Where to stay in Tenerife?

cycling-girl

I've got 5 days road cycling in Tenerife in January and am looking for advice on where to stay. I'll be road biking every day though we do have young children with us (2 and 4.5). It sounds like Los Cristianos/Costa Adeje area would be best for the kids, but Puerto de la Cruz is best for variety of road riding? Any advice would be very gratefully received!

kingstongraham

Just recently back from a week in Tenerife staying in Puerto de la Cruz, although I only cycled one day and went walking the rest.

It's not really an attractive resort - looks a lot better after dark, and the restaurants are excellent. If you don't stay very close to the sea, you'll have a decent uphill walk back to your hotel - the Teide climb starts at sea level...

The climb up Teide is excellent - 47km of climbing. To get much anywhere else, you're either going up the same climb for 30km, or you're along the coast roads for an hour each end of the ride with quite a bit of traffic in places. If you're willing to take your bike in the car for 30/40 minutes before starting riding, you can easily get to both the Anaga or Teno from there.

If I went again for cycling, I'd look at Los Gigantes as a location. Close to Teno and a route up Teide. Others will know better, I'm sure.

cycling-girl

Thanks very much for this info, it's good to understand some of the drawbacks of Puerto de la Cruz. I will take a look at Los Gigantes...

If anyone else has any advice on where to stay in Tenerife, it would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

lostboysaint

El Medano is my favourite on Tenerife. Much more laid back, fantastic beaches, windy (which is the other reason I love it, it's a windsurfing town) and easy to get onto Teide.

navrig2

7 of us stayed in San Miguel for 6 days cycling but we specifically wanted to stay away from the resorts.

We managed 2 decent routes immediately from the villa. We drove to the north twice and found some great routes there. We also went west and found the most amazing round into and out of Buena Vista.

Away from the resorts there was little traffic. The one day we ventured towards the coast the roads were pretty busy. This was September however. January will be quieter.

There wouldn't be much in San Miguel for the kids tho'.

cycling-girl

Thanks everyone! It's really hard to decide where to base ourselves... Seems like there is no one base that allows you to do all the best rides from the doorstep? Or have I just missed it?!

lvquestpaddler

I'll second El Medano, great place away from the big resorts and shortest(steepest!) route up Teide, but ok roads on the coast and up to Vilaflor. And it's got the excellent BikePoint shop whether you're hiring or taking your own....