Tenerife travel guide - how to experience the island individually

Why Tenerife is worth a holiday

The first arguments for a holiday in Tenerife definitely include these three: the unique, year-round mild climate that the trade winds bring to the island, the extremely diverse, contrasting natural landscape and the charming islanders with their Canarian traditions and customs. Numerous excursions and activities invite you to explore every last corner of the island.

Climate

The most decisive reason for many tourists to spend their holidays in Tenerife is the island's unique climate. Due to the trade winds that blow across the north-east of the island at 20 to 25 km/h, Tenerife has an average annual temperature of 23°C. In summer, temperatures rarely climb above 30°C, while in winter they are at least 17°C. Consequently, Tenerife is also known as the "island of eternal spring" - and is therefore worth travelling to all year round.

Flora and fauna

On the largest and highest island of the Canary Islands, tourists can discover a special ecological diversity. Over a distance of just a few hundred metres, you can admire Tenerife's ever-changing vegetation in a radical way. The different altitudes, trade winds and microclimates have created six very different ecosystems on Tenerife:

• Succulent scrublands: succulents adapted to drought, strong winds and the many hours of sunshine a year grow along the coast up to 700 metres above sea level. Although the Canary Islands only make up 1.5% of Spain's territory, half of all endemics can be found here

• Thermophilic forests: Sabinas, dragon trees and palms grow in so-called thermophilic forests, which lie 200 to 600 metres above sea level. Moderate rainfall and moderate temperatures favour their growth

• Pine forests: A typical Mediterranean view are pine trees, which also thrive on Tenerife and at 800 to 2000 metres above sea level

• Laurel forests: A special floral feature of Tenerife are the dense laurel forests, in which not only laurel trees grow, but also ferns, Canary Island hollies and Indian perseas. According to legend, witches lived in the dense cloud forests

• heather scrub forests: As the laurel forests have been extensively cut down, the tree heath scrub forests now make up the total forest area of the island. The Micronesian gale tree and the tree heath defy the trade wind clouds and grow to a height of 10 to 20 metres

• High mountains: Extremely dry, hot temperatures prevail above 2000 metres. This is where the wild viper's bugloss grows - the purple-red flowering pride of Tenerife that grows up to 2.5 metres high

On a hiking or cycling tour through Tenerife, you will literally experience a rollercoaster ride through typical Mediterranean areas, exotic deserts as well as arid and mountainous regions. You may encounter over 200 bird species, rare frogs, butterflies and numerous reptile species such as geckos and lizards. The south-west coast is also a popular place to spot fin whales, dolphins, orcas and even blue whales on your Tenerife holiday!

Land and people

Tenerife undoubtedly owes its special charm to its people, their unique character, their Canarian accent and their well-known traditions and customs. An area of around 2,034 square kilometres is home to 888,000 inhabitants, spread across Tenerife's 31 municipalities. San Cristobal de La Laguna and the island's capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife are the largest cities in the archipelago. Most of Tenerife's inhabitants, who refer to themselves as "Tinerfeños", live here and in the towns of Arona and Adeje in the south of the island, where many tourists come.

Although tourism influences the island, the inhabitants have preserved their long history. This makes a holiday in Tenerife an experience of Canarian traditions and customs for tourists. The indigenous people of the island, known as "Guanches", have regained their original Canarian culture after being suppressed under the Spanish rule of the dictator Franco. Two important cultural events are the Festival de Música de Canarias and the carnival in Santa Cruz. At folk festivals and Romerías, the timple, a typical Canarian instrument similar to the ukulele, is played in Canarian folklore, in colourful and splendid costumes.