4 Days in Tenerife: The Ultimate Itinerary for Outdoor Lovers

Are you planning on spending 4 days in Tenerife and want to get away from the touristy spots? Here is exactly how I recommend spending your time. 

I’ll be honest with you: I never thought I would like Tenerife as much as I did. I always viewed it as a touristy destination overrun by people, crowded beaches, and tacky resorts. But, Tenerife took me completely by surprise. 

The island has breathtaking volcanic landscapes, charming villages, lush forests, and a rich local culture. I also hiked one of the most beautiful trails I think I’ve ever done. 

So, if you’re in doubt about visiting Tenerife – perhaps you’re not a fan of rowdy crowds either – then, this 4-day itinerary might just change your entire perspective on the island too!

Getting to Tenerife

Since it’s one of the most popular Spanish islands, there are lots of flights to Tenerife daily from across Europe.

I’m always happy when I can find flights from London Stansted as this is our closest airport and makes everything so much easier. 

We flew into Tenerife South with Jet2 as they offer direct flights from Stansted. This was the first time I’d flown with Jet2 and I had a wonderful experience. 

The plane was clean, comfortable, and had a lot of legroom. There was also a great range of food and drinks options on board and the staff came round twice during the 4.5-hour flight to offer us refreshments. 

I also think it’s one of the most informative airlines I’ve flown on. The captain gave regular updates on our progress, the staff were really helpful, and the check-in process was quick and efficient. 

Once we arrived, we hopped on a shuttle bus to pick up our hire car. We booked a car with DiscoverCars. Aside from a slight delay waiting for the shuttle due to roadworks near the airport, everything went smoothly.

Where to Stay in Tenerife

We decided to stay in Puerto de la Cruz. I’m really not a huge fan of overly touristy destinations, so I wanted to avoid staying along the island’s south coast.

Puerto de la Cruz turned out to be the perfect base as it was pretty central to everything we wanted to see and the town had some great beaches and restaurants too. 

Our hotel was Hotel Botanico and the Oriental Spa Garden. I’m not exaggerating when I say that it’s one of the most incredible hotels we’ve ever stayed in. This was part of our package with Jet2holidays and both me and my fiance were really impressed. 

The breakfast spread was incredible (I’ve never seen a hotel breakfast with fresh honeycomb before!). The rooms were large and comfortable, and we had a balcony overlooking the garden. The spa itself was also fantastic, but I’ll cover that in more detail later!

The drive from Tenerife South to our hotel took around an hour. It was mostly motorway, so it was a very easy drive. There’s also free parking at Hotel Botanico, another bonus if you decide to explore Tenerife by car.

Once we had arrived at our hotel, it was quite late, so we didn’t have time to do anything. We grabbed some dinner and then went to bed, excited to start exploring Tenerife the next day. 

Day 1: Explore Parque Nacional del Teide

For your first day in Tenerife, head to one of the island’s most popular attractions – Teide National Park. 

After a delicious breakfast at Hotel Botanico, we hopped in the car and drove up the winding mountainous road to Teide National Park. I recommend spending a full day here as there’s a lot to see. You can also opt for a guided tour if you’d prefer not to drive. 

Los Roques De Garcia Trail

This is one of the most popular trails in the park and for good reason. It’s easily accessible however, the parking does fill up, especially in high season. I recommend arriving in the morning for the best chance of finding a parking spot.

You’ll find toilets and a small cafe in the building near the car park. There are also several other trailheads nearby if you fancy doing multiple hikes. We parked up, applied some sun cream, and headed to the trail.

The hike

This was one of the first views we saw when we started the hike. If that doesn’t tell you just how insane the landscapes in Tenerife are, I don’t know what will!

The Los Roques De Garcia hike is so unique with large pillars of rock and fantastic views of Mount Teide. You’ll also be able to see La Roque Cinchado, an iconic rock formation (in the photo above) that has become a symbol of the park.

The trail is a fairly easy one with no technical elements and only a little bit of elevation change. The first part of the trail is down a flat, sandy path and accessible to all. 

Then, it gets a little rockier with a few stairs both up and down. The scenery along the way is breathtaking with dramatic volcanic landscapes in the rocks and cacti dotted around. 

After a while, the hike drops down into the valley. This is the longest descent of the entire route and offers incredible views of the surrounding formations.

