Tenerife

[Clearinguptheclutter]

never been to the Canary Islands. we tend to avoid the usual “Brits abroad” type places/package holidays - preferred holidays in the past have been campsites in Netherlands and France, though we also liked the Algarve. kids will be 10 and 11 next year.

anyway looking at Tenerife for Easter next year for two reasons

1. kids love waterparks and have heard of Siam park. They talk about Slide and Splash in Portugal all the time and I’m hoping it’s better?
2. we’d really like to visit a proper volcano. Only warm weather alternative I’m aware of in Europe is Etna - for when they are a bit older I think

I’m looking at self catering in Costa Adeje- can’t bear the thought of AI. We will hire a car for some of the time and head up to the north and other places, not stay there the whole time. I looked at staying in the less developed north but I gather the weather is less reliable.

Will it be warm (ideally not Hot) and will we enjoy it?!

ps Aware of the recent protests in Tenerife and am sympathetic, from what I can tell it’s protesting about the unsustainable development not the actual tourists per se.

We went to Tenerife last year. Honestly I found it all a Benidormy for my taste. We stayed at a lovely hotel a bit north up the coast from Costa Adeje which was lovely but we didn't do AI as we wanted to explore a bit. We went to most of the south west coastal towns etc and they were ok just not my sort of thing. Most of the food we ate was awful apart from one really lovely Italian near our hotel. Siam Park was good fun - we went for an evening which was much quieter and obviously no chance of sunburn! We enjoyed a boat trip to see whales and dolphins too. I found it also clouded over a lot and was quite breezy which was fine but a bit chilly sometimes when swimming. I wouldn't go back personally.

Have you looked at Airbnb? There are some stunning places in Los Gigantes with private pools at very good prices. Be aware though you will more than likely need to pay extra to heat the pool (it was €40 a day at our villa).

I have and will look again. The biggest issue is that flights alone before baggage would cost £2k. Packages with hotel and baggage and transfers are not much more than this so right now are coming in at much better value.

Ramada residences by Wyndham in costa adeje was nice. Big rooms and well equipped apartments and nice views.

Good prices. Up a hill but fine if you have a car.

€5-10 euros to travel back ins taxi of an evening

If we stay there we will just budget for taxis I think as otherwise looks like a good deal

the right end of Costa Adeje is somewhat less tacky (if still super touristy)

It's much nicer, it's true. But it's very modern, basically all 5* hotels that were built in the last few years, and a posh shopping centre. It's not tacky, but IMO it's rather soulless. La Caleta is a little bit further north and is a former fishing village that has some nice restaurants - we often went there for dinner. Los Gigantes is okay, but the road is very steep and winding so getting to/from it is a bit of a PITA. Costa Adeje area is definitely more convenient for the airport, Siam Park and Mt Teide. I probably wouldn't hurry back to Tenerife, but I'm glad we went. Siam Park really is a fabulous water park and Mt Teide and the national park around it is gorgeous.

Hire a car and stay in the North. It's a small island and easy to drive to Siam Park within the hour from most of it. You need to book the footpath to the top of Teide months in advance as numbers of visitors are restricted. The cable car takes you most of the way there and can buy tickets on the day if needed.

You probably won't like much of the South unless you want to sit in the sun by the pool and wander through the streets/to the beach and visit restaurants - which to be fair is holiday heaven for most.

I won't comment on accommodation as you have plenty on that.

kids love waterparks and have heard of Siam park. They talk about Slide and Splash in Portugal all the time and I’m hoping it’s better?

I've been to Slide and Splash and it's tame and tiny in comparison. Siam Park is outstanding. Plan for two days of the holiday there. We took our DC when they were the same age as yours and they still rate it as the best water park ever now they are late 20s. DS2 recently went back with his partner and said it was as good as ever. However it is huge and gets crowded. Don't be put off but plan it like a military assault. In fact I have seen whole threads on here all about tactics to make the best of it.

We stayed in Costa Adeje and it was a short taxi ride to SP.

Just one caveat. I don't know when Easter is but it would be much better in summer. The Canaries are warm and sunny all year round but never as hot as the Med, at Easter it won't be blistering hot and the pools will be cold.

@Pintoo sounds promising mine currently think s&s is the best ever! It remains the best single day out we’ve done (so far).

How do you know flights are 2K for next Easter? Lots haven't been released yet. We paid £260 return each by booking as soon as they were released.

They are on jet 2. Admittedly not yet on Easyjet however research tells me they fly (or return) at anti social times. But point taken about not all being released yet.!

We stayed in Costa Adeje last June at the Vincci Plantacion hotel up on the hill, that area was very nice and a little walk down to the restaurants. La Caleta village was a great find and also had great places to eat, we went over for dinner several times. Went to Playa de las Americas one day, and there was a big difference, not my scene.

There's lots to do, we did the stargazing tour at night which we really enjoyed.

If you're using Jet2 it's generally better value in the school holidays to book a package with them, they sometimes have villas and apartments as well as hotels.

Yes this is exactly what I’ve figured out.

It's generally the same with Easyjet these days, although you still can sometimes grab bargains if you're prepared to get up at 5am on flight release day.

@Clearinguptheclutter we flew with EasyJet. 1450 out and 1900 return. The return was slightly too late for my liking but for a saving of over a grand. Yep 👍

The same flight times are showing for this may half term too

Yeah I really don’t fancy the 1.30am arrival back tbh

We’ve been a few times with jet2 and we really loved Tenerife. What I will say is we do go to hotels in Tenerife but don’t partake of the breakfast scene - can’t stand it - we always go out to eat - You don’t have to go AI. I would highly recommend the GF Victoria in Costa Adeje or the H10.

There's 12.40 to Gatwick, 14.40 to Manchester. This may half term.

What I'm saying is you commented on the price of flights, you could choose a much superior hotel with an extra grand or 2 and the trip to Siam Park is €100pp too

It's worth waiting for the EasyJet and Ryanair releases

Usually 2 flights or even 3 per day at Easter and other peak times

We have been to Costa Adeje a few times and have always stayed at the Bahia Del Duque hotel right on the front. thetaishotels.com/bahia-del-duque/
It's gorgeous and feels like a small Spanish village. Not AI. There's lots of restaurants in the hotel but loads of great restaurants are in the surrounding area anyway.
Siam Park is awesome and will make you feel like a giant kid again. You absolutely have to get the fast passes or it's a waste of time.
Tenerife is ok for a bit of sunshine and relaxation but there's nothing authentically Spanish about it and I would much prefer to go to other areas in Spain instead. The beaches also have black sand inTenerife (obviously) so if you are into beaches maybe not the best place to go.

We stayed at the Royal Hideaway Corales in a two bedroom suite with private pool. Was basically a large two bedroom apartment with a full kitchen and a separate laundry room. We had breakfast included.
It’s most definitely not an AI Brits abroad place - full of affluent families from
across Europe. Quite pricey though.

Yes I have seen that one. Looks lovely but would need some convincing to get dh to agree (he doesn’t really do “posh”).

Tenerife is good, there is something for everyone.

It's not as "Brits abroad" as some other places, and the island is big enough to get off the beaten track.

There is also Mount Teide in the middle of it, there is snow up there in January/February, and some of the mountain villages on the way up there are as far away from "Brits abroad" as you can imagine.

Siam park was about 35 euro a person when I went at Easter- we got a free burger by booking with a company called Attraction Tickets it wasn't £100 pp?