Tenerife - The Nature & History of a Volcanic Island

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Arrive in Tenerife

  We fly to Tenerife and on arrival transfer to the 5* Hotel Botanico in Puerto de la Cruz. This long-established and very popular property is set within six acres of impeccably maintained gardens. There are spacious lounges, terraces, two swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor and a spa. All bedrooms have balconies and views of Mount Teide or the sea.

• Day 2 - Botanical Garden of Tenerife & Parque Taoro Water Garden

  Today is devoted to a selection of the luxuriant gardens on the island. We follow a guided tour of the hotel’s own splendid gardens with visits to the Botanical Garden of Tenerife, the Sitio LitreOrchid Garden where more than 300 varieties of orchid can be seen and the Parque Taoro Water Garden.

• Day 3 - Mount Teide, Granadilla & Guimar

  We will visit the Mount Teide National Park today, travelling to the 12,000 ft peak by cable car to enjoy spectacular views across the island and over to Gran Canaria. Afterwards, we drive down toGranadilla for an aperitif with Simon and Christopher Monckton, two of Kirker’s most popular tour leaders, and then to lunch in the tiny fishing harbour of Los Abrigos. On the way back to the hotel inthe afternoon, we will visit the curious stepped pyramids at Guimar, restored by Thor Heyerdahl in the 1990s.

• Day 4 - Wine tasting & La Orotava

  Wines from the Canary Islands were once very fashionable and sought-after – Shakespeare mentions them in The Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night - and this morning we will enjoy a tasting.Later we make our way to La Orotava, a lovely small town with 17th and 18th Century houses and churches, where a walking tour will be followed by lunch in a traditional Canarian restaurant.

• Day 5 - North Coast

  This morning we drive along the spectacular north coast to Masca, a tiny village of pretty houses clinging to a steep ravine and dwarfed by the most dramatic scenery on the island. We will thendrive back to the charming old town of Garachico where we pause for an independent lunch and visit the 17th century Franciscan Convent. For 300 years this sleepy village of cobbled streets, fishermen’s cottages and sun-baked cloisters was the most important port on the island.

• Day 6 - Santa Cruz

  We visit Santa Cruz today, the capital of the island and a handsome city of tree-lined streets, parks and art galleries. We will have a guided tour of the stunning concert hall, the Auditorio deTenerife designed by Calatrava. There will be free time for shopping and an independent lunch before returning to the hotel.

• Day 7 - La Laguna & Anaga Mountains

  Our final tour starts with a walking tour of the historic university town of La Laguna, the original capital, founded in 1496. After an independent lunch, we continue to the wild Anaga Mountains where the “cloud forest”, like that of the neighbouring island of La Gomera, has survived undisturbed since the dinosaurs walked the earth.

• Day 8 - Departure Day

  We drive to the airport for the flight back home.