Tenerife is the biggest and highest island of the archipelago with the imposing mount Teide that rises over 3,000 meters within the impressive crater of Las Cañadas. Declared a National Park, it is equipped with a refuge inn and cable car to fly over the fascinating lava rock landscapes, reminiscent of the beginning of time.
"Fascinating " is the word for this island and not only because of Teide or Las Cañadas.
On the Northern route, around a bend on the highway, the green Valley of 'La Orotava' appears with Teide in the background. People say that, when the naturalist Alexander found it he couldn't resist the impulse to put himself on his knees, astonished. In the valley you can find the Villa de La Orotava, filled with small palaces, wooden rows of balconies and other elements of public and domestic architecture, also found in the rest of the islands, but that reach special profusion and wealth here. The splendid nature of the valley and its fertile vegetable gardens meets the divine through the hands of the artists whom every year, during the festivities of the Corpus, create monumental floral carpets for the passage of the Santísimo.
Near La Orotava, Puerto de la Cruz offers its visitors, sport and leisure facilities and restaurants with regional and international cuisine to make complete excellent vacations, that allow you to combine the benefit of good temperatures with a better knowledge of history, the customs and folklore of the place.
Coming out of the Valley of La Orotava, where the so-called "low island" begins, is located 'Villa de Icod' that, in addition to the most characteristic wines of Tenerife, is home of the millenarian dragon tree. The dragon tree is the emblematic tree of the Canary Islands.
The capital of the island, Santa Cruz, modern, of wide boulevards and avenues, also offers leafy parks and gardens and colonial narrow streets and buildings in its old part.
A City well equipped for work, rest, sports, cultural entertainment and having fun, has managed to turn its Carnival into a spectacle known world wide. Carnival attracts visitors that seem delighted with the variety of colours, clean fun and good taste in which all the population of the city participates.
Just a few kilometres from Santa Cruz, practically together, you will find the city of 'La Laguna', the first capital of the island founded at the end of 15th century by the conqueror Fernández de Lugo. It’s a monumental city and this is where the Romería de San Benito takes place every year, a kind of a pilgrimage with a strong farmer "flavour".
The South of Tenerife is completely different. Years ago it contrasted so much with the rest of the island - with the green of the trees of the forests of Las Mercedes and of La Esperanza or the pine groves - that you could think that you were in a totally different world. Inhospitable extensions that today, thanks to channelled waters and the tourist dedication of places like Las Américas, Los Cristianos, El Médano or Chayota, offer a different look without losing the attractiveness of the great plains. |
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