Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Tenerife has a strong reputation for 18-30s holidays but, do you know what, there's just SO MUCH MORE to the island than just that! :D It has underground caves, an enchanted forest, a wonderfully diverse culture of food and towns that aren't just lit up by neon bar signs - who'd have thunk it?? Watch our video to find out what we consider to be the top 5 'hidden gems' of Tenerife and, instead of just lolling on a beach with a sore head, take a day (or even two!) to see what else the UK's most popular holiday destination has to offer. Here's a video on some other things we loved about the island: https://youtu.be/a4AHQry0508 But if we really can't persuade you to look beyond South Tenerife, here's a video on Playa de Las Americas: https://youtu.be/uRxjhK-hpxo Enjoy :D Don’t forget to… SUBSCRIBE ► https://goo.gl/mKhPKt Get in touch on Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/holidayextras Follow our travels on Twitter ► https://www.twitter.com/holidayextras Get some sneak-previews on Instagram ► https://instagram.com/holidayextras/ Quench your wanderlust on Pinterest ►https://www.pinterest.com/holidayextras/ And explore our Blog ► https://goo.gl/EgQpsp ………………………… Transcript: We headed away from the resort and tried some of the authentic Canarian food, like Papas Arrugadas. Or, in English, wrinkled, boiled and salted potatoes. So, the Mojo sauce is kind of different wherever you go. It tends to be like a family recipe so it goes down throughout the generations, so I think throughout the island you’ll tend to find different versions of it. Mmm. Is it spicy? I really like it. Ok. It’s very spicy. Very spicy? Okay. Maybe you start with the other one. Yeah, I’ll start… Next up we’re talking about the lava caves - Cueva del Viento. The only way you can get into these caves is via a special tour. Yeah, so they’ll give you all of your equipment like your torches, your hard helmets and even these really stylish cotton hats. We recommend that you wear them immediately! As soon as you set your eyes on them. Get them on your heads. And keep them on for the whole day. You look awesome! The guide starts by showing us around the local area, seeing all the local flora and fauna. It’s really interesting! Then he took us down into the lava tubes themselves, gave us some info on the history of them, how they were formed, the geology, the wildlife. The troglobytes… She loves that word. Anyway, here is some clips of us on the tour. So, here you can see two big blocks. Up here you can see how the ceiling is made with layers. And, we can see the brown colour, iron, inside. And in other places you would see the ceiling with a white colour, silica. And from the underworld to another world…ly landscape. Teide National Park, which looks like you could be on Mars. I see what you did there. Clever, I’m impressed. Thanks. It’s in the centre of the island and the mountain, or volcano, that the National Park is named after, Mount Teide, is what formed Tenerife millions of years ago. It’s stunning scenery, it looks almost like the moon or Mars, and this landscape has actually been used for film sets as well, which is pretty cool. There are these giant boulders that are huge and yet light enough that even the likes of Sian-Amy could get them above her head [Pure muscle!], near enough. Beautiful rock formations that look especially beautiful as the sun’s about to set. Which leads me perfectly onto night time in the National Park. Now, because of the restrictions on light pollution and the altitude, you’ll have an amazing view of the night sky, which is great for star-gazing. You can do what we did and download an app to help you identify the constellations, or if you need a helping hand, you can also book yourself onto a tour. Whatever you do, just remember to bring a coat because it’s freezing! Our next hidden gem is the Mercedes Forest, in the Anaga Mountains. When you think of Tenerife, you think of sun, sea and sand but Mercedes Forest is well pretty much the opposite of that. It’s lush and green and beautiful. It’s in the north of the island with that subtropical climate and it’s the oldest part of the island, formed between 10 to 15 million years ago. Sticking to the north of the island, we have Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife. I did this… The capital of Tenerife. Well, I did like a small version, I was like, I did like a half version, like binoculars. The capital of Tenerife. Yeah, like the Auditorium. Right. There’s a beautiful theatre, a park in the centre that is this central oasis of green and calm. Oo, and don’t forget that main square as well, the Plaza. Right. Just make sure you bring your Spanish phrasebook with you because not much English is spoken here.

• published: 30 Apr 2015
• views: 236291