Long Weekend in Tenerife

I'll admit it, November, is not the best month out there, but it's my b-day and so I decided to always make the best out of it. On top of this, In Belgium my b-day falls on a bank holiday....sooooo it's a day off for a lot of my friends. When thinking where to go next, I thought about the grey Belgian sky in November and ... any place out there rather easy to reach which has chances of some sunlight ... and TADA...Tenerife it was :)

A weekend is clearly not enough time to do it all as in the end there are a lot of things to do in Tenerife. From spending time on the beach, to hiking/biking, stargazing, activity parks and zoos. for sure different people will prioritize different things, but I will list what we did in the time we had. Important also to note that we were a group of 9 staying from Friday AM till Monday PM just to give you an overview of the constraints. 

Rent a car 

We rented a car via CICAR. We had absolutely no problem with them so I can only recommend. 

Accommodation 

This was one of the most difficult decisions to take as it changes the options you have quite significantly. I am not a fan of top touristy locations, so Los Cristianos was out of scope and so i looked around the island and found as best location San Cristobal de La Laguna. It is true that the weather is colder and rainier over there, but I liked the idea of staying in city. 
Hotel: La Laguna Gran Hotel, Booked via Booking. 

Sites we visited 

Los Gigantes

If you are into photography and can schedule to be there around sunset hours, then you would probably have some gorgeous views, otherwise, I see them as some rocks to be fair, nothing that spectacular. The road there via San Juan de la Rambla coming from La Laguna and then Santiago del Teide  is really spectacular though. If you have the time, make sure you also make the detour via Masca. 

Beaches in the South 

Our first stop was Playa de la Arena. A small black sand beach that offers some very nice views and when the waters don't allow you to swim you can watch surfers do their thing :) 

From there we went to Playa Honda which is an actual surfers place...not impressed, from here I wanted to go to Playa de las Americas, but in the end we did not go as looking from the distance did not seem anything special. 

Last beach we checked out was Playa de los Cristianos, which is fine but again, not impressive, not sure what's all the hype about it.  

El Teide 

ok, I need to start by saying that unfortunately we did not have a lot of time (day light time) even if we went twice it was always past 4 PM but this is so worth it. I loved it. You are above the clouds, the landscape is amazing and you can properly stargaze. So I will share some pictures to give you an idea. 

P.S. i apologize for the quality of the night sky, but had no idea how to take that picture and had also no tripod with me....but imagine it as a clear photo...how amazing is that???

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Anaga - Mirador Cruz del Carmen 

We had this booked for our last day, unfortunately it was massively raining. I went out just to take some photos to show you how cool this is. Stop at this Mirador as they can give you a map with what you can visit without a map. If you want to check out the protected areas (like El Pijara), make sure you book your permit in advance. You can only book it online    

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Auditorim

Having the same architect as the train station in Liege, Belgium, I read that this is one of the best places for wonderful photography in Tenerife. The building is super interesting, it's designed in the shape of a human eye (including the eyelid and the eyebrow)

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La Laguna

The colorful old city is listed under UNESCO Heritage. You don't need much time to visit the it, but you'll for sure enjoy the charming streets.  

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Goodbye Tenerife, see you back soon ;)