Tenerife With Kids

We imagine that most blog posts about visiting Tenerife with kids will focus solely on the amazing theme parks around Costa Adeje. This is perfectly natural, after all, these are undoubtedly very fun activities for kids on Tenerife, but it would be shame if your family didn’t also venture out to see the incredible natural beauty of this spectacular Canary Island.

We spent a week enjoying the incredible natural beauty of Tenerife with our kids (ages 6 & 8). We hope you have amazing family holidays to the Canary Islands and that you find some inspiration for some fun kid-friendly activities in Tenerife.

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15 Amazing Things to do with in Tenerife with Kids

1. Mount Teide Cable Car

Without question, the Mount Teide Cable Car is one of the most fun things to do on Tenerife with kids.

To begin with, no matter which direction you drive from, the drive through Mount Teide National Park is exceptionally beautiful. We drove the full length of Mount Teide (Spain’s highest mountain), from north to south beginning at the northern part of Tenerife to get there, and once we finished, we continued driving south.

There are many viewpoints to stop at and there are sections of evergreen forest within the national park which are simply magical. The section of road just minutes east of the Mount Teide cable car will make you feel like you are driving through Mars!

We booked the Cable Car + Guided Tour of the Pico Viejo Viewpoint with Volcano Teide Experience. This tour included a return trip on the cable car, along with a guided walk to Pico Viejo – the second highest point on Tenerife island.

The lower terminal/base station rests at 2,356 m (7,700 ft) above sea level and after an exhilarating 8 minute ride, you will reach the upper terminal with an elevation of roughly 3,055 m (10,000 ft). This is above the 2,400 m (8,000 ft) threshold where some visitors may feel the effects of the altitude, so take it easy while you are at the top. 

The upper station is located well below the upper cone of Teide (which you need a special permit to hike up to). But that’s ok, you are still extremely high up and on a clear day you can see virtually everywhere.

You can see the Canary Islands of La Gomera, La Palma and even the little island of El Hierro. We were also excited to be able to see Chinyero, which is the site of the most recent volcanic eruption on Tenerife and the location of one of our favorite hikes on Tenerife with kids.

Our guided walk to the Pico Viejo viewpoint was approximately 700 m (0.4 miles) one-way. Our guide stopped at several points along the way to point out the highlights. There are not many interpretive signs up top on Mount Teide, so having a guide really helps you learn more about the area.

For example, our tour guide pointed out the massive crater left over from when Mount Teide was significantly higher (5,000 m / 16,400 ft) about 180,000 years ago, before it collapsed.

We also got to see the location of the crater created by the most recent Teide Volcano eruption over 1,000 years ago, along with the trail of black lava it created. And, at the end of the guided walk, you get an excellent view of another volcanic cone – Pico Viejo.

But, without question, the highlight of our visit to the Teide Volcano was getting to feel the heat from a small thermal vent near the trail. As you approach the vent, the smell of sulphur becomes very strong, which adds to the excitement. The heat vent is not marked, so unless you take a guided tour, you won’t know where it is.

Our kids loved sticking their hands into a small hole in the rocks and getting to feel the thermal heat from the magma below. It was a huge thrill for them and they insisted we stop and do it again on the way back to the upper terminal.

Our trip up the Mount Teide cable car was one of the highlights of our family trip to Tenerife with kids. We almost missed out on getting to do the cable car as we didn’t realize that ticket sales are only available online!

We were lucky to get a good timeslot two days ahead of our visit, but there wasn’t much selection left. It is highly advisable that you book your visit to the Mount Teide Cable Car as early as you are comfortable booking.

Additional Kid-Friendly Mount Teide Cable Car Activities

Climbing the Teide Crater: Stand on top of the highest peak in Spain with your kids with a guided tour from the upper cable car terminal to the summit of Mount Teide.

Astronomic Tour with Stargazing: The Canary Islands are renowned as one of the best places in the world for stargazing. Your kids will love either an afternoon Teide Observatory tour, or if they are old enough to stay up late, a guided stargazing experience after dark! If your kids really love the stars, they can combine both of these amazing Teide Observatory experiences!

