Please tell me about the Canary Islands -

[Burgmeister]

We are regular visitors to Tenerife as we have a timeshare there. What to do? A visit to Mt Teide is definitely worth it, there is some extraordinary scenery. If you approach from the north, just before you reach the main Caldera the area is covered with what looks, and feels, like kitty litter. Weird.

For any families who would like something to entertain the kids I would recommend the Loro Parque. The park has dolphin and orca shows as well as a sea lion show. It has a penguin house very similar to the one in Seaworld (FL) and an awful lot of tropical birds. My daughter loves it (so do I actually). Also for families, if you have time, you could try Siam Park. This is a water park. Great fun but it is in Playa De Las Americas, so about a 45-60 minute drive.

 

For those not wanting to venture far from Santa Cruz, a trip to La LAguna can be very pleasant. THis is an old university town. Very peaceful with lovely little plazas. Apparently (and we haven't tried it as I always hire a car) you can get a tram from Santa Cruz.

 

HTH

[Cornishpastyman1]

We are regular visitors to Tenerife as we have a timeshare there. What to do? A visit to Mt Teide is definitely worth it, there is some extraordinary scenery. If you approach from the north, just before you reach the main Caldera the area is covered with what looks, and feels, like kitty litter. Weird.

For any families who would like something to entertain the kids I would recommend the Loro Parque. The park has dolphin and orca shows as well as a sea lion show. It has a penguin house very similar to the one in Seaworld (FL) and an awful lot of tropical birds. My daughter loves it (so do I actually). Also for families, if you have time, you could try Siam Park. This is a water park. Great fun but it is in Playa De Las Americas, so about a 45-60 minute drive.

 

For those not wanting to venture far from Santa Cruz, a trip to La LAguna can be very pleasant. THis is an old university town. Very peaceful with lovely little plazas. Apparently (and we haven't tried it as I always hire a car) you can get a tram from Santa Cruz.

 

HTH

 

Very good suggestions. From holidays there I made this video of Mount Teide

and this from a day at the Loro Parque

[knot knormal]

My short review as promised. We were on a TA on the AOS. We used Patricia (Patsy) Little for our private tour (16). She is an expat and provided a driver and van. It was a great tour! She was prompt with the pick-up (8:30 AM), had a roomy van, we could have seated at least 4 more comfortably, and off we were for the day. We first stopped at La Laguna and an informative walking tour. Then on to Mount Tiede - and a trip it was - the wind was howling, the bus was rocking BUT we made it! A short lunch stop for LOADS of tapas and wine or coffee. Then a leisurely trip down the valley of La Oratavo and a drive through Puerto de la Cruz. We did not stop there, but it was offered. We were back to the port a little after 3:40 PM. If you have any questions contact me at whitejn@comcast.net. Patsy can be reached at patricialittle@hotmail.com - PLEASE tell her Christie recommended her!

To 40yearoldcruiser:

 

Our charge was 450E for 16 people. Patsy is a licensed tour guide for the island of Tenerife, but does independently guided tours. So, she must contract separately for the van, driver, insurance, etc. All I can say is contact her and ask for the price of a tour for your 5 people. She was GREAT, so much knowledge, enthusiasm..she is originally from Connecticut so her English is perfect. Tell her Christie said Hello!

[browneyes7]

We will be on the Splendour of the Seas in Nov. and one of the ports will be the Canary Islands. Would appreciate any info. from someone who has been there.

 

 

Thanks,

Cheryl and Ray

On a warm mountain ridge in WV

 

Thanksgiving on the Splendour

<marquee width = 45%> Splendour of the Seas Nov/13/04 ---Zaandam Jan/04---Grandeur of the Seas May/03</marquee>

 

I enjoyed Las Palmas, Canary Islands. We just wandered around. It had a really nice beach area!

[gnocchi_mommy]

I am enjoying this thread, we will be in Tenerife w/ IOS in March. Its a 10 am-7 pm port call so renting a car is an attractive idea. We are Americans, will we have any problem with American drivers license? Will we need additional insurance? We have rented and driven in Mexico and England, so we are comfortable driving abroad- but am not familiar *at all* with Tenerife or the Canary Islands- is it a generally safe area for tourists? Are there any security advisories or issues we should be aware of? Thank you!!

[Desert Cruizers]

We will be in Tenerife in Nov during our LOS TA and glad I ran across this thread regarding tours, will pass this information unto our Roll Call and Web Site coordinator and her husband. many of our group are beginning to plan for Tenerife. We will be there 9 hours until 6 PM.

[njhh]

Hi, although rather late in the game, we are also interested in information about good tour guides on Tenerife. Could you forward your information? Thanks!

 

njhh (at) aol.com

[dln929]

We do not have notes, but we do have our memory. I should add that we have our own Garmin GPS which was helpful (although some of the roads were not at the right place on the Garmin). We picked-up our car and immedately drove towards the National Park and Volcano. There is a main route that runs from Santa Cruz to the park (its designated TF24) or there is the alternative longer way of driving along the coast and then later cutting inland to the park (this depends on how much time you have and how you want to divide up your day). Once in the park there is primarily one route to the top (amazing) where you will be in good company with all the tour buses. There are a few rest stops up on the volcano (with a cafe) where you can catch your breath (literally). Where we deviated from most tours is that we decided to come back down from the volcano using the back (north route) (TF21) which takes you towards the town of La Orotavia, made our way over to the coast and then simply drove along the northern coast line (there are several towns) until we simply cut back across the island the main highway (TF 5) via San Cristobal back to the port. It was a wonderful day and we were pretty conservative and were back in town by 2:30. The GPS was helpful when we decided to explore some of the small north coast villages. Keep in mind that when you rent a car they will give you a decent road map and will even dispense advice on the best route. But, that volcano was simply amazing and for us, rivaled even Haleakala on Maui. As we said in the earlier post, those that found this island boring were those that simply stayed in town. I would also mention that our weather was really perfect. There was a cloud deck at about 7000 feet so as we worked our way up through the park we finally entered the clouds and then broke out above the clouds about 1000 feet further up...where the sky was crystal clear and the views amazing. The clouds below only covered part of the island (mostly like a rain forrest just over the park) so we could see forever. When we drove down the back road we went through several thousand feet of heavy fog (the clouds again) and then broke-out into the clear when we got down to perhaps 4000 feet where the entire north coast was in front of us in all its majesty. You must keep in mind that the highest point on the volcano is over 12,000 feet so its quite a trip. When we neared the top there were some hiking trails (its like the lunar landscape since not much can grow at this altitude) and we tried to take a walk. But at 11,000+ you quickly get exhausted. What fun. The next time we get back to Tenerife we will do exactly the same thing.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank. Your post inspired us to rent a car for the day. It will be fun. The only time we ever have the opportunity to drive stick shift is when we're out of the country! And to drive it on mountain roads...oh my my. This is going to be an adventure. :D