Guide · Guide to north Tenerife
Stargazing in Tenerife on your own, no tour needed
Teide and the summits renewed their Starlight certification in February 2026. How to go up on your own, when, and what to bring so you do not freeze.
- 2 minread
- 23 September 2026checked
- 2sources
The summits of Tenerife have one of the best skies on the planet, and you do not need to pay for a tour to see it. You need a car, warm clothes and an understanding of two things: altitude and the moon.
What the Starlight certification means
Teide National Park is recognised as a Starlight Tourist Destination and the summits of Tenerife as a Starlight Reserve. The first certification came in 2013 and has been renewed in October 2017, October 2021 and again in February 2026, this time for four years. It is not a marketing label: it measures sky quality and a commitment to controlling light pollution.
The physics behind it is the same that explains the *panza de burro*: the temperature inversion leaves the sea of clouds below the observatories, which sit above a stable layer of dry air. What from the coast is a grey ceiling is, from above, insulation.
Going up on your own
- Go up in daylight and stay. Drive into the park before sunset, watch the sun go down over the sea of clouds and wait for dark. Driving down an unfamiliar mountain road at night is not a plan.
- Pick a moonless night. A full moon halves what you see. Check the lunar calendar before choosing the day.
- Park in a proper area and switch the car lights off. No white torches either: the eye takes twenty minutes to adapt and one flash ruins it for everyone.
- Take more warm clothing than you think. At 2,000 metres at night it is genuinely cold even if you were in shirtsleeves in Icod. A hat and gloves are not excessive.
- Check the road. The Road Information Centre number is 900 210 131. In winter it closes for ice on some days.
If you do not want to go that high
The midland pine forest is already above much of the coastal light, and the Las Raíces picnic area at a thousand metres is much used for this. It is not the Teide sky, but you get there faster and the cold is more manageable.
Finca Julia is a few minutes from all of this.
Check availability on Airbnb — Opens the official Airbnb listing in a new tabSources
- Turismo de Tenerife — renovación de las certificaciones Starlight y Biosphere (2026) ↗
- IAC — Observatorio del Teide ↗
Updated on: · Reviewed on:
This guide is written from a house in Icod.
Finca Julia is a Canarian house for four in the hills above the town. Availability and price are on the official listing.
Plans
Plans that pass through here
Experiences and itineraries that share places with this page.
- PlanFrom the volcano to the AtlanticUp to Teide in the morning, the whole island from La Rambleta at 3,555 metres, and down to swim at San Marcos in the afternoon. Only possible from the north.
- DayUp to Teide and back in a dayOne hour seven minutes up the TF-21, what needs booking, what it costs and the order that keeps you from driving down in the dark.
- DayThree days based in IcodIcod, Garachico and Teide in three days, with real drive times from the old town and without driving the same road twice.
- PlanA day on Guayota's volcanoThe volcano the Guanches linked to hell, the rocks on the 1,000-peseta note and the Eggs of Teide. A full day, on a clear day.
Keep reading
The whole guide© Vickybol · CC BY-SA 4.0 6 min read
Teide Observatory: how to visit and what you see
3 min read
Getting to Teide from Icod
© Ingo Mehling · CC BY-SA 4.0 2 min read
Reaching the summit of Teide: the permit
Finca Julia · Icod de los Vinos
And at the end of the day,
the terrace.
An old Canarian house on the hillside, with the Atlantic in front. Availability and price are on the official Airbnb listing.