"Tourist Paradise!!" Isla de Tenerife by Bushman23

We went to Tenerife to escape the cold winter in Scotland, and even though we weren't sure what the weather would be doing - having never been before-, we discovered that it's pretty much the perfect location for a winter escape. Our hotel was situated on the south side of the island, in Los Christianos, which is better than the North, as it has much drier, milder weather. It also has mort of the tourism service providers/operators, making it a great spot if you're interested in going on a Catamaran, or to Los Gigantes, or up Teide, or... one of a hundred different things!

El Teide

Tenerife is an old (though still active) volcano (actually a good few hundred of them, though most are now dead - and the rest dormant). It has a wonderfully dramatic landscape, reminding me a lot of Corsica - Mostly flat coastal regions (except in the North-West) rising to the highest point in Spain - Mount Teide, at over 3,700 meters. The peak is covered by clouds most days, but on days when its clear it's visible from almost any point on the island. The South coast has most of the beaches, and obviously then also most of the tourist resorts, though the West coast (out towards Los Gigantes) also has some very nice black beaches.
The North side of the island lives much more in the shadow of el Teide, and even more so in the shadows of the clouds built up around teide :p The Capital (Santa Cruz) is in the North-East, while some attractions - such as the brilliant Loro Parque - are also on the North side of the Island.

Masca

We attempted to see as much as possible in the week that we were there, and to be honest, we almost succeeded! The only roblem was that we spent so much time doing stuff, that we didn't give ourselves enough time to just sit back and relax... Lesson learned though, and the next visit will involve plenty of sun, sand & sea! :)

Our itinerary looked something like this;
Day 1: Meet the Thomas Cook rep & do a bit of exploring
Day 2: Freebird Catamaran
Day 3: Cliffs of Los Gigantes
Day 4: 4x4 trip up el Teide
Day 5: Loro Parque
Day 6: Siam Park (lots of sunshine on this one!)

We had a great time on Tenerife, and i'd highly recommend it to anyone if you're looking to have a busy, activity-filled week, or just lounge by the pool, or on the beach. It's the island that really does have something for everyone!

• Pros:Perfect Tourist destination
• Cons:Too many tourists??
• In a nutshell:A fantastic escape from the drudgery of European Winters!