Tenerife (Spain)

Tenerife comes highly recommended to all those who cannot quite decide between a holiday in the mountains or on the coast. The largest Canary Island is a miniature continent in itself, on which the impressive mountains and finest sandy beaches are only a few miles away from one another.
On the approach to the island, the massive volcanic cone of the Pico del Teide is already extremely visible; being 3,718 m high, it enjoys the title of Spain's highest mountain. During the winter, the summit is often covered in snow and holidaymakers therefore have the opportunity to ski in the mornings and then bathe in warm seas in the afternoon.
Overall, Tenerife presents itself as an island of diversity boasting subtropical rainforests, breathtaking gorges, eerie and beautiful lunar landscapes, as well as inviting sandy beaches. On the northern side of the tall mountains, the valleys are always green and walking enthusiasts are able to discover an almost exotic and most spectacular diversity of plant life at the heart of this authentic mountainous landscape.
Large banana plantations populate the flat costal regions - a visit to the Bananera El Guanche is rounded off with a sampling of the sweet, aromatic variety from the Canary Islands. In the south, on the other hand, dry, warm gusts of winds provide for the most consistently good bathing conditions in the whole archipelago, a factor considered by the many water sports fans, water babes and sun worshippers who enjoy the first-rate tourist infrastructure and the array of offers.
Created by nature, a trip to the basalt stacks of Los Gigantes on the west coast or to the bizarre craterous landscape around the Teide is an unforgettable experience and reminds one of the volcanic origins of the island.