As you descend, the scenery gets a little more rugged with towering cliffs on one side. This is the rockiest part of the trail underfoot. 

Once you get to the bottom, it continues flat for a little while before ascending again right back to the original car park.

This is the steepest part of the hike, but still not particularly difficult as there are stairs most of the way. The views from the top looking back over the valley are incredible.

All in all, this hike will take around 2 hours. It’s a fairly easy way to kick off your 4 days in Tenerife and will give you a taste of some of the island’s most incredible landscapes.

Once you’ve finished the hike, grab some lunch at the cafe. 

Teide Cable Car

Depending on how long the hike takes you, you may have time to fit in another hike before heading up to the highest point in Tenerife. This is a must-do during your time in Tenerife, but you’ll need to book in advance as the tickets will sell out. 

The top of Mount Teide is 3,715 metres above sea level and you can quite often find yourself above the clouds when you visit. The Cable Car takes you most of the way up and the views are incredible. The journey only takes around 8 minutes.

Once at the upper station, located at 3,555 metres, you can see panoramic views of Tenerife, some of the neighbouring Canary Islands, and out across the ocean. The views are especially impressive if you visit at sunset.

It’s the perfect way to end a day in Teide National Park, standing above the clouds and taking in the surreal beauty of Tenerife’s volcanic landscapes. Once you’ve descended back down from the mountain top, hop in the car and drive back to your hotel. 

Dinner at Da Arianna

For our first evening in Tenerife, we decided to eat just around the corner from our hotel. There’s a little restaurant opposite called Da Arianna. It was delicious and affordable too. 

We both had pizzas which were huge (so big, they ended up being lunch for the next day as well!). Mine was the house special with prawns, tuna, ham, mushrooms, olives, and mozzarella, and Andrew went for a meaty pizza with spicy sausage. They were both so good!

Day 2: Go hiking in Anaga Rural Park

For your second day in Tenerife, head north to Anaga Rural Park. Of all the places we visited during our time on the island, this was my favourite. The landscapes were just incredible.

Top Tip: I recommend bringing a packed lunch with you on this day. We didn’t find any shops that sold substantial food along the way and we only saw one restaurant which was jam-packed. We grabbed some pasta salad bowls from the supermarket around the corner from our hotel and also took our leftover pizza. Don’t forget plenty of water too!

Trail of the Senses

The drive to our first stop took around 40 minutes. We parked at Sendero de los Sentidos, which was right at the start of the trail. It was a mostly easy drive, but got a little windy towards the car park, probably for the last 10 minutes.

Plus, because we arrived at around 10:30, we ended up waiting around 30 minutes for a parking space. This can be quite a popular hike and the car park can fill up. So, if you want to avoid waiting, I’d recommend getting here early. 

Despite how busy the car pack was though, we didn’t see that many people on the trail. In fact, whilst there, we had a whole section entirely to ourselves.

The hike

The Trail of the Senses starts from the car park itself, and you’ll be walking through a laurel forest. There are 3 different routes you can take, the easy route, which takes around 20 minutes, a slightly longer 45-minute route, or the longest hike, which is around 1.5 hours. 

Of course, we opted for the longest hike! The route starts easy but quickly descends through the forest. There are steps to make it easier and the trail winds its way downwards. 

After around 30 minutes, you’ll reach a viewpoint. This view was what made the hike for me. The landscape was incredible and you could see through the green mountains to the ocean. 

The path then snaked its way further down, with the gorgeous views on the left the entire way, before circling back around and up to the car park. The route back up was a little tiring, especially in the heat, but worth it. 

Top Tip: There are toilets in the car park and a sign for a shop where you may be able to buy drinks and snacks. Unfortunately, this was closed when we visited in November, but it might be open in the high season. 

Roque de Taborno Trail

After leaving the Trail of the Senses car park, we got back in the car and drove to the village of Taborno.

This is a more nerve-wracking drive as the roads are very windy and, in places, only wide enough for one car. We encountered a bus along here which was a very tight squeeze!

Nonetheless, it’s only a 15-minute drive, so it’s not too bad. Plus, the views along almost the entirety of the drive are breathtaking. I was so excited for this hike by the time we got there.

Once you arrive, park along the side of the road in the village. This can also get quite crowded, so be sure to park respectfully and not block any locals or other cars. We ate our picnic in the car before heading to the start of the trail. 

