Northeast zone
Laurel forest, a colonial old town and the island's capital, all in the same day. Anaga, La Laguna, Santa Cruz and Las Teresitas.
Nowhere else on the island is there so much variety so close together: the Anaga massif, with laurel forest that existed before the last ice age, looks straight down over La Laguna, the first colonial old town in the Canary Islands, and over Santa Cruz, the island's capital. And at the foot of it all, the only golden-sand beach in the north of the island. None of this is more than half an hour from the rest.
What to visit
A massif some 6 million years old covered in laurel forest, with trails that cross a permanent cloud forest. The island's best-signposted hiking network, with viewpoints over unspoilt cliffs.
Anaga guide →
The Canary Islands' first colonial urban layout without walls, with straight streets that served as a model for colonial cities in the Americas. A compact old town, easy to cover on foot in a morning.
La Laguna guide →
The island's capital, with Calatrava's Auditorium as its symbol, García Sanabria Park and a carnival (February–March, variable date) that rivals Rio de Janeiro's.
Santa Cruz guide →
The only golden-sand beach in the north, built in the 1970s by importing Saharan sand onto the original black volcanic coast. A breakwater slows the swell, so the water is always calm.
Las Teresitas guide →How to organise it
Frequently asked questions
With 1 full day you can combine Anaga in the morning with La Laguna and Santa Cruz in the afternoon. If you want to add Las Teresitas at an easy pace, 2 days is better.
Yes — there are viewpoints accessible by car, such as the Cruz del Carmen viewpoint or Pico del Inglés, for those who don't want to walk for several hours.
Yes, no problem — they are 8 minutes apart by car or 31 by tram, the most comfortable city combination on the whole island.
It's neither better nor worse, just different: finer, imported sand, calm water thanks to the breakwater, and mountains in the background instead of development. Many prefer it precisely for that.
From Santa Cruz, the north of the island — La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz — is less than 40 minutes away by motorway.
Photographs: Anaga, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Teresitas — Creative Commons licence credits in each individual guide.