2. Sendero de los Roques de García Hike

If you are making the journey up to Mount Teide National Park, be sure to stop and do the excellent Sendero de los Roques de García hike. Just a few minutes down the highway from the cable car, the Sendero de los Roques de García hike is one of the most popular hikes in Tenerife, and is so interesting your kids will love it.

Enjoy hiking with kids in the Canary Islands? See the best hiking trails on La Palma.

The Sendero de los Roques de García trail is a 3.5 km (2.2 mile) long kid-friendly Tenerife hike which circumnavigates a collection of massive rock formations. At some points during this fun family hike, the giant rocks tower over 150 m (500 ft) overhead.

Based on the recommendation from our Volcano Teide tour guide, our family hiked the Sendero de los Roques de García trail in a clockwise direction. This gets the downhill and subsequent uphill sections out of the way first, leaving the second half of the hike as reasonably flat.

The incredible views of the rocks begin before you even start the Sendero de los Roques de García hike, and they continue to be jaw-dropping the entire first half of the trail.

The sheer size of the rocks, the different colors of rock and the patterns within the volcanic rock combine to keep your interest up the entire hike. As if that weren’t enough, you’ll enjoy occasional excellent view of the Teide Volcano looming overhead in the distance.

If your family also hikes the Sendero de los Roques de García trail clockwise, the views of the rocks are the best on the first half of the hike. You are down lower and the rocks are more vertical, making them seem all the more impressive.

The second half of the Sendero de los Roques de García trail, the rocks are less vertical, but you’ll enjoy virtually uninterrupted views of the Teide Volcano on your left. The section of trail closest to the parking lot is groomed crushed gravel and is suitable for most prams (strollers).

If you don’t feel up to the entire Sendero de los Roques de García hike, there are two short trails from the parking area to some excellent viewpoints of these beautiful rock formations.

A word of caution, the Sendero de los Roques de García hike is an enormously popular hike in Tenerife. There are three parking lots which hikers use for this hike and they are almost always full with many cars circling for a spot. We made about 9 laps between the various parking lots until we lucked out and got a parking spot.

If you plan on seeing the best of the Mount Teide National Park and hate battling for parking, consider staying a night or two at the Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide hotel across the street.

Sendero de los Roques de García trail map

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3. Dolphin and Whale Watching

With over 25 species of whales and dolphins who visit the waters of the Canary Islands each year, it’s no wonder that whale watching is one of the best things to do in Tenerife with kids.

There are all kinds of whale watching tours in Tenerife – small boats, big boats, short tours, long tours, tours with snorkeling opportunities, etc. It was hard to pick one, but in the end we went with the Whale and Dolphin Tour with Underwater Views tour from GetYourGuide as it looked like the best tour for whale watching in Tenerife for kids.

Our Tenerife whale watching boat tour was a 2-hour long trip on a large double-decker boat. The lower level was indoors, with large windows that open (for better pictures), while the upper deck is open air, allowing excellent opportunities for whale watching from above.

What sold us on this kid-friendly Tenerife whale watching tour was the two underwater viewing areas, which we figured would be a hit with our children.

We had a very successful dolphin and whale watching trip around Tenerife. We saw so many pods of playful dolphins that we lost count. The kids love the dolphins as they are very playful, jumping out of the water, swimming in the wake of the boat, etc.  

We also saw several species of whale, including short-finned pilot whales and another, larger species we didn’t catch the name of. With so much dolphin activity, the whales were a nice bonus to our tour.

The underwater viewing areas were a big hit with the kids. There were plenty of fish to see while we were in the marina, and they even got to see a dolphin swim by when we were out in the open waters – a huge thrill for the kids. It made our choice of boats for Tenerife whale watching with kids worthwhile.

Virtually all of the Tenerife whale watching tours originate in South Tenerife. We were almost late for our tour as we had so much trouble finding parking. We recommend either leaving very early to go to your Tenerife whale watching tour, or even better, join a boat tour which offers hotel pickup as part of the package.

4. Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada Hike

We were very happy to discover that one of the best hikes in Tenerife was just minutes away from our Bajamar vacation rental.

