
The trip most people book first.
More travellers reach for this than anything else on the island. If you lock in a single excursion before you fly, make it this one.
The classics
Tenerife’s Most Popular Tours & Excursions
Whale and dolphin cruises, the Teide cable car, Masca by boat and the catamaran days. The excursions most visitors book first.
Where to begin
The days a Tenerife trip is built around.
Whale watching, the volcano, a day under sail, the dive sites, the buggy trails and the gorge at Masca. The experiences most trips are planned around, and the best of each.
The big question
How to climb Mount Teide.
Spain’s highest peak sits an hour above the coast, and there is more than one way to meet it. Here is how the cable car, the summit permit and the stargazing run compare.
Out on the water
Half a day under sail.
The calm, sheltered water off the south-west is made for sailing. Catamarans and yachts slip out from Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje for half-day trips: a swim stop in a quiet cove, lunch on deck, and often a pod of dolphins alongside before the afternoon breeze turns you back. The classic Tenerife day on the Atlantic.
See the sailing and catamaran trips →The green north
Cliffs, gorges and a dragon tree.
North of Teide the island turns lush. The Masca gorge drops between towering walls to a hidden cove, Garachico sits in the black lava that once swallowed its harbour, and Icod guards a dragon tree a thousand years old. Cooler, greener and a world away from the southern beaches.
See the gorge and valley tours →The roof of Spain
A volcano you climb above the clouds.
Teide rises 3,715 metres over the Atlantic, high enough that the trade-wind clouds break against the slopes below and the summit floats clear above them. Walk the crater floor between old lava flows and wind-carved rock, ride the cable car to the shoulder, or climb to the very top for sunrise. The landscape is so otherworldly that film crews stand in for other planets here.
Browse Mount Teide tours →Resident all year
Whales in the strait, every month.
The deep channel between Tenerife and La Gomera holds resident short-finned pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins, one of the few places in the world you can count on them in any season. Boats leave Los Cristianos and Puerto Colon for a couple of hours out, cutting their engines when a pod surfaces. UNESCO made this stretch a Whale Heritage Site, the first in Europe.
- 1 Tenerife: Eco-Yacht Whale and Dolphin Watching and Swimming
- 2 Los Cristianos Respectful No-Chase Whale and Dolphin Safari
- 3 Costa Adeje: Whale & Dolphin Eco-Cruise with Snacks & Drinks
After the sun drops
Long Canarian evenings, table and stage.
When the heat eases, the island slows down to eat. Flamenco and Canarian folk shows run alongside a long dinner and a glass of local wine, the south-west resorts switch on, and the best tables stay busy late. Add a sunset sail or a stargazing dinner under Teide and the evening becomes its own excursion.
See all 23 evening experiences →Around the island
Pick a corner of the island.
Teide for the volcano. Masca for the gorge. Icod for the dragon tree, Loro Parque for the orcas, the slopes for the vineyards, and La Gomera a ferry ride away.
By activity
Or choose your kind of day.
Out on a catamaran if you want the whales. Up Teide if you want the views. Into the pine forest by buggy, off the cliffs by paraglider, or under the surface with the turtles and rays.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
First time on Tenerife? A long weekend that takes in the volcano, the water and the green north.
Just added