Puerto de la Cruz - Tenerife

[TheCaptainsCat]

We are looking to book a holiday to the Canary Islands in the Autumn - it will be me, DH and DD who will be about 18mo by then. I have chosen Tenerife as seems to be the island with the most to do, and have picked Puerto de la Cruz as a potential place to stay.

What are people's thoughts on this area? What is it like, are there nice places to eat, beaches etc. I'm mostly keen to avoid anywhere too 'Brits abroad' or anywhere full of drunk youths (snob).

Please advise!

Would also be interested to hear opinions on Costa Adeje Bump

I don't think there are beaches there, but there is a big pool complex, that is full of sea water. There are probably beaches not too far away and the buses are good and cheap or you could hire a car. The bus company is called Titsa which always raises a chuckle in my childish mind.

It is less touristy than the south of the island and is more Spanish. It is lovely for a wander round and lots of nice places to eat.

Depending on when exactly you mean by autumn, the weather might be cooling slightly and more risk cloudy/wet days. We went for a drive up when staying in the south. It was hot and sunny when we set off from Los Cristianos and it was cooler and showery in the north. The sea was quite rough too.

I understand your desire to avoid the Brits abroad resorts and tend to do so myself, but the reality is that a lot of big Spanish resorts have grown up around the nicest beaches with the most reliable weather. The beach at Benidorm is lovely for example.

I tend to compromise and look for smaller resorts that are still in the south side of the islands in the Canaries so that you get the nice beach and reliable weather but can still eat Spanish food and not be in a sea of night clubs and English breakfasts.

There is loads to do in Lanzarote too - I like that better than Tenerife and Playa Blanca is a nice resort.

Missed your bump. Costa Adeje is supposed to be nice, certainly a recommendation amongst Mumsnetters as it is where you get more of the luxury hotels. Think of it as the Tenerife equivalent of Puerto Pollensa Mallorca.

Great info thanks! Which smaller resorts in the south of Tenerife and Lanzarote do you recommend?

Geography 101 - tenerife has a big mountain in the middle, producing a wetter side and a drier side. The dry bits are of no use except for tourism hence no old towns. Puerto is on the wetter side with all the greenery and history.

The kiddy drunks are really only in August and right in the middle of las America's. Costa adeje otherwise is fine and gets stunning sunsets as a bonus. Hilly though, you'll get fit in the upper bits !

costa adeje is very brits abroad, but northern tenerife is not. Garachico is lovely

Most of Costa Adeje wasn't like that in my experience; just the very centre of Las Americas with the football bars. And the kiddy drunks are only there in August, they don't listen at school so they think it won't be hot any other time.

Well I didnt think it was overly so, but you could easily not speak any spanish. There were more english speakers than anything else, and all the mcdonalds/subway etc were there. I felt like could have been the UK except in the sun but it wasnt rowdy or anything.
In comparison to the north of tenerife, which had tourists, but it was much more spanish

I love Puerto de la cruz, have been a few times. It's much more Spanish than the south of Tenerife, the part by the harbour is a bit tacky, but in a seaside nice way rather than English breakfasts etc.
There is a beach a short walk from the town the other direction to the pools...which are also lovely, seawater pools.
There are also lots of nice places to explore nearby and Santa Cruz, the capital city, is not too far by bus.