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Your Tenerife, Canary Islands Honeymoon

Whether you are deciding where to go on your honeymoon or you have already made the wonderful decision of a Tenerife honeymoon, there are several insider secrets to know to make the best of your time. With this ultimate Tenerife Honeymoon travel guide, Tenerife’s best hotels, best hikes, and general Tenerife tips and tricks will help make your romantic Canary Island trip an unforgettable adventure.

Last year my significant other and I had the opportunity to go to Tenerife and experience the amazing island that it is. We loved the island lifestyle, the kind local people and connected with people from all over visiting and/or living on the island. We quickly found out how much the island had to offer for guests from all backgrounds and budgets.

About Tenerife

First the technical stuff, Tenerife is part of the Canary Islands which are owned by Spain. The Canary Islands are located off the south-western coast of Morocco. Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and home to the highest mountain in Spain, El Teide. The population of Tenerife is 889,936 as of 2014 and has a coastline of 213 miles (or 342 km).

Now the fun stuff we learned. Tenerife is a beautiful island full of amazing beach cities and gorgeous buildings crawling up the hills of the island. The drives along the coast are mesmerizing and go on for as long as you want basically. There are beaches all over so finding one without a lot of people isn’t really too hard to find. There are two big hubs on the island, north and south. There are major resorts in both the northern and southern parts of the islands. Anyone looking to honeymoon always, strap in and get ready for the romantic adventure of a lifetime.

Getting to Tenerife and Getting Around In Tenerife

Getting to the Canary Islands from Europe is pretty easy, however getting there from the U.S. is not as simple as you will most certainly have a layover in Europe, causing a pretty pricy trip. We recommend you spend some time in Europe and buy your flights from there to Tenerife because it will be cheaper and several airlines fly to Tenerife such as British Airways, Air France, Air Berlin, Ryanair, and EasyJet. Skyscanner is also a great website to help you find the best deals.

There are two airports on the island. We flew into Tenerife South Airport, but plan your hotel according to which airport you fly to. Decide whether you want to take the bus system around, rent a car or just walk most places. We spent most of our time on the southern part of Tenerife which is a little more spread out making it harder to walk everywhere. The northern cities are a little more tightly packed so walking may be do-able for your trip depending on your plans. If you want explore the island’s volcano or visit various beaches and beautiful coast then renting a car is the best option. Here is Tenerife’s official tourism guide to getting around and getting taxis or checking the bus lines.

There is a bus system, in Tenerife however it is not the quickest way to get around and do not come around that often. We rented a car from the airport after trying to walk around on the first day. Quick tip, make sure you know how to drive a stick shift, or be ready to spend a significant amount more for an automatic car. Also the road system is set up the same as America with cars driving on the right side of the road, so just be wary of that fact if it is different from where you learned to drive.

Where To Stay in Tenerife

Sunset View Club Tenerife Canary Islands
Sunset View Club

There are several eclectic neighborhoods, resort complexes, cities and villages to stay in on Tenerife. Two popular areas in the south are Los Cristianos and Costa Adeje. To the north, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and San Cristobal de La Laguna. We stayed down south nearish to Los Cristianos. Tenerife is home to many hotels and resorts. If you have some vacation points with services such as RCI or anything like that, Tenerife is a great place to use these as they are usually not as many points as other island destinations, this was the route we went staying at the Sunset View Club.

Airbnb is also a very viable option for places to stay while in Tenerife. There are various options all over the island and depending on when you go you can find some really amazing deals. As you are about to go off on your honeymoon don’t forget to make sure you are booking a whole apartment or house to yourselves to truly enjoy each other’s company.

When you are deciding where to stay on the island, there are positives to each side of the island. If you are looking for more nature, more hiking and a little more of a laid back trip then Southern Tenerife is probably for you. If you are looking for the culture and happening city life with some markets and things along those lines then Northern Tenerife may have more to offer.

What To Do In Tenerife

Tenerife is basically one massive dormant volcano. So whenever you move from the coast you will be heading up hill. The volcano in the middle, El Teide, used to be an active volcano and then imploded upon itself shrinking to what it is today and making the middle basically a big crater, however it is still the tallest point in all of Spain and the third largest volcanic structure in the world. Visiting El Teide is a must on your trip. You can drive up to the visitor center and then a cable car will take you almost all of the way up. Here is more information on the cable car and costs 27 Euro per non resident visitor. If you want to the very top you will have to get a permit, which you can apply for online here and must be done before 2pm the day before you go. The earlier you can apply the better because they only let a certain number of people up per day.

Star Gazing Tenerife Canary Islands
The stars and Milky Way from road at base of El Teide

You should plan on two drives up to El Teide. One in the day to look around and ride the cable car. Second is at night. At night, the crater walls block out almost all of the surrounding city light leaving just the beautiful night sky. Tenerife is one of the best stargazing spots globally, housing one of the most esteemed observatories in the world. Driving up and just parking on the side of the road will give you one of the best stargazing spots in the world to just lay and watch. It does get cold at night up there so bring a jacket or blankets. If stars are really your thing there is an observatory you can hike to and sleep at for the night. Here is more info on that.

Beaches in Tenerife

Tenerife Beach Canary Islands
Beach off main highway in Southern Tenerife

There are beaches all over the island. Since the island is volcanic most of the beaches have black sand. Many beaches in Los Cristianos have white sand that is actually shipped in from the Sahara desert for example Playa Las Vistas.

Up north one of the best beaches is Playa Martianez.

For the best view of Los Gigantes, a massive cliff on the island, go hang out on Playa de Los Gigantes black sand beach. This beach was one of our favorites on the island.

Los Gigantes Tenerife Canary Islands
Los Gigantes in the background

For our beach time we actually just drove around the coast and found the less populated beaches and those turned out to be our best beach days. There are beaches all around the island so just cruising around and finding one that looks good to you is sometimes the best way to do it.

Hiking in Tenerife

Road To Masca Tenerife Canary Islands
Heading down the Road to Masca hike

The best hike in Tenerife, and possibly the best hike of your life is The Road to Masca. This hike is around 7 miles, starting in the gloriously green tropical Tenerife mountains and descending through luscious canyons to a secluded black sand beach oasis. From the beach, you can get a boat back to your car (and then the hike is all downhill!) or you can hike back up the canyon. This adventure is located in the southern part of the island. You’ll want to drive to the city around Los Gigantes and from there you can either get a bus you can drive to Masca and hike down, however you will have to hike back, or the easiest way for small groups is to just get a taxi which cost 20-25 euros.

From Masca you hike down some of the most picturesque places that will surely make everyone back home jealous and come out on one of the prettier, less populated beaches and get a boat back to Los Gigantes. The last boat leaves the beach at 4:30 pm so be aware of that. You can buy your boat ticket at the bottom, however it is best to buy the tickets before the hike in Los Gigantes.

We hope that you have the best time in Tenerife no matter how you enjoy the amazing island that is Tenerife. If you any additional tips please comment below!