Located in Anaga Rural Park, the Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada hike is one of the most scenic hikes we’ve done anywhere in the world. If you take a moment to look at all the great hikes around the world we have done with our kids, you’ll know that’s a big statement.

The Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada hike leads hikers into a spectacular, lush valley of rugged mountain peaks. At the trailhead, you’ll be treated to some beautiful ocean views before you head into the valley. There are some amazing views of massive ocean waves crashing into towering seaside cliffs, below jagged mountain peaks.

Not to be outdone by the spectacular Tenerife scenery, the flora and fauna along the Punta del Hidalgo Chinamada hike are noteworthy. Along the way you’ll pass countless varieties of yucca plants, cacti, flowering bushes, etc. Your kids will love that a lizard seems to live along every single inch of this amazing Tenerife hike – there are literally thousands of them.

Your kids will also love the caves which line the Punta del Hidalgo Chinamada hike. None of them are so deep that you’ll get worried, but they are deep enough that kids can’t resist going in to explore and have fun.

After 2.6 km (1.5 miles) of uphill hiking, you’ll reach a stunning viewpoint atop a mountain ridge below Roque dos Hermanos. It’s from this viewpoint that you see the incredible views of the mountainous Tenerife northern coast that are so often associated with the Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada hike.

This is the end destination for most hikers, but the hike continues to venture further and higher into the valley. If you venture on, you’ll be rewarded with additional ocean vistas, along with new, jaw-dropping vistas of the valley. There’s even a natural rock arch you can see from the trail!

2 km (1.2 miles) after the viewpoint, hikers arrive at the Chinamada church – the official end of the Punta del Hidalgo Chinamada hike. We didn’t quite make it to the church with our kids, but we got very close.

Although we are including this incredible Canary Islands hike in this Tenerife with kids blog post, we don’t recommend you do this hike with your kids unless they are good hikers, in good shape.

This is a steep, challenging hike with occasionally challenging footing. It’s a very enjoyable family hike in Tenerife if you are all up to the task, but we want you to be aware of the challenges before you make the trip out there.

Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada trail map

5. Playa de Las Teresitas

Just minutes northwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife lies Playa de Las Teresitas, one of the most popular beaches on Tenerife. Blessed with an incredibly scenic location at the bottom of rugged Anaga Rural Park mountains, Playa de Las Teresitas is one of the most beautiful beaches you’ll ever set eyes on.

Besides the beauty of the location, one of the primary reasons why Playa de Las Teresitas is so popular is what a kid-friendly Tenerife beach it is. The beach is protected by a wave-break of large rocks, placed parallel to the beach roughly 100 m (325 ft) offshore.

For most of the day, the wave-break rocks absorb the fury of the ocean waves, converting them into small waves which simply trickle onto the shores of the beach. This enables even small kids to play in the water without fear of a large wave knocking them over. Be aware, that the waves do get a little bigger near high tide.

The quality of the sand is excellent for making sand castles, so be sure to bring good beach toys. If you didn’t pack your own, there is a mini-mart in the neighboring town of San Andreas where you can pick some up. (There’s also a grocery store, restaurants and ice cream shops too!)

Beach walking is one of my favorite things to do, and Playa de Las Teresitas is a perfect beach for walking. It’s approximately 1.5 km (1 mile) long and has very soft sand underneath your toes. With such natural beauty all around and so many fun things going on, this Canary Island beach is excellent for long beach walks.

Another great thing about Playa de Las Teresitas is the fact it faces south-east. As the sun rises in the east, then travels south in the sky throughout the day, this means that beach-goers facing the water will also be facing the sun the entire day. Everyone gets to work on their front tans with no effort!

A few additional tips on visiting Playa de Las Teresitas with your kids:

On an island where parking is always hard to find, Playa de Las Teresitas has a massive parking lot. Yet, it fills up quickly so get there early. If you can’t get there early, the local bus runs to the beach quite often.

If you didn’t pack your own travel beach blanket, there are several beach clubs along Playa de Las Teresitas where you can rent a lounge chair with an umbrella.

