Tenerife – Tips for a Great Vacation

Things you need to know

As you probably know already because of my social media pictures spamming you all day, I’ve just been on an exciting trip to Tenerife. I heard many things about the island, good and bad but I was very surprised about some of them that I will tell you about now

You need a pool

People, like me even, would think: Why go in the middle of the ocean and want to sit by the pool? even so, I picked a hotel that had a pool, just in case and boy was that a great choice.

It may not be a rule, but when we went there, the wind was so bad that I couldn’t keep my book up to be able to read it. We stayed about an hour on the beach and then gave up and headed over to the pool. We were on Las Americas beach and the hotel was about 100m away from the shore, Still the wind wasn’t that hard there.

Shopping?

I was ready to shop my head off and also brought an empty luggage with me too. Still, it wasn’t that good. Sure, it depends on what you want to buy. I wanted high quality goods for good prices, lower that what I could find in Europe. Most of the prices were similar if not bigger. I found classic Converse shoes for 65 euros, which is not cheap. But you could find Armani Jeans, Guess, Versace Jeans, Liu Jo and some other similar brands for around 30-50% of the retail price. Which is ok if you wanted to get something like that. I did too, but I wasn’t after these. Be careful when buying branded stuff especially perfumes or sunglasses. There tons of fakes around even in shops that seem legit. Try to buy they from famous shop chains and examine what you buy. I saw Ray-Ban out for sale for as low as $5, but at the same shop they would have other designs from the same brand locked in the glass box which they would say are original. I wouldn’t trust this shop even if they say you get an international warranty.

Walk a lot to find hidden treasures

Whether we are talking about beautiful beaches, shops, restaurants or just pieces of architecture, walking around this beautiful island is the best thing to do. We’ve walked around 20 km per day and never regret it.

Don’t miss Loro Parque and Los Gigantes.

Book a day for Loro Parque because it’s huge and don’t miss the shows. We’ve been to just some but I heard they are all amazing. Los Gigantos is mezmerizing even if you would admire them from the port, as we did. You may also want to go up on El Teide, which we missed but saw it from the plane when we left. Such a beauty! Going to watch whales and dolphins from a boat would have been great, but we decided upon it too late. everything was booked and we couldn’t find a free boat ride on the day we wanted. Maybe next time we will be more organized. I have to admit I didn’t research anything before, I didn’t have the time to do so and that’s why we haven’t seen to may things on this trip. But it sure was amazing.

Eating at El Cordero a must do

We met up with Chris in Tenerife who has been living on the island for several years now and he took us to this fabulous place. It’s not all glam if that’s what you are looking for. But people would sit even for hours in line just to get a table.I understand why, the food is simply amazing and the prices very low. I had grilled cheese with marmalade, some boiled potatoes( with skin) and a fruit salad. They had a mix grill for two, but it was  perfect even for three or four people. They also give you free bananas when you leave because they also have banana orchard  there. I also saw some papaya trees and big banana bunches growing in trees. A great experience you should try out.

I hope these pieces of advice helped you in a way or another. If you want extra info, please feel free to ask me about anything. I would love to help if I can.