North or south? Where to stay in Tenerife

Tenerife is two islands inside one. We are writing from the north, so the fair thing is to start with what the south does better.

What the south wins

• Sun. More hours, more reliably, all year. If you are coming for five days to lie down, the south makes that easy.
• Pale sand beaches, calm sea and full beach facilities.
• Nightlife, an enormous hotel supply and every kind of international restaurant.
• Proximity to Tenerife South airport, where most international flights land.
• If you are travelling with small children and want pool, beach and little driving, it is the more comfortable choice.

What the north wins

• Landscape. Green, ravines, laurel forest, volcanic badlands and towns with listed historic quarters. The north is where the island is, not where the resort is.
• Temperature. A few degrees cooler in summer and nights you can actually sleep through.
• Price. Eating and drinking costs noticeably less than in the southern resort areas.
• Authenticity, a worn word that here means something concrete: neighbours still live in the towns you sleep in.
• Access to Teide by two different routes, and to Teno, Anaga and Chinyero without crossing the whole island.

What the north will NOT give you

Guaranteed sun at nine in the morning every day in July. White sand beaches. A beach bar every hundred metres. And, if you stay in the midlands as you would here, it will not give you the option of getting around without a car. That is real and worth knowing before you book, not after.

Who the north is for

For people who will take the car out. For people who want to come back from a walk and have dinner in the village. For people who would rather have a house with fruit trees and Atlantic views than a room overlooking another room. If that sounds right, this is your side of the island. If what you want is never to leave the sunlounger, we will say it plainly: you will enjoy the south more.