6. Chinyero Volcano Loop Hike

After our morning whale watching tour in South Tenerife, we still had a full afternoon to fill, so we drove right past Siam Park into the Reserva Natural Especial del Chinyero to enjoy one of the most popular hikes on Tenerife.

The Chinyero Volcano Loop is a magical hike and is likely one of the best hikes on Tenerife for kids. At 6.5 km long, it’s a manageable length for most kids and there isn’t very much elevation gain to contend with.

The last volcanic eruption on Tenerife occurred from the El Chinyero vent in November 1909. This highly enjoyable, kid-friendly Tenerife hike circumnavigates the El Chinyero vent, taking hikers through several lava fields.

Every kid’s imagination will go wild as you venture through established paths through the large, black lava flows. It’s an amazing sight to see how the lava simply ripped through the forest, yet amazingly some of the hardy Canarian Pine trees survived!

Walking around a recently active (geologically speaking) volcano vent would be enough to make any hike worthwhile, but the areas of the Chinyero Volcano Loop hike which are not lava flow are through a beautiful forest of Canarian pine trees.

With absolutely massive needles, the Canarian pine trees are very striking. The visuals of the bright blue sky, with glowing green trees set against stark black lava are too beautiful for words. Truly, you must see it to believe it.

In addition to the amazing lava flow sections and the beautiful forest of Canarian pine trees, you’ll also be treated to some amazing views of the Mount Teide Volcano as well. Keep your eyes open as you hike the Chinyero Volcano Loop Trail as the summit of Teide Volcano is visible on several occasions. And as if that’s not enough, you’ll also be treated to some views of the Atlantic Ocean as well!

Tips for a Family Hike around the Chinyero Volcanic Loop:

Due to the jagged lava rocks on the hiking trail, real hiking shoes are a must. Sandals or flip-flops are a very bad idea.

Also, if your children are clumsy in any way, ensure they walk with great care over the lava flow as the jagged volcanic rock will hurt them badly if they trip and fall.

The hiking trail is well marked with white and yellow flags along the trail. It never hurts to have the Chinyero Volcanic Loop trail map downloaded on your phone though as there are several Reserva Natural Especial del Chinyero trail junctions along the way.

Your kids will have endless fun looking for the lizards which live along the Chinyero Volcano Loop Trail.

7. Los Poleos Viewpoint

If your family is not up for the Chinyero Volcanic Loop hike, you can still enjoy an excellent view of one of the largest Chinyero volcano lava flows from the Los Poleos Viewpoint.

Just minutes down the road from the Chinyero Volcano Loop trailhead, the Los Poleos viewpoint is a popular roadside stop. From this excellent viewpoint, you can see the path of destruction caused by the 1909 eruption of the Chinyero vent.

8. Playa de la Vistas (Beach of the Views)

The southern end of Tenerife is known for its beautiful beaches. If you are looking for a good family-friendly beach in South Tenerife, we recommend Playa de la Vistas.

Playa de la Vistas has a lot of excellent qualities that we look for in a beach. Firstly, it has very good quality black sand which is good for sand castles, especially when it’s wet. The half-moon shape of Playa de la Vistas, coupled with the long rocky wave-break in the middle, helps keep waves size to a minimum.

The Beach of the Views is a nice long beach for those who enjoy a leisurely beach walk (like us) and it faces southwest, ensuring beachgoers get lots of sun exposure all day long, especially in the afternoon.

There are lots of beach loungers for rent, but there is also a lot of open real estate available if (like us) you just want to plunk down your travel beach blanket on the sand. And, as a bonus, on the way out there is a foot washing station to clean off all that pesky, sticky black sand before you go back to your hotel.

9. El Bosque de Los Enigmas Hike

One of the most beautiful areas on Tenerife is the Anaga Rural Park, which encompasses over 14,000 hectares of rugged mountain wilderness on the northern tip of the island. With such dramatic, jagged mountain peaks, it can be hard to find an easy hike in Anaga Rural Park, but thankfully there are two which originate at the visitor centre.