Before you start

This hike is stunning. Out of all the hikes I’ve done in Europe, this is one of my favourites. It’s easily one of the most beautiful hikes in Spain and in parallel with some of the hikes I’ve done in Norway in terms of impressive landscapes – and also its level of nerve-wracking paths!

A word of warning before you start this hike – it’s definitely not for you if you’re scared of heights! The paths get very thin in places and there’s nothing to stop you from tumbling off the edge of the mountain. You need to be sure-footed. 

I also recommend bringing proper hiking shoes. We both made the mistake of forgetting ours and regretted it – the extra grip would’ve been very useful!

The hike

The Roque de Taborno trail starts just past the church in Taborno village. There’s a sign pointing to the trailhead and you just follow the path.

It starts fairly wide and flat with wonderful views of the valley, but it only gets better from there. Follow the path down a slope towards a viewpoint and down even further through some steps in a forest. After this, the trail gets really interesting. 

Once you get to the other side of the peak, there’s a small viewpoint you can walk up to which will give you incredible views over Anaga Rural Park and the ocean.

The sharp green cliffs contrast wonderfully with the ocean and the views are insane. We were also above the clouds for most of this hike.

Then, you’ll simply follow the path back around the other side of the peak until you make it back to the trail you started on. This leads back up the slope and to the church. 

There’s a very small shop near the start of the hike. They don’t sell a huge amount of food, but we grabbed a chocolate bar and an ice cream to refuel before walking back to the car. 

There are no toilets or other facilities along this hike, so remember to respect the environment and take everything with you. 

Mirador De Jardina

Once we’d eaten our ice creams, we drove back up the winding mountain trail and out of Anaga Rural Park. 

If you have more than 4 days in Tenerife, I definitely recommend spending longer than a day in Anaga. The scenery is stunning and there are at least 5 other hikes I’d like to do here.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at Mirador de Jardina to watch the sunset. This is a fantastic sunset spot in Tenerife as the sun sets right in front of you, between the mountains. 

You can see the small villages in front of you, merging into larger cities as the road heads back towards Santa Cruz. You can also see the towering figure of Teide in the distance and, to the right, you can see other Spanish islands in the distance as well.

It was another beautiful final stop of the day and, once we’d watched the sunset, we drove back to Hotel Botanico.

Dinner at Compostelana Avenida

For our second night, we decided to head into Puerta de la Cruz for dinner and found a lovely little place called Compostelana Avenida. 

If you do decide to walk into town, there’s a very steep hill down (which, inadvertently means a pretty steep climb back up too!). However, there’s a lot more choice for restaurants here. Hotel Botanico also offers a free shuttle into town.

Dinner was once again fantastic. We had a focaccia to start with ham and avocado, followed by a traditional paella and Andrew had the pasta special with beef and gorgonzola cheese.

Day 3: Relax in Puerto de la Cruz

For our final full day in Tenerife, we decided to take it slightly slower than the first two days and explore Puerto de la Cruz. This turned out to be a great choice and the gorgeous Spanish town is vibrant, colourful, and has some truly lovely beaches. 

On this occasion, we took the shuttle bus into town so we didn’t have to worry about parking. It departed right outside the hotel and dropped us off in the centre. Here are a few of the best things to do in Puerto de la Cruz:

Explore La Ranilla Neighbourhood

La Ranilla is such a cute and colourful part of Tenerife and one of the most beautiful places in Puerto de la Cruz. Located in the heart of the town the area is full of charming streets, pastel buildings, colourful doors, and traditional Canarian balconies.

You’ll find a range of murals on the walls, quaint cafes, and boutique shops. It’s also a much quieter part of town than where the bus dropped us off, so it was lovely to walk around.

Visit Playa Jardin

This is one of the most beautiful beaches in Spain and a must-visit in Puerto de la Cruz. The striking black sand makes the beach stand out, but it’s also surrounded by lush gardens, palm trees, and tall cacti making it perfect for both relaxing and exploring. 

There are facilities nearby including showers and changing rooms and there are plenty of cafes where you can grab a drink or a snack. Plus, the colourful buildings opposite make the beach look very impressive.

We also saw hundreds of bright red crabs on the rocks while we were there.

Wander down the Promenade

This is definitely a busier part of Puerto de la Cruz, but worth exploring nonetheless.

