Teide National Park

I visited this WHS in January 2020. I travelled around this WHS by rental car over 2 days using Guía de Isora as my base for 4 nights. This was quite convenient to explore different areas of the Teide NP while at the same time being close to Los Cristianos ferry terminal and South Tenerife Airport.

I had very high expectations for this WHS and I must say I definitely wasn't disappointed. It is a very well kept national park with free access, free parking, free visitor centres and a free botanical garden! The only time I had to pay was for the return Teleferico to the very top (27 eur) which is not at all necessary to still enjoy the OUV of this WHS.

During my visit I was blessed with beautiful sunny weather with temperatures varying from 1-23 degrees Celsius (depending on the altitude). Make sure to check the Teide weather report as it is quite possible to have completely different weather around Teide compared to the rest of Tenerife (most of the time you're likely to be above any cloud cover on Tenerife when visiting Teide NP). Moreover, at night and very early in the morning, it can snow quite a lot, so much so that the main roads can be closed at any given time should the authorities deem this necessary.

Over the course of 2 days, I stopped at practically all the several viewpoints or miradores along the TF-21 and the TF-38 …

Fascinating place on the tourist island of Tenerife. About a 2 hour coach ride up from the seaside resorts. It has moonscape like elements and lots of rock formations around the slopes of the giant volcano. There is a cable car to the top of the volcano from the coach park on the higher slopes, or you can walk up if brave.

Unique environment for plants and insects at such a high altitude with the volcano rising directly from the ocean. 

We booked a coach tour from our hotel but you could easily hire a car and drive up as you would have more time to explore and not have 50 people following you in a group.

Tip: take warm clothing as it can be very cold and windy at the top even if it is scorching down in the resorts!

I visited Tenerife in January 2011. I have great memmories on it, because it was a special trip when me and my friend crossed a half of the island by walk overnighting in the wild nature. I am pretty sure that it was not completely legal in National Park. I am also sure that it will never happen to me again, because I am getting older prefering hotels and not prefering heavy backpacks anymore... So, it was a unique experience in all aspects.

We walked from Vilaflor located near the southern edge of Teide caldera. It was for the first time I was in the vulcanic landscape, and I cannot describe properly how I felt when have been climbing Guajara mountain, seeing Teide mountain and the entire caldera for the first time. We refused using "teleferico" to reach the summit of Teide and walked towards Refugio de Altavista, where we have pre-booked an accommodation by phone. We could not climbed the peak because of ice plates that might be dangerous. Then, we walked to the east to Cumbre Dorsal mountain range.

What I loved was all the contrasts: blue sky vs. black basalt rocks such as Huevos del Teide vs. ochre or red soil; sunny days vs. freeze of night; Moon-like landscape vs. green pine forests outside the caldera vs. blue ocean. Furthermore, the color shades of rocks within the caldera changed during the day.

To conclude: Teide National Park embodies one of the most beautiful landscape …

We visited Teide National Park for two days in the autumn.

The first day we went to the 'Roques de Garcia', already mentioned in Els' and Hubert's reviews. We can confirm that during the 3.5km walk, at some points it's easy to lose track of the path. Just keep looking for the small 'stone towers' which indicate the correct way.

The second day we got up early to climb Mount Teide. The best way to do this is to start from the small parking located around kilometer 40 on road TF-21. The trail is about 9km (one way) and first leads you along Montaña Blanca and the impressive 'Huevos del Teide' (lava 'cannonballs' from the eruption of the vulcano).

After some time you will reach the base of Mount Teide. When we visited, the whole track (from the start) was covered with snow which made the way up Mount Teide somewhat difficult. The trail ends at 'La Rambleta' at about 3.500m, which is also the place where you will arrive if you make use of the cable car.

For the last 200-300m to the top, you need a permit. We disposed of such permit (it can be requested online and is free of charge) but because of the snow the summit was closed. However, even from La Rambleta the view is stunning - on the picture you can see Pico Viejo and the island of La Gomera.

As mentioned below, note that at 3.500m it's much colder than at sea …

When I told my colleagues that I would be visiting Tenerife during the New Year’s holiday, they thought that I finally had succumbed to a relaxing beach vacation. They were surprised to hear that it would put me within reach of 3 WHS. Those that had been to Tenerife themselves all offered “El Teide” as the island’s most likely WH candidate.

The Teide WHS is a volcanic landscape that actually covers two peaks (Pico Viejo and Teide), of which the latter is the most iconic. I already enjoyed good views of it from the plane while approaching Tenerife Norte Airport, and from the top of the Garajonay on La Gomera.

Teide NP is part of our infamous “One million visitors or more”- connection. Visitor numbers have actually been dwindling over the past 5 years (due to the economic crisis?). Still, it can get very busy up there, and I used Hubert’s excellent advice on how early to start out. I left my hotel in Granadilla at 7.30 a.m. When I arrived at the park some 45 minutes later, it was almost freezing cold (+2.5 Celsius) but I had the place to myself. Just wonderful.

I stopped at a few Miradores, watching the sunrise. Comparisons to the moon have been made, but the landscape looked more like Southwestern USA to me. It’s not that barren: tough plants cover large parts of the ground. The most prominent spot here at the southern side of the park is the Roques …

In November 2007, we spent one week on Tenerife to escape the cold weather in Austria. We visited the Mount Teide National Park as a day trip from our accommodation at the south-west coast. We started early in the morning (at 7am) with our rental car in order to avoid the large tour buses, which start between 8 and 9 am from all major tourist centres. Another reason to get up early is that in the morning the air is clearer and the view is better, in the afternoon the Teide summit could often be hidden by clouds.

We took the road via Guia de Isora and arrived at the National Park after about 1.5 hours. The route is very interesting, you drive from sea level to 2,300 meters through different vegetation zones. First everything is green and colourful, we drove through banana plantations, followed by pine forests, and finally we arrived at the caldera Las Canadas, where rocks and solidified lava flows predominate. It reminded me of pictures from the Moon or Mars. Early in the morning we were almost alone on the road, so that we could stop everywhere to look around and to take pictures.

The most popular and most spectacular viewing point is the Roques de Garcia, opposite are a Hotel Parador and an information centre. The Roques are bizarre, unique rock formations. Plenty of needle-shaped rocks of different colours stand one after another at a length of several hundred meters. The rocks consist of different …

This is one of the 14th Spanish National Parks and it is located in the island of Tenerife. It comprises the Mount Teide, highest mountain in Spain, and some areas around it.

I did not try to climb the Mount Teide till the top when I was there but it does not seem to be a very hard task. Just take into account that the summit is at almost 4000 meters therefore lack of oxygen can be a problem. You should also take into account that all the territory of the National Park is over 2000 meters high therefore weather can be quite different than in the rest of the island.

Landscape in Teide National Park is vulcanic and there are some endemic plants living there. Inside the Park there is one Parador, that would be a very good choice to stay as hotels of this group are among the best and most charming ones in the country.