The visitor centres of Teide National Park

Teide National Park has three visitor centres: El Portillo (TF-21, km 32.1), open every day from 9:00 to 16:15; Cañada Blanca, next to the Parador, from 9:00 to 16:00; and Telesforo Bravo, outside the park in La Orotava, Tuesday to Sunday. On top of those come the small Juan Évora museum at Boca Tauce and two gardens of Canary flora. Turismo de Tenerife lists El Portillo, Telesforo Bravo and Juan Évora as free. All of them close on 25 December and on 1 and 6 January.

El Portillo and its botanical garden

It is the first one you reach when coming up from the Orotava Valley, at km 32.1 of the TF-21. Inside are exhibitions and audiovisuals on Teide's geological history, its plants and its wildlife, a screening room for 74 people and information on Spain's other national parks. It opens Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 16:15, and the phone number is 922 922 371.

Right next to the centre is the El Portillo Botanical Garden, with the same hours. It gathers Canary high-mountain flora, including species that are hard to spot from the usual trails; Turismo de Tenerife reckons it holds around 75 % of the park's species. It has more than a kilometre of path, and roughly half of it is accessible for people with reduced mobility. If you only have an hour in the park, this is the stop that shows you most in the least time.

Slightly before it, at km 31.9 of the same road, MITECO lists an information booth. Do not mistake it for the centre: it is just a help point.

Cañada Blanca, opposite the Roques

It sits in Las Cañadas, next to the Parador and opposite the Roques de García, so it pairs naturally with the Roques trail or a stop at the La Ruleta viewpoint. Its subject is people: how life worked in Las Cañadas, what the land was used for and how that changed the landscape, with a section on Guanche culture. MITECO adds a large screening room and a viewing terrace with a scale model of the landscape, and says it was designed for universal accessibility. It opens Monday to Sunday, 9:00 to 16:00; phone 922 373 391.

Juan Évora, at Boca Tauce

Near the junction of the TF-21 and the TF-38, at Boca Tauce, the park restored the house of Juan Évora, the last person to live in Las Cañadas. It is now an information point and a small museum on shepherd life. It makes a handy stop if you come up via Chío and the TF-38. Watch the car: MITECO and Turismo de Tenerife warn that the car park closes at 15:45, and anyone leaving a car there to go walking has to move it before then.

Telesforo Bravo, in La Orotava

This one is not in Las Cañadas: it is in El Mayorazgo, La Orotava (calle Dr. Sixto Perera González, 25), about 25 km from the park's northern boundary according to MITECO. It shares a building with the park offices. The exhibition takes you through Tenerife from coast to summit, and through its history as seen by notable travellers. Next door is the Juan Acosta Rodríguez Ornamental Garden: some 800 plants of 80 native species over 6,000 m², with a 366 m path and accessible sections. Both open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 14:00 and 15:30 to 18:00; closed on Mondays.

It is the centre that copes best with a foggy day or with the road up being closed, because it is low down and right in town.

Getting there by bus

TITSA line 348 runs every day: it leaves Puerto de la Cruz bus station at 9:30 and La Orotava at 9:45, and stops at El Portillo before reaching the Parador, which is next to Cañada Blanca. The return leaves the Parador at 16:00, passes the cable car at 16:05 and El Portillo at 16:30. With only one bus a day, timing at Cañada Blanca is tight: the centre closes at 16:00, the same time the return bus leaves.

El Portillo

TF-21 km 32.1 · daily 9:00-16:15 · 922 922 371

El Portillo Botanical Garden

daily 9:00-16:15 · half accessible

Cañada Blanca

next to the Parador · daily 9:00-16:00 · 922 373 391

Juan Évora (Boca Tauce)

daily 9:00-16:00 · car park until 15:45

Telesforo Bravo (La Orotava)

Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-14:00 and 15:30-18:00 · closed Mondays

Juan Acosta Rodríguez Garden

same hours as Telesforo Bravo · 80 native species

Common closures

25 December, 1 and 6 January

Entry

free at El Portillo, Telesforo Bravo and Juan Évora, according to Turismo de Tenerife

Bus

TITSA 348 · El Portillo and Parador · return 16:00 (Parador), 16:30 (El Portillo)

Park office

Monday to Friday 9:00-14:00 · 922 92 23 71 · pnteide@tenerife.es

From Finca Julia

From Icod there are two ways up, and each brings you close to a different centre. Come in via Chío and the TF-38 and the first you meet is Juan Évora, at Boca Tauce, then Cañada Blanca by the Roques. Go up through La Orotava on the TF-21 and you pass Telesforo Bravo in town and El Portillo at the park entrance. Go up one way and down the other and you can see all four without repeating a road; bear in mind they all close mid-afternoon, so start with the ones at the top.

Getting to Teide from Icod

Roques de García: park trail 3

Teide cable car: price and opening hours

Visiting the Teide Observatory

Itinerary: the Orotava Valley

Frequently asked questions

Do you pay to enter the Teide visitor centres?

Turismo de Tenerife lists El Portillo, Telesforo Bravo and Juan Évora as free. The park's opening-hours page publishes no prices.

Which Teide visitor centre opens on Mondays?

El Portillo, Cañada Blanca, Juan Évora and the El Portillo garden open every day. Telesforo Bravo and its garden, in La Orotava, close on Mondays.

Which one is best if I am short of time?

If you come up the TF-21, El Portillo with its botanical garden: it is the fullest on geology and plants. If you are heading to the Roques de García, Cañada Blanca is right opposite.

Can you get to El Portillo by bus?

Yes, on TITSA line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz and La Orotava. There is one morning departure, and the return passes El Portillo at 16:30.