This is the main tourist resort of the Northern part of the Island and one of the biggest resorts of the whole country. Here you’ll find everything: from luxury hotels, posh districts and enormous shopping centres to popular streets. Puerto la Cruz is undoubtedly a place for fun! A walk through the Paseo Colón in the sunshine is an unique experience, sitting in any of the restaurants and eating their famous “empanadas” is a true delight. When getting around, you MUST go to Mochima, a National Park with plenty of small islands with white-sandy beaches. You can go as well to Santa Fé, a small town up in the near mountain where you’ll have superb views and the feeling of not being on the beach …
Puerto de la Cruz actually started life as the Port for La Oratava and later on it grew to become a town in itself. There’s a great mixture of old and new, fortunately there are more old and typically Canarian-looking buildings than new structures, although you’ll find a great choice of new and modern hotels.
There’s plenty of green around the city, lots of “plazas” (squares) and many parks like the botanical gardens which date from 1788. The city is surrounded by banana plantations and bordered by the sea of course, but also by the very scenic La Oratava valley and Esperanza forest. Beyond that and very much visible, Mount Teide, is always an a spectacular sight to see as you approach.
For almost 100 years the city has been a popular tourist destination. There’s an endless and excellent choice of restaurants and bars, good night life and the small, natural beaches are of black volcanic sand. There’s no reef to protect them from the tides so they are not always safe for swimming but to compensate for this, the internationally renowned Canarian artist César Manrique designed a large open-air seawater swimming pool in the town called the “Lagos Martianez”. A very impressive public pool only a few meters from the sea with plenty of room to swim and sunbathe.
Plaza del Charco in the centre, is a picturesque and peaceful place to meet, have a coffee or on the evening, watch the street artists that perform there. To the north of the city you’ll find the Loro Parque, the main tourist attraction, a spectacular zoo where you could easily spend an entire day.