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!

Utter tosh. You need a good week at least in Rome to experience it properly! Preferably two or three! Travel is supposed to be enriching.

I've just booked the hotel Colon Guanahani in Costa Adeje for February. It's adults only and looks really nice. Heated pools too if needed. It might be worth a look?

This is La Gomera end of March, pleasant temp for site seeing, very quiet, fine for canoeing, hiking, museums, swimming in heated pools, dolphins boat trips but was windy and week before there had been massive storms so it's hit and miss with weather. Almost no children there. Not for beaches.

Travel is supposed to be enjoyable, and what people enjoy thankfully is as individual as what enriches us.

Sorry as it’s slightly off topic but the donkey sanctuary thing that previous posters have mentioned is fascinating. Went on an adventure trip to Egypt and one place we (randomly) visited was a donkey sanctuary run by British ex pats. They were lovely people and doing a nice thing but found the juxtaposition with the poverty of some of the children a bit jarring!

Exactly! So bizarre

If you want quieter and more scenic then you want the north of the island or the middle where the mountains are but the weather is not as warm. The north is rainy but very beautiful. The sun nearly always shines at the top of Tenerife as it's above the cloud but the temperatures are cooler. We were there in January and it was about 15 degrees but lovely.

nay

You’ll need to go west to Los Gigantes or Peurto Santiago. Playa de la Arena is nice but has been one more of a resort over the past few years (which is good if you want more touristy but without the heavy nightlife) and also has a natural beach so black volcanic sand.

If you stay the airport side of Los Cristianos it’s less built up but the beach is lots of bars etc.

Be careful when you look at Costa Adeje. The reason being is that’s actually the whole of the coastal area and you need to looking what towns along there you are going to. Again the further west in Costa Adeje the less touristy and built up.

The main area to avoid if you don’t want busy and built up is Las Americas (San Eugenio/ Porto Colon) stretch of coast.

Playa Paraiso is a fairly new up and coming resort and has a lot of high rise and just next door is Callao Salvaje which is a quiet village and mainly residential - not really a beach there but a small black sand area - but does have an adults only hotel. Good public transport towards Los gigantes and also towards las americas if you want to get out and about.

Anyone who uses the term “utter tosh” and writes off a whole variety of islands, each with their own charms because they went to lanzarote once, is not someone to be listened to.

You sound very limited in imagination.

Another thumbs up for Los Gigantes, it’s beautiful, quiet and very authentic.

For Tenerife specifically I’d look at los Abrigos

Attitudes towards animals is such an interesting cultural difference. I saw a documentary in Al Jazeera about culling camels in Australia.
The Autralians were explaining how the camals are a pest and the farmers can't afford to enough fencing to keep them out.
The poor Kuwaiti host couldn't handle it and just kept saying "But camels are a blessing".
If there was a community of ex-pat Kuwaitis in Austalia you can bet there'd be camel sanctuaries.

I’ve (unfortunately) been to each of the canary islands multiple times when I was younger. Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura aren’t worth the plane fare. Madeira is nicer but not somewhere I’d choose.

If you want a beach holiday there’s places like the Algarva, the French Riviera and Spanish islands (not the party sides!) that provide much nicer experiences without the blight that are Brits abroad. But really, you only need a day or two there. There is so much to be seen and done in Europe, why on earth would you want to waste it in a place that’s just Britain but sunny?!

Lanzarote 🤣
North tenerife is nice, but beaches black

Potentially the most interesting thing about the island to be fair

Another vote for La Caleta in Tenerife.

You obviously went to the wrong parts of those islands. If you weren't so blinkered, you'd realise that only small parts of them are like that. Plenty of things to see and do that's not 'Britain but sunny'.

I haven’t seen anyone recommend Las Americas or Playa Del Ingles though and it sounds like that’s where you went if it was “Britain but sunny”.

You’ve definitely never set foot in some of the places recommended here. Stargazing from Mount Teide is wonderful. Veronica’s strip not so much. Sounds like you went with chavs love.

We loved Lanzarote when we went. Lots of scenery and cultural things to see and do. No clubs, pubs, all-day English breakfasts..

If you are happy with wind (windsurf and surf beach) and aircraft noise, El Medano.

Nay

If you are used to Greece you will be disappointed by Tenerife.

However for guaranteed (almost) winter sunshine then the adeje part of south Tenerife is best … as east as possible as someone else said .. el duque or caletta. But not too far west .. we went to MYND hotel for new year and it was a bit too far out.

It’s not Greece but it’s fab for a winter break .. we love to escape the jan/feb UK weather … bliss to walk about in shorts and have a drink in the sunshine.

Don’t understand the appeal in the summer though.

Yay! Los gigantes is quiet, warm and friendly. We had a car so visited small villages, hiked around the volcano, swam in many seas, snorkelled, spent time in local churches, saw local wildlife like lizards and red crabs, walked miles along beautiful rugged coastlines, went surfing, watched amazing sunsets, enjoyed delicious local food….if you think Tenerife is all ‘brits in the sun’ then you need to get out and explore the whole island a bit more!

El medano is lovely but the wind can make it feel cooler than some would like in Oct - Feb time.

Brilliant for watching kite surfers though!

Alcala is quiet but again volcanic sand natural beaches which is t for everyone.