If you enjoy shopping (or window shopping) or dining by the waterfront, you’ll find lots of options here to keep you entertained. You’ll also find quite a few viewpoints where you can look out over the ocean. 

Admire the Street Art

Puerto de la Cruz has some fantastic street art. Many of the artworks are part of the Puerto Street Art Project, where artists from around the world transformed the town’s walls into a colourful open-air gallery.

There are pieces of art tucked away down alleyways, up high on buildings and even tiny little drawings on houses and shops that you might not even notice.

A self-guided tour is a fun way to explore at your own pace, but there are also guided tours available if you want to learn more about the artists and the stories behind the works. 

See Castillo de San Felipe

This little castle is located just before Playa Jardin. It dates back to the 17th century, originally built to defend Puerto de la Cruz from pirate attacks. It’s small and won’t take you long to see, but it’s rich in history.

Head back to Hotel Botanico and Visit the Spa

After we’d explored the streets and spent some time on the beach of Puerto de la Cruz, we walked back to the centre of town to catch the bus to Hotel Botanico. We decided to spend what was left of the day in the spa. 

We’re really glad we decided to visit as the spa is wonderful. There are several outdoor pools as well as an indoor pool and jacuzzi. There’s also a seven-step ritual in the spa with lots of different rooms. 

This included several different types of showers, an aroma room, a Turkish bath, a Japanese sauna, an ice temple, and waterbeds. There was also a dispenser serving water and complimentary sweet tea in the lobby. 

After two days of hiking, it was pretty nice to spend the evening relaxing at the spa. 

Dinner

Since we’d already got the bus into town and back, we decided to eat locally again and went back to Da Arianna, this time for pasta. 

There are three restaurants at the hotel that we’d have loved to try but we hadn’t booked a table and they were very busy that night.

The Oriental, a delicious Thai restaurant, looked the best and was recommended by the receptionist. If we had one more night, we would definitely have booked to eat here. 

The Pyramids and the Museum

The journey to the pyramids took around 40 minutes and was another easy drive with mostly motorways. Once we arrived, there was free parking on the street outside and we paid €12.50 per adult to enter. 

We’d read mixed reviews about the pyramids online so we weren’t too sure what to expect. Many people had said that the pyramids themselves were underwhelming but the museum was good.

However, we thought they were both fantastic. It was definitely a lesson in taking reviews you read online with a pinch of salt as we almost didn’t go!

You’ll start in the museum. It talks about Christopher Columbus’s journey across the Atlantic and the raft he sailed in (there’s even a replica of the raft), and shows images and information of hundreds of pyramids all over the world. 

After you’ve explored the museum, head outside, where you can walk around the entire pyramid structure. We thought they were really impressive, especially towards the southern side where you could clearly see the pyramid steps with the mountains in the background. 

There was also lots of information all around outside about the plants and animals that you can find in the gardens. 

Overall, we thought it was fascinating and well worth the entry price. 

Head to the Airport

Once we’d finished looking at the pyramids, all that was left to do was to drive to the airport and drop off the car. The journey took a further 30 minutes and was another easy drive.

We dropped the car off quickly and the security deposit was refunded within the hour. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the shuttle this time too. When we return to Tenerife, we will definitely be booking with Discovercars again! 

After whizzing through airport security we boarded the plane. Lucky for us, we ended up with an empty seat on our row which made our return flight with Jet2 even more enjoyable! Plus, the views of Teide towering above the clouds when we took off were incredible. 

Despite this being a bit of a last-minute holiday, we had a wonderful time. Tenerife is much more than a beach break and I cannot recommend the island enough if you love the outdoors. 

Is 4 days in Tenerife enough?

If you only have 4 days to visit Tenerife, don’t worry – you can still have an amazing time on this beautiful island. While it’s definitely not enough time to see everything, we found it perfect for getting a taste of Tenerife’s charm and stunning landscapes.

I’d recommend spending at least 7 days here, and if you’re a hiking enthusiast, you could easily fill 10 days exploring different trails.

There are some wonderful hikes all over the island from the lush landscapes in the north to the barren volcanic scenery in Teide. Plus, the Teno Mountains in the south are also incredible, though we didn’t have time to explore them on this trip.

All in all, we had a wonderful time and were very glad we opted for a Tenerife package with Jet2 holidays as they made everything so much smoother.