When you think about Mount Teide in Tenerife, what do you think of? Height, Volcanoes, Baron Land? Well, Teide ticks all of the boxes. Few people ever pronounce it correctly, especially if like me you're from the northern hemisphere. Teide, prounounced "tidy" by so many, is actually pronounced "tay-dee", as several commenters noted on my recent YouTube video "permit to the peak" which featured yours truly obtaining a permit from the Canarian government to take a hike to the very peak of Teide, at about 12,000ft above sea level.
Three thousand years ago when the Guanches discovered the Canary Islands, it would a take a further several decades before Mount Teide was eventually discovered. Leap forward to 1704 and our very own Teide, one of the most popular natural attractions on the Canary Islands, erupted. Nobody is sure exactly when or indeed where the first eruption occurred as few records remain from that era. Teide's last eruption was in November 1908 making it to have a known active life of at least 200 years.
Nowadays, the Teide National Park (the UNESCO World Heritage Site protected land on which Mount Teide stands), expects around 3.5m visitors a year and all sorts of visitor attractions have sprung up to cater for this level of tourism. Day trips from all of the main resorts are a daily thing as well as quad bike tours (you are not allowed to stray from the established roads however) as well as being a popular year-round resort for professional and semi-pro competitive cyclists in training.
All told, on a busy summer day, you'd be mistaken for thinking you hadn't accidentally ended up at some mass jamboree.
One of the main attractions in the Parque Canadas del Teide (the national park of Teide), is the cable car ride. At the cable car base station, you're already about 7,000ft above sea level. It's easy enough to find and you can't miss it given the vast number of visitors who struggle to find a parking space most days of the year.
The ride to the summit of Teide takes about 15 minutes and takes you to an altitude of about 11,000 ft.
Once at the peak, it's then about another 40 minutes on foot, up the rough and at times steep climb to the very peak of Teide at about 12,500ft. For this last part of the trek, if you really do want to see the peak (and it is worth seeing), you need a permit from the Canarian Government. These are free but only 200 per day are allocated, in order to minimise damage to what is a very interesting attraction.
In order to get your permit, visit this website: Online Reservation Center - ORGANISMO AUTÓNOMO PARQUES NACIONALES (reservasparquesnacionales.es)
You should ideally look to book up to six months prior to your visit, as permits do get taken very quickly and few cancellations happen, in my experience.
Having done this climb myself, I would strongly suggest walking boots and a jacket - it gets very cold up there even in the summer months. Remember, under normal circumstances, you only ever see that altitude from the interior of an aircraft cabin!
Mount Teide really is the star attraction in Tenerife. On most days, you can see the peak from around 50 miles away so if you're sat at the left hand side window of your flight into Tenerife South airport, you'll get some amazing views as your aircraft approaches, before you bank left and descend into the airport itself.
In addition to the cable car ride, which can be booked at the only official operator Mount Teide Cable Car in Tenerife | Volcano Teide there are a number of other, free, attractions as you drive around Teide.
My own suggestions of places to see would be the stunning mountain village of Villaflor. It is one of the highest villages in the Canary Islands and there are a number of small places to stop off for a bite to eat. There is also a small hotel there if you want to stay over.
If you have a hire car, even better. Whilst you can get a tour bus, or actually use the excellent public transport system of Tenerife, Titsa, the car enables you to take Teide at your own pace and to be honest, to give it justice, it's a full day trip, rather than just going to the places that the tour operators will take you to.
My route
I explain more on my Mount Teide road trip video but simply, my route up Teide was to start at my hotel near Costa Adeje in the south. From here it's about a 45-60 minute drive to Villaflor where I stopped for lunch. I then took a leisurely drive further up Teide, taking in the increasingly volcanic scenery as well as noticing how the greenery of the plants ebbs away, the higher you get. I stopped at the Calderas and then on to the cable car where I took my trek to the peak, after a coffee at the on site cafe (cards accepted).
After this I drove on to a few stopping points to experience the sheer fascinating beauty of what is volcanic bleekness. It's something to be seen, to be appreciated.
I then took a slow paced drive back down to Costa Adeje using the other of two main roads that take you from the peak down the main resorts in the south such as Adeje, Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos.
Sticking to the path and behind fences is expected
Conclusion
Where Mount Teide starts and where the rest of the island finishes is debateable. The truth is that if you are going to see Teide, give it a full day to do it justice.
On one occasion I visited the peak, with my free permit from the Canarian Government, but to appreciate Teide, you don't need to climb to the very top. In fact, unless you are determined to see it, and as a self appointed ambassador to the Canary Islands, it really was encumbent on me to visit the peak, you yourself will get almost as much of a thrill (and a lot less puffed out!), if you simply take the cable car to the Teide summit station.
Even if you don't do the cable car and opt simply instead to take a driving tour of Teide, stopping off at some the places that I mentioned, it's still a great, low cost, day out.
Do bear in mind, at 11,000ft, even in the height of summer on the surface, it'll be cooler up top. In winter, snow and ice are also a risk (I know, snow and ice on Tenerife eh, who'd have thought!).
Directions:
Depending upon where you are staying on the island, you'll likely pick up the TF-21 or TF-24 to reach the cable car station of Teide. As you can see from the map above, there are so many places you could be staying, it's impossible for me to give you exact directions, but Teide isn't exactly the sort of place you can miss and getting there is well signposted anyway.
WARNING - DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS!
You should not, under any circumstances, buy Teide attraction tickets from anyone other than volcanoteide.com - Volcano Teide are the only official agents who sell tickets for their own directly operated services in the park area. In the resorts of Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos especially, there are so many agents who will offer all sorts of incentives to buy your tickets from them, but they are simply taking a commission - in my opinion - always cut out the middle man and buy direct!
The same goes for hire cars. Reputable firms such as CICAR, who I have partnered with in the Canary Islands will always give you a zero excess, no deposit rental with a modern, safe vehicle. In Los Cris particularly there are several independent operators who are not great. I once booked what I thought was a decent deal from a guy in Los Cristianos. In the end, I was given a knackered old Opel Corsa and at the end of the rental I couldn't return the car to his depot as he had a hangover from his night out! So I had to find some cash urgently from a cash machine, costing me money, and ended up simply abandoning the car at the airport on my way back.
Add comment
Comments