Los Abrigos, a little bit of paradise on earth

One of the most favorite vacations I had was in Tenerife, in a town Los Abrigos. Even though I was only there for a weekend, escaping the cold weather we have here in February. It was a mix of enjoying the sun, walking, relaxing, climbing mountains and eating delicious food. But what to do if you are only in Los Abrigos for a short time?

Rent a car

One of the best decisions we made was to rent a car. The most scary part about renting the car was not being in the possession of a GPS system. But that was honestly not a problem whatsoever. We looked up beforehand how to get to the hotel and then we just followed the directions of the traffic signs. Of course you can rent a car that has a GPS system, but as me and my partner are both students, we went for the cheapest option. We got two maps of the island and never got lost or had trouble finding our destinations. When we arrived we also just drove around for a bit to enjoy the landscape, something I can recommend.

Hiking

Being in Tenerife, we of course had to go outside to enjoy the warm sun we had not seen in quite some time in Belgium. We had the big plan to go and visit the volcano that is situated in the middle of the island, but we changed our plans while seeing all the signs for hiking trails on the way to the volcano. So we stopped and started walking on one of the routes we passed by. We might not have seen the top of the volcano, but we enjoyed the nature, the people barbecuing in parks and the silence when there was no one else around us. Once noon had passed, we drove a bit further to one of the viewing spots and then we returned to Los Abrigos. If you are an easily scared driver then it might not be for you to drive to the volcano yourself. The roads have a lot of turns and can be steep at times, but if you are careful (as we did) then the journey itself is also a lot of fun. There even waved a few people at us while driving by their home, which made the journey all the more enjoyable.

Another place we climbed was the red mountain close to Los Abrigos and El Medano. There are multiple free parking areas and it is easy to reach. The mountain is made out of dry red (hard) sand so make sure to wear good shoes so you don't fall. Especially the descending part can be quite slippery so please be careful. The view you are gifted once reaching the top is once again amazing. We bought some oranges and on reaching the top we sat down for a while, enjoying the view and the oranges before descending once again.

Beach

Since Los Abrigos is not as touristic as other places in Tenerife there are a few beaches around that are less populated by tourists then in other parts. They even have a volcanic beach. There is also a sand beach around the red mountain (with free parking areas) that is easy to reach if you know where it is.

Eating in the company of cats

Food, one of the most important aspects of travelling. And yes, I ate some very good food in Los Abrigos. I normally am not a big fan of fish, but the fish plate I ate at a restaurant called Maria was absolutely heavenly (including the amazing Canarian potatoes that came with it). I will definitely go back one day to eat it again. The nice company of the cats all around us while eating (for some kind of reason they lost their interest in us as soon as the food was eaten), a nice glass of wine and the view of the water was perfect for an amazing evening.

PARQUE NACIONAL DEL TEIDE

Sixto Perera González, nº25, 38300 La Orotava

La Montana Roja/The Red Mountain Tenerife

38612 Granadilla, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

Los Abrigos, Tenerife

38618 Los Abrigos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain