Greentraveller Guide to Tenerife, Canary Islands
The 'Island of Eternal Spring' more than lives up to its title with sun warming the landscape year round, from the capital Santa Cruz to the mountainous Teide National Park and the lush Orotava Valley in the north.
Our Greentraveller Guide to Tenerife will give you all the advice you’ll need to make the most of a trip to the largest Canary island. Our guide selects some of the best places to stay, from traditional rural houses and rural hotels to luxurious modern hotels, and the best places to find traditional Canarian food and drink, including wonderful restaurants, bustling markets and world-class wineries. In addition, we include a wide range of activities, from trekking across the rugged Teide National Park and exploring underground volcanic structures, to spectacular whale and dolphin-watching.
We also provide all the information on how you get to Tenerife by train and ferry, as well as how to get around using bikes and the comprehensive bus and tram system. Less carbon, more fun!
>> See Rhiannon Batten's article on visiting Tenerife this summer, including a visit to the world's first Bioclimatic Village: The Alternative Tenerife
Browse by section
From traditionally rural houses and rural hotels to the latest eco accommodations, browse our selection of fantastic green places to stay in Tenerife.
Canarian restaurants, bustling markets, quaint cafes and world-class wineries - the island is a true haven for food and drink lovers.
From the magnificent Teide National Park to the innovative Tenerife Arts Space (TEA), Tenerife is bursting with parks, museums and cultural spaces.
From hiking around Europe's most dramatic landscapes to whale and dolphin watching - Tenerife is a natural playground.
Map of Tenerife
Going for a greener Tenerife
Ricardo Melchior, President of the Tenerife Island Government
Ricardo Melchior, President of the Tenerife Island Government
Tenerife is Britain's favourite winter holiday destination but did you know that it is also a pioneer in green energy?
For 25 years we have been developing renewable energy, which is so important in the fight against climate change and to create sustainable wealth and employment in island communities.
In 1990 we created the Tenerife Renewable Energy Institute, a centre for applied research and development of renewable energies for the Canary Islands, Africa and Latin America.
It is home to the world’s first zero Co2 emissions village of bioclimatic houses, which use only clean energies. You can take a tour of this unique site or rent one of the homes near the sea.
Island eco-systems are the most vulnerable to the pressures of population growth, which is why over 50 per cent of Tenerife is protected and the other 50 per cent is forest and farm land.
With the greatest endemic biodiversity in Europe, Tenerife is the only place in the world with its own flora section at Kew Garden.
Tenerife’s tram and future railway are part of an integrated public transport system. Our buses will run on hydrogen, we will produce our own bio fuel and you will rent a bike at Park n Ride points.
Welcome to our green island.
Ricardo Melchior
President of the Tenerife Island Government
>> Find out more about Ricardo's vision for sustainable tourism in Tenerife:
Q&A between Richard Hammond and Ricardo Melchior
Did you know?
- Tenerife was once inhabited by the Guanches, an indigenous community which lived on the island before the Spanish conquest in 1496
- Nearly half of Tenerife’s land is protected in one way or another. The most iconic protected area is the Teide National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007
- Shakespeare was so fond of Tenerife’s wine that he made a reference to them in several of his works
- With over 50 endemic species, Tenerife is part of the Macaronesia, one of the four richest biological areas of the world
- The volcanic moonscape and clear skies above Tenerife provide the perfect environment for stargazing