The longer of the two kid-friendly Anaga Rural Park hikes is the El Bosque de Los Enigmas hike. This 5 km (3.1 mile) hike has a little elevation gain (roughly 200 m / 650 feet), but it’s about as flat as you can get in this type of mountain wilderness.

The majority of the El Bosque de Los Enigmas hike leads you through an eerie, dense forest. The ancient trees surrounding the trail are gnarled, and twisted, creating a very interesting atmosphere for your family hike.

About halfway through the El Bosque de Los Enigmas hike, you’ll reach the Zapata viewpoint. On a clear day, you can see straight down the spine of Tenerife island all the way to Mount Teide.

Beyond the Zapata viewpoint, you’ll enter a super-fun section of track which twists and turns its way downward deeper into the forest. Younger kids won’t be able to resist running down this fun stretch of hiking trail.

The only knock on this kid-friendly Anaga Rural Park hike is that there is very little island scenery. Aside from the Zapata Viewpoint, nearly the entire hike is within a very atmospheric forest with quite interesting trees.

Given the dramatic mountain scenery within Anaga Park, the lack of scenery is a valid concern, but if you are looking for a reasonably easy, medium length hike within Anaga Park, you don’t have an abundance of choices.

If you can forgive it for not having much in the way of Tenerife island scenery, the El Bosque de Los Enigmas trail is an enjoyable kid-friendly hike in Anaga Rural Park.

El Bosque de Los Enigmas trail map

10. Sendero de Los Sentidos Hike (Path of the Senses)

The other kid-friendly hike in Anaga Rural Park is the Sendero de Los Sentidos trail. This easy hike also leaves from the visitor centre, but is way more popular than the El Bosque de Los Enigmas trail, likely due to the fact it is only 1.3 km (0.8 miles) long.

This fun kid-friendly hike is also historic, as it used to link the villages of Anaga and La Laguna. Today, it’s simply a top tourist attraction within the Anaga Rural Park.

The Sendero de Los Sentidos trail has many kid-friendly activities along the way, all of them encouraging children to use their senses. Some activities encourage children to touch different tree bark textures, while others encourage them to close their eyes and listen.

These are wonderful lessons to teach younger kids and even older kids about their senses and how they can use their senses to enhance any nature outing.

Similar to the El Bosque de Los Enigmas trail, the majority of the Sendero de Los Sentidos trail is through a dense, almost eerie forest. There are a few wooden walkways throughout (which kids always love) and there is a stop at the Llanos de Los Loros viewpoint at the halfway mark. You can see all the way to the eastern coast of Tenerife from this vantage point.

We hiked both the El Bosque de Los Enigmas trail and the Sendero de Los Sentidos trail on the same day trip. Aside from the difference in distance, both hikes are very similar and we recommend you choose the hike with the right distance for your family and just do it, and not both.

The Anaga Rural Park is a very popular Tenerife attraction with limited parking capacity. If you intend to drive your rental car, we recommend you arrive early to secure a parking spot.

If you’d like to remove the parking stress from the equation, there are a variety of Anaga Rural Park hiking tours available which provide transportation to and from the park. Hiking tours are available from both Santa Cruz de Tenerife and South Tenerife.

Other Fun Activities for Tenerife Family Holidays

As you can see in our list of top things to do in Tenerife with kids, we focused on enjoying the natural beauty of the beautiful Canary Island. As mentioned in the opening, there are also an abundance of more traditional things to do with kids on Tenerife. We did not do any of these fun activities with our family, but they are very popular Tenerife activities for kids.

11. Family Photo Shoot

On several of our family trips around the world, we were lucky enough to capture some special moments from our family trip with a session with a professional photographer. Some of the family photos we received from these photo sessions are some of our most treasured possessions.

Tenerife is such a beautiful destination. We didn’t have a chance this family trip, but you can book a family photo shoot in Tenerife. Your professional photographer will make you feel relaxed and help you find photo-friendly locations in and around Tenerife.

12. Siam Park

Experience many aquatic thrills at the Kingdom of Siam, which is one of the Canary Islands best theme parks. Conveniently located in Costa Adeje, Siam Park is Europe’s biggest water park.

