Guide · Guide to north Tenerife
Rambla de Castro: the north's best walk
4.36 flat kilometres between palm grove and cliff, with a 17th-century manor and Tenerife's first steam engine. The most rewarding walk in the north.
- 2 minread
- 23 September 2026checked
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If you are only going to do one walk in northern Tenerife, do this one. Just over four flat kilometres along the cliff, between palms and sea, with three things to see along the way and no climb that punishes. Doable with children and with grandparents.
The numbers
What you see along the way
The palm grove
It is the first surprise: a dense stand of palms hanging over the Atlantic, on an island where the coastal landscape is usually bare rock. The route goes through it and then opens onto the cliff.
The manor and the San Pedro viewpoint
The Castro family manor gives the whole place its name. A little further on, the San Pedro viewpoint leans out over the cliff with Teide behind you on a clear day. It is where everyone takes out the camera.
The Gordejuela water lift
And here is the odd jewel: the ruins of a water lift clinging to the rock, home to the first steam engine used in Tenerife to raise water. It was built to irrigate the banana plantations above. Today it is a skeleton of stone and iron eaten by vegetation, and probably the most photographed thing on the walk.
How to plan it
- It is linear: 4.36 km each way, 1 h 50 according to the official catalogue. Turn back wherever you like.
- It starts at the El Burgado viewpoint in Los Realejos, where there is parking.
- Easy grade, with altitude moving between 45 and 147 metres.
- Individual visitors walk in freely. Only organised groups need a booking, with a daily cap of 80 people.
- Best late in the afternoon: the light on the cliff and the palm grove repays the early start you did not have to make.
Finca Julia is a few minutes from all of this.
Check availability on Airbnb — Opens the official Airbnb listing in a new tabSources
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.
- PlanBlack, blue and lavaThe 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Keep reading
The whole guide© Noemi M. M. · CC BY-SA 4.0 7 min read
What to see in Los Realejos, from the old towns to the cliffs
© Josefir Instantes · CC BY-SA 4.0 2 min read
Walks near Icod
© Jules Verne Times Two · CC BY-SA 4.0 2 min read
Beaches near Icod de los Vinos: black sand and rock pools
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.