Resort Guides › Spain › Tenerife
Tenerife’s older, greener north-coast resort — real history, black-sand beaches.
Overview
Puerto de la Cruz, on Tenerife’s north coast, was the island’s original tourist resort long before the south coast was developed, and still has a genuine old town with colonial-era buildings, alongside the volcanic black-sand beaches typical of this side of the island. Loro Parque, one of the Canaries’ best-known zoos and aquariums, sits at its edge.
Families & toddlers
Lago Martiánez, a striking seawater lido complex designed by Tenerife-born artist César Manrique, is a genuinely great family day out with its pools and gardens, and Loro Parque is an easy, popular add-on. The black-sand beaches themselves have a different character to the south coast’s imported sand, but are well maintained.
Couples, teens & nightlife
A far calmer, more cultural evening scene than the south coast resorts — old-town restaurants, plazas and a genuine sense of place rather than strips of bars. Good for couples who’d rather spend an evening exploring than clubbing.
Seniors & accessibility
The old town is compact and walkable, though hillier in places than the purpose-built southern resorts; the seafront and lido area itself are flat and well set up for an easy day out.
Best time to visit
Noticeably cooler and rainier than Tenerife’s south coast year-round (it catches more of the trade winds), so best visited with that in mind rather than treated as a winter-sun guarantee.