Many of high-adrenaline attractions at the Siam Park water park are geared towards older kids, including The Dragon (a zero-gravity experience!), the Tower of Power (a 28 m / 91 ft tall waterslide which reaches speeds of up to 80 km/h / 50 mp/h), and many more.

If you are traveling to Tenerife with small kids, don’t fret as there are also plenty of fun things for younger kids as well. For example, the Lost City is an incredible play area with 15 water slides, multiple towers, bridges, etc. The Lost City is an aquatic playground your younger kids will not soon forget.

13. Tenerife Submarine Safari

A fun way to expose your children to the beauty of nature is to join a submarine safari tour. See how many different fish your kids can spot by using the complimentary color fish chart.

The Tenerife Submarine Safari departs near the south airport. If you don’t have a car hire, you can get there via the submarine safari bus from Playa de las Americas, Los Cristianos and Los Gigantes.

14. Aqualand Costa Adeje

Another of the amazing water parks in Costa Adeje, Aqualand is sure to be a hit with your family. As with Siam Park, Aqualand has attractions for all ages; older kids will love the high adrenaline waterslides, while younger kids will love spending time in Pirate’s Port and Adventure Land.

In addition to the many thrilling water slides, Aqualand Costa Adeje is the only water park on Tenerife which features a dolphin show.

15. Jungle Park

If you are getting tired of all the Tenerife water parks, why not visit the only patch of real jungle in Europe at Jungle Park. Enjoy one of three thrilling Jungle Park shows featuring birds of prey, exotic birds and penguin feeding time!

When you are not enjoying one of the entertaining shows at Jungle Park, you’ll be walking among lemurs or admiring many of the over 100 species of animals, all within their natural habitat.

Where to Stay in Tenerife with Kids

It may seem small on a map, but Tenerife is a fairly big island which takes time to drive from place to place. To maximize our coverage of Tenerife island, we chose to stay in two different places on Tenerife.

For our travel days, we stayed at a kid-friendly Tenerife hotel near the south airport and the Los Cristianos ferry terminal. The Catalonia Oro Negro hotel was perfect for our one-night stays on either end of our family trip to Tenerife. The hotel was a little dated, but it made up for it with a nice pool and an excellent breakfast buffet with a very large selection.   

The Catalonia Oro Negro Hotel offers family-friendly two-bedroom hotel rooms, with 4 single beds. It’s also conveniently located within easy walking distance of several beaches, including Playa de la Vistas (one of the best family beaches in southern Tenerife).

This area of southern Tenerife is jam-packed with condo buildings, so if you don’t want a family-friendly southern Tenerife hotel, you can always look for a good vacation rental too.

For the main part of our stay on Tenerife with kids, we stayed in a small surfer town on the north side of the island called Bajamar. We chose to stay in Bajamar as we wanted to be near the excellent hiking around Anaga Rural Park (and to be honest, away from the crowds near the Costa Adeje).

We rented a wonderful 2-bedroom apartment in Bajamar with an amazing view of the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. When traveling with kids, we love staying at vacation rentals for the separate bedrooms, the full kitchen and laundry facilities.

There are a few family-friendly hotels in the area, but mostly the accommodation choices near Bajamar are vacation rentals.

For our family trip to Tenerife, we decided to stay in vacation rentals, but we know that many families come to the Canary Islands to stay at the incredible beach resorts. If you’d prefer this option, check out our list of the best family-friendly resorts in Tenerife.

How to Get Around Tenerife with Kids

Despite being a relatively small island, its volcanic nature means Tenerife is a very vertical island with many winding mountain roads. The distances may be short on paper, but it often takes a long time to get to your destination on Tenerife.

Unless you are staying exclusively within the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, you will need a rental car to enjoy all the best things to do on Tenerife. There is a good public transit system on Tenerife, but a natural paradise like this requires a car hire to reach the many treasures this island has to offer.

When we rent cars, we prefer RentalCars.com. We often get frustrated by the sales tactics, etc. of the multinational car rental agencies and we appreciate that RentalCars.com makes a big effort to simplify the small print for us. This minimizes the number of surprises at the check-in counter at the car rental counter.

