From the Icod midlands you can see the sea, but the north really makes sense from above: the Garachico rock, the Teno ravines, the whole Orotava Valley with Teide behind. These are the public viewpoints most within reach of the Icod old town, grouped by area so they slot into a day you already have planned.
Garachico and the Isla Baja: a quarter of an hour away
The Mirador de El Guincho, seven minutes away, looks over Garachico with the rock in the foreground, the El Guincho cliff and the harbour; it has parking and a bus stop. Lomo Molino, on the TF-423 between El Tanque and Tierra del Trigo (km 0.5), opens up over the Caleta de Interián and the Isla Baja, and on a clear day reaches La Palma.
Teno: the Masca road
Two viewpoints on the TF-436. Altos de Baracán, at km 12, looks over the Los Carrizales ravine and the El Palmar valley, and is a good spot to feel the change of climate between the north and south slopes. From Cherfe, at 1,100 metres, you see Teide's west face with Chinyero in front, the hamlet of Masca and, out to sea, La Gomera and La Palma.
The Orotava Valley: six viewpoints
Coming from Icod on the upper road, the first is El Lance, in Icod el Alto (TF-342, km 5), with the statue of the Guanche king Bentor; although it is in Icod el Alto, it belongs to Los Realejos, not Icod de los Vinos. Along the coast, beside the TF-5, are La Grimona (km 43), above the Socorro cliffs, and San Pedro (km 41), looking over the Rambla de Castro palm grove. Higher up, La Corona, at 750 metres on the Tigaiga massif, is a paragliding launch site.
And on the TF-21, the road from La Orotava up to Teide: Humboldt (km 1), with the valley, Puerto de la Cruz and the El Fraile and Las Arenas volcanoes, opened in 2010 in memory of the naturalist; and Mataznos (km 19), up in the heights beside a forest of faya and tree heath, facing El Rincón and the Tigaiga slope. If the day's plan is Teide via La Orotava, both are on the way.
Experiences and itineraries that share places with this page.
DayThe Orotava Valley, from the old town to the sea1 dayThe La Orotava old town, two free gardens, old Puerto de la Cruz, the Botanical Garden and the coast road home past the valley viewpoints. Half an hour from Icod.
DayA day through the villages of the Isla Baja1 dayThe listed old quarters of Los Silos and Buenavista, El Tanque's 1728 church, a viewpoint over the Isla Baja, a rock pool and Garachico on the way back.
PlanFrom the volcano to the AtlanticA whole day · 7–9 hUp 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.
PlanBlack, blue and lavaA whole day · 6–8 hThe black sand of San Marcos, the rock pools of El Caletón and the badlands of Chinyero: the coast and the volcano that made it, on a dry day without a swell.
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