Santa Cruz de Tenerife Things to Do Tips by steventilly Top 5 Page for this destination

Mercado de Nuestra Senora de Africa

The market building in Santa Cruz is lovely. "The Market Of Our Lady Of Africa" is surrounded by a wall that is entered via a lovely archway (which unfortunatley was covered in scaffolding) and inside stalls fill the courtyard and shops line the outer wall. The whole place is decorated in this somewhat moorish looking pink & white rendering, which is very attractive, and the square is dominated by the clock tower,
As always the food in the market here looked streets ahead of what we get in the UK, most notably the fresh fruit and veg, which is so loevly it made me wish I was self catering.
On the Sunday there was a flea market taking place in the streets between the Cathedral and the Market.

Directions: The market stands at the end of one of the streets that run off at 90 degrees to Plaza de Candelaria - just look down the streets and you will see the market building at the end - I think the street after the one on which the Cathedral stands.

Rambla

This is the Rambla General Franco, most often just abbreviated to "Rambla". It's a wide boulevard which has a road at either side and down the middle a strip of what is almost parkland punctuated by kiosks every few meters. The kiosks sell everything from newspapers to ice cream to snacks and drinks and there are benches all along the Rambla too.
On the outside of the Rambla, across the road, the entire length is lined with bars, cafes and restaurants of various size, style and quality. This is one of the major nightlife centres of the city, and can be quite busy by day too. The hole-in-the-wall cafes seemed to be doing a roaring trade, though as a vegetarian foreigner I wasn't too tempted to go into one (see Restaurant tips).

Bullring

This is the bullring of Santa Cruz. As far as I can tell it's no longer in use, well certainly not for bullfighting anyway. It stands on Rambla General Franco, which is a long, wide boulevard that arcs around the top of the city.

Colonial Mansions

In the suburban areas around Plaza 25 de Julio there are a lot of very attractive mansions and townhouses. I guess this is one of the top addresses withing the city and it's certainly a different world to the concrete hi-rise of some other parts of Santa Cruz.

Franco's House

Standing right by Plaza 25 de Julio is this mansion, where General Franco is said to have lived during his time on Tenerife prior to seizing power in the Civil War. Nice place to live when you are supposed to be in exile...

Canarian Parliament

The Canarian Parliament building is in two parts, standing side by side. One is a towering monstrosity, a plain square block covered in corroded copper that gives it a green hue. Right next to that is the classical-style building seen here, the original seat of the Parliament before it was necessary to enlarge it.

City By Night

The city by night takes on a special feel. Like so many mediterranean resorts (OK, this is NOT the Med) the people go out walking in the evening, along the seafront and through the main streets of the city. It's a warm, friendly buzz that it takes on at this time, and it's a pleasure to walk around.
The buildings are nicely lit (some look better by night than by day) and even some of the parks are specially illuminated.
This picture is the Casino, on the corner of Plaza de Candelaria, the main square of Santa Cruz.

Docks

I'm fascinated by docks and by shipping, and the bigger the better. Santa Cruz is the main port of Tenerife, and the only port at which heavy cargo vessels call. The harbour is full of container ships, oil tankers, LNG transpots and general cargo vessels. There are also a few ferries, cruise ships and a yachting marina, so boats of every shape size and purpose.
The harbour and docks hugs the seaward side of the city for several km in each direction of the centre (Plaza de Espana), the uglier side of things (oil processing etc) taking place at the two extreme ends. The container dock is quite close to the city centre, by the Parque Maratimo and the Auditorio, from where this picture was taken.

Parque Maratimo

Designed by the Lanzarotian architecht Manrique who was also responsible for the similar park at Puerto de la Cruz, the Parque Maratimo is the lido of Santa Cruz.
It looks a very picturesque and enjoyable place, but at the time we visited it was a howling gale (look at the plams in the picture) and the lido was closed. As well as swimming and sunbathing there are restaurants cafes there so you can get a meal while you top up your tan. Some pools at the outer extremities are lapped by the ocean waves, to make it feel just a little like you are swimming on the open waves.

Directions: Beside the Auditorio and Castillo de San Juan.

Castillo de San Juan

This is the sole remainder of Santa Cruz's forts and dates from 1679. Built from the black basalt rock that forms the basis of so much of Tenerife's historic buildings, it is also known as Castilla Negra (the black castle). It was once the centre of Santa Cruz's slave trade, where Africans were traded on route to the Caribbean. It didn't look like you can visit the castle, but it makes a picturesque and sturdy counterpoint to the gleaming white edifice of the Auditorio next door.