On our recent trip to Tenerife we visited Mount Teide – Spain’s highest mountain and the WORLD’S highest volcano to peak above the Hawaiian Islands (Yep, I’ve officially been 7,500 m above the ocean floor!).
We hired a car for the week from Goldcar which was relatively cheap, we had a trusty VW Polo which was perfect for driving around the roads in Tenerife. There was literally zero potholes, this made the driving experience a whole lot smoother compared to back home in Scotland.
We stayed in a gorgeous duplex apartment in Costa Adeje, which we booked through Air BnB (such an amazing find!) so headed from there it was around about an hours drive. I managed the full trip without falling up or down those stairs too!   Â
On the way, we stopped a few times to admire the views. The views are breath taking and nothing like you’d ever see on a hike in Scotland (not only because there’s a big ball of fire in the sky). On the way up, we stopped off at a cul de sac where we found an abandoned building and I had to grit my teeth while Mark was floating about the edge of this building begging for me to take a photo…
Driving up the smooth tarmacked road is an experience in itself – it’s almost completely vertical at points. Teide National Park is a World Heritage Site, it’s free of charge to enter, however they do only let 200 people enter each day to reserve the nature, so make sure you’re up nice and early! If you want to climb to the very very top and use the cable cars you need a permit before you climb too, at least eight days in advance. You can apply for this online beforehand here.
The landscape is extremely dry, almost like a stark, rocky dessert. I even found out that NASA tested its Mars rover on Mount Teide a few years ago. When we finally reached the top, we managed to get some AMAZING photos (thanks to the fellow Scottish hikers that snapped this one!).
Suddenly, we were looking at what felt like, a gigantic painting sat in front of us. On the way back down we stopped at the side of the road to admire the El Mar de Nubes – the sea of clouds. It felt so strange being so high above the clouds and not being in an aeroplane, streaks of clouds all huddled together over the South Atlantic, drifting over the mountains and landscapes of Spain.
Tenerife being known as one of the world’s most sun drenched beach resorts is a unique selling point for the location in itself but the indescribable views that await you and the most beautiful drive on your way to the top of Mount Teide are not to be missed if you visit Tenerife.
Louise xo.