The Tenerife town of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital of the island. It is a quiet city where you can stroll and shop, enjoying its relaxed indian style.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
How to get there
If you come by car and want to visit the city centre, we recommend that you use one of the public car parks in the city, we parked in the one in Plaza España but there is another one in the Mercado de África.
Finding free parking is not easy but next to the Palmetum there is a huge car park which is about 20 minutes walk from the city centre.
TEA
What to see in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
1. España square, located on top of the old Castillo de San Cristobal, it has a central seawater lake.
2. Auditorium de Tenerife Adán Martín. Located next to the Parque Marítimo de César Manrique swimming pool complex. Its appearance is reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House.
3. Maritime park of César Manrique, complex of seawater pools, an icon of the city. Admission 5€/pax. There are spectacular views of the Park and the Auditorium from the terrace of the La Ruta Grill restaurant.
Auditorium
4. Palmetum. This botanical garden has a unique viewpoint over the city. Entrance fee 6€/pax.
5. Nuestra Señora de África Market. This is the most important market in the city. It is named after the Virgin of Africa that is found inside. It has a central courtyard with dozens of stalls where you can buy fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese, meat and/or typical products such as mojo or potatoes.
6. Nuestra Señora de la Concepción church. Known as the Cathedral of Santa Cruz, it dates from the 15th century.
Nuestra Señora de la Concepción church
7. TEA, cultural space dedicated to the arts where the museum and centre for contemporary art is located. The building itself is worth a visit.
8. García Sanabria park. It is the largest urban park in the Canary Islands.
9. Strolling through the centre of Santa Cruz. Strolling through Santa Cruz is very pleasant. Among its most interesting streets are Calle del Castillo, the most central and commercial street, or Calle de la Noria, next to the church of La Concepción.
Castillo street
Where to it in Santa Cruz
There are plenty of bars and restaurants to eat in the capital. We recommend a guachinche just outside Casa Goyo. We had a delicious octopus and grilled fish with potatoes and mojo. 2 pax 34€.
Octopus
What to see and/or do near Santa Cruz
1. Teresitas beach
About 10 kilometres from the centre of Santa Cruz, in the village of San Andrés, we find one of the most famous golden sandy beaches in Tenerife. The sand was brought from the Sahara desert to cover the volcanic sand.
It's a quiet beach flanked by docks that prevent the waves from coming in.
As a curiosity you can visit the small cemetery next to the beach. The car park is free of charge.
Cemetery
There is a viewpoint on the TF121 road towards Las Gaviotas where you can get a nice view of the beach. The downside is that the viewpoint is closed and fenced and there is not much parking area.
Teresitas
2. Anaga Rural Park
The Anaga Rural Park is located a few kilometres from the capital. Declared a Biosphere Reserve, it occupies a large part of the mountainous massif in the eastern part of the island.
Laurisilva, valleys and deep ravines make up this unique park. There are hundreds of hiking routes to discover this marvellous place.
Viewpoint
From Santa Cruz you can take the TF12 road, either towards San Andrés or La Laguna.
Anaga
There are a lot of viewpoints with incredible views, we recommend the following ones:
1. Mirador del Bailadero viewpoint
2. Viewpoint of the Anaga Tunnel
3. Viewpoint towards Taganana
4. Viewpoint of San Andrés
5. Viewpoint of the English peak (our favourite one next to the old road to the English peak).
Old road to Pico del Inglés viewpoint
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