Adventuring in Tenerife — six hiking Tours for every taste

If I’d been told in mid-January that my next big trip would be weeks later, in the middle of the lockdown, I’d have laughed out loud. Seven days later, I was chilling in the living room with my flatmates. We’d just finished a phone call with a friend who was in La Gomera, the Canarian island. She seemed very relaxed as the Atlantic lapped lazily in the background. My flatmate turned his head and said, ‘Julia, why don't you look up flights to Tenerife?’ I looked back in disbelief with a feeling of overwhelming emptiness and said, ‘We can't just leave!’

As it turned out, we could. Two weeks later, not only were we all on a train to the airport, but also four other friends, one of whom is from Tenerife and has organised a dream country house for us through her mother. In Tenerife, our friend from La Gomera was already waiting for us in our new home. I started out planning to stay for about six weeks. When those weeks flew by, I booked the first return flight for a month later. I postponed my return once more, so that in the end I didn’t return to Germany until mid-May.

Leading up to the trip, the preparation was less hectic than I thought. I found that there was almost nothing to organise because life in Munich had come to a standstill anyway. Luckily, I can do my work from anywhere, I was only seeing my friends virtually and there were no exciting events. The only thing I wanted to do was sublet my room, which I managed to do despite the short time.

I knew I definitely didn’t want to fly to the Canary Islands without my mountain bike so I organised a bike transport bag and suddenly it was just a matter of packing up and going. Some adventures begin without stress.

Until my lockdown breakout, I had always labelled the Canary Islands as a pensioner's paradise. This may be true ordinarily, when cruise ships and cheap holidays flood the archipelago with hordes of sun-hungry package tourists. In the winter of 2021 though, there was hardly any sign of this stereotype. The only ones who dared to visit, despite strict travel regulations, seemed to really want to travel and explore.

Of course, our colourful group often spent days lying on the beach and enjoying the mild temperatures, but we also went out exploring a lot and could hardly get enough of the beauty of Tenerife. I did less mountain biking than I thought, but went on a lot of hikes. The island is incredibly diverse: surreal Martian landscapes on the plateau surrounding the phenomenal Mount Teide; impenetrable laurel forests with a dense fog hanging in their branches; the arid south and the jungle-green north; plus the azure Atlantic with its black lava sand beaches – what outdoor fan doesn't get their money's worth here?

This Collection brings together some of the hikes I did in Tenerife. From the absolute king Tour on the Teide to the relaxed round through the Anaga mountains, everything is included. I hope you enjoy exploring as much as I did!