Puerto de la Cruz Holidays

Puerto de la Cruz sits on Tenerife’s north coast, amid a landscape of tropical fruit plantations. There’s a lovely traditional feel to the place, with its quaint harbour and pretty old town, yet it does sophistication very well, too. Nouveau cuisine is served up in colonial-style restaurants, while the bars mix cocktails with Canarian singers. As for the coastal scene, you’ve got a duo of architect-designed beaches to enjoy here too.

The main beach, Playa de Jardin, is a 1-kilometre stretch of black sand that comes with sunloungers, changing rooms and beach kiosks, plus the sort of choppy waters that windsurfers love. The late Canarian architect César Manrique put in a backdrop of tropical gardens with waterfalls, foot bridges, sun terraces and bars and restaurants. And he made the second beach, Playa Martiánez, equally pretty, too.

Just 10 minutes out of town you’ve got the Botanico Gardens at La Paz. It has over 5,000 exotic trees and plants including the aptly named Palo Borracho, or Drunken Tree, and Árbol de las Salchichas – the Tree of Sausages. Or you might want to book on a trip to Mount Teide, which at 3,718 metres is the world’s highest volcano. Equally, you could drive to the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 30 minutes for the designer shops and Sunday’s huge flea market.