Tenerife yay or nay

[Augustone]

Quick question- where is nice in Tenerife? By nice I mean no nightclubs/rowdy bars. No high rise blocks or hen/stag parties. Neither myself nor DH have been before but weather and flights mean it might be on the cards for a week in October. We usually do a quiet Greek island but the weather will be cooling down quite a bit and maybe a change would be good!

Costa Adeje side is lush
have a look at the hotels there

Los Gigantes

Go to a nice well reviewed hotel and you’ll be happy. No culture but you can do a dolphim and whale watching boat trip and go up Mount tiede volcano

Nay, Greece so much cheaper and there is culture.

If you don't want high rise there isn't any in Lanzarote and loads of interesting Cesar Manrique legacy sites such as houses, caves, cactus garden. Also vineyards, inland towns and villages, volcanic landscape, watersports.

Los Gigantes in Tenerife. Quiet resort, lots of restaurants, no clubs only one high rise hotel.

Nay.

The entire Canary Islands are a nay. They’re boring, all there is to do is the trip up to Timunfaya in lanzarote. Go somewhere with a bit of culture! A week sightseeing in Rome, northern Italy has stunning views, anything!

In general the north side of the island is less built up than the south.

It was the first part to get tourism back when the tourists were very posh and chic. Then it got overtaken by flashier developments in the south. So now it has a kind of faded grandure which is very likable.
Its cheaper too.

I went to Puerto de La Cruz and loved it.
It has a charming old town, a nice black sand beach, a cute little harbour.
The Playa Jardin is a really nice ornamental garden- that's worth a visit.

Pp have mentioned the famous artist Cesar Manrique, who built cool things all over the Canary Islands.
His contribution to Tenerife is in Peurto de la Cruz. A concrete sculpture park/seawater pool called Lago Martiánez. Its very cool and you can hang out there all day for a very reasonable entrance price.

I found an adorable brutalist church on the way to the bus station one day but it doesn't seem to be any kind of tourist attraction because the internet has never heard of it! Sorry that's not much help! But just to underline that the architecture is interesting and varied. Not boring high rises!

The great thing about Tenerife is, because it's an island there's just the one road that goes around in a circle. So it's super easy to get to stuff on other parts of the island. Buses are cheap and reliable. Its worth doing the Tede volcano.
And the Waterpark if you have kids with you.

If you want to take a look at the craziness of the main strip (if only to remind yourself why your not staying there) it's waaayy over to the south in Playa de Las Americas.
Again, just hop on a bus.

Bit surprised at people claiming Tenerife (or the Canaries as a whole) has no culture.
Everywhere has a culture.
Its literally impossible for human beings to live somewhere and not create a culture..

A culture of all inclusive holidays and Brits abroad isn’t exactly admirable!

Only boring people write off entire islands based on what must be a snapshot that is the high rise resorts that make up a tiny part of them.

This is Gran Canaria for example. Great for hiking, watersports, lovely views, granted there isn't Roman ruins and museums at every turn, but did the OP actually say that was what she was looking for?

If you want a hike go to the Dolomites!

1. Nowhere is just all inclusive resorts though. Think about it....where would the workers in those resorts live?

Very often the non touristy part is just a few streets away.

1. Actually I do find Brits abroad interesting. Whenever there's a diaspora it's interesting to see what parts of the culture persist and what adapts to the new environment.

Brits that settle in Spain open donkey sanctuaries. No other nationality does that. (The Dutch make children's play areas!). That tells you something interesting.

Look at La Caleta

1. the residential areas aren’t anything to write home about
2. Brits abroad are horrifically embarrassing and I’m glad they all stick to the same few areas
3. okay? I don’t think a donkey sanctuary is that amazing to be honest

I've been wondering the same thing. Looking for somewhere to go in the depths of winter when I'm suicidal. I've been to Lanzarote twice and found it very underwhelming. I don't want bars and clubs or English breakfasts. Is La Gomera warm enough in Feb?
Considering Tenerife also. I'm not keen on black sand though.

I’m not that keen on the Canary Islands - have you looked at Madeira?

I also dislike donkey sanctuaries. But I lm curious about them. You rarely see a working donkey. And yet there are donkey sanctuaries everywhere British people settle. What are they rescuing them from exactly?

The donkey sanctuary in the UK, is one of the richest charities. And is responsible for almost every donkey in the country. Madness! I personally know someone who was disinherited in favor of the bloody donkey sanctuary.

I bring it up as an example of something that makes Brits abroad interesting.
What makes a Dutch person settle in an ex pat enclave and decide to fund raise for kids play equipment. And a Brit show up and think "What this place needs is a donkey sanctury"

These sorts of things are also examples of culture.

Sorry I know this is a digression and won't help OP plan a holiday. But seriously?! Wtf is up with Donkey Sancturies?

We went to La Gomera end March when we had to cancel Sri Lanka due to Emirates flights. It was warm enough to swim in outdoor pools then but only just. Very quiet scenic island.

The black sand does take some getting used to! The first time I got some in my sandwich my brain thought it was black pepper until I took a bite!
I think it cool and Gothic now, though.

@AnneBoleyn123 depends what you mean by 'warm enough'. The temperature could be between about 15 and 30 C and it could be wall to wall blue skies, or it could be cloudy. The pictures of Gran Canaria I posted upthread were taken in early March a few years ago. It also depends what part of the islands you go to. There's a reason why the 'resorts' in the Canaries are around the southern coasts, the weather is usually significantly warmer and drier in winter especially. But you do get much more daylight, as they're nearer the equator so they don't experience northern European big seasonal variations.

You could also look at Malaga or Seville. Loads of history and culture and the weather should be nice enough to be warm, although there is a risk of storms.

We went because wanted a bit of winter sun; it was ok but nothing special and it wasn’t that hot. I sort of regret spending that money but was desperate for sun shine.

I enjoyed swimming in the outdoor heated pool

Lanzerote is brilliant.

Rome is only tolerable for a day
northern Italy will be cold at that time of year.
i can see you believe you are far superior to people who choose such abominations as the canaries but not every trip needs to a cultural extravaganza.

@AugustoneCosta Adeje is what you are looking for in Tenerife at that time of year, north of the island is a lot cooler

We stay in Costa Adeje but hire a car and go out exploring, go to Mount Teide and do some walking, check out Los Gigantes. If you like walking All Trails will have plenty of options.