6 Kid-Friendly Restaurants in Tenerife

We split our family vacation to Tenerife between the south and north coasts of Tenerife. Here are some of the family-friendly restaurants we enjoyed during our stay.

South Tenerife Restaurants

1. Mom’s Kebab and Pizza

If you are looking for a kid-friendly restaurant near Playa de la Vistas, why not skip McDonald’s give Mom’s Kebab and Pizza a try? Located just a few minutes walk from the black sand beach, Mom’s Kebab and Pizza has something for everyone in the family.

We went to Mom’s Kebab as we were craving some middle eastern food. We all ordered kebab wraps (both chicken and beef) and they were very good. But, if your kids don’t like middle eastern food, they have a large selection of pizza and sandwiches to choose from as well.

2. The Palms Fish and Chips

We stayed near Playa de las Americas for one night right after we arrived from visiting Seville with kids. There are an enormous amount of restaurants to choose from in this popular resort area, so to help narrow down our choices we got to thinking about what they would do well here. South Tenerife attracts many British visitors, so we figured we’d find a good fish & chips place.

Just one block inland from Playa de las Americas, the food at Palms Fish and Chips was outstanding. We all ordered fish and chips and it was one of the rare occasions where our kids actually ate all of their meals! The portions of fish were large, the fish itself was tender, the chips were crunchy and hot. It’s everything you hope for in a family fish and chips feast.

The one downside of The Palms Fish and Chips is a lack of seating. But this is easily solved by talking to the friendly folks at the Railway Tavern next door. They are happy to let you use their tables if you order your drinks there.

3. Friends Lounge Restaurant and Bar

We returned to Playa de las Americas for one night before visiting La Palma with kids. We wanted to go back to The Palms Fish and Chips, but sadly they were away on holidays. So we walked down to Playa del Las Vistas to find a kid-friendly restaurant near the beach.

The Friends restaurant was very close to the water and was doing a bustling business, so we decided to give it a try. Being so close to the beach, it’s no surprise that the Friends restaurant caters to tourists, so they have a wide variety of items on the menu, from American favorites to Spanish dishes.

The kids ordered pasta carbonara and a hamburger off the kids menu. The portions were surprisingly big and the quality was very good.

After too many nights of non-Spanish food, we jumped on the opportunity to order seafood paella. It was a generous portion of paella with a good amount and variety of seafood. And, most importantly, it was delicious.

North Tenerife Restaurants

We spent 4 nights in Bajamar, a small surfing town on the north coast of Tenerife. We had some difficulties finding restaurants featuring local cuisine which were open as it was Easter weekend and many restaurants were closed.

As a result, we ended up eating at more tourist restaurants than we otherwise would have. At least the kids were happy about it!

4. Hamburguesería Zeppelin

For our first night in Bajamar, we got in quite late. Looking for something quick to eat, we decided to grab some hot dogs and hamburgers from the Zeppelin Hamburger restaurant near the supermarket. When visiting Tenerife with kids, you can’t have squid ink paella and tapas every night, so when you are in a rush, try grabbing some comfort food your family are sure to eat and enjoy.

The hot dogs and hamburgers from Hamburguesería Zeppelin were quite good considering they are from such a quirky little restaurant / corner store.

5. Restaurante Pizzería La Roca

After performing very well on a very difficult hike up the Punta del Hidalgo Chinamada trail, we figured our kids deserved a pizza feast. We worry sometimes that when we are in foreign lands that our kids don’t eat enough, so we like to squeeze a pizza restaurant into the rotation every now and then to ensure they are getting a chance to eat until they are stuffed.

Restaurante Pizzeria La Roca fit the bill perfectly. With an easy location along the main road in Bajamar, we were able to walk there from our vacation rental. There was a wide selection of pizzas to choose from and our kids literally devoured theirs. It was good quality pizza, at a good price. A winning combination!

6. Piscinas Hamburguesería

For Easter Sunday, most of the restaurants in town were closed, and the ones that were open didn’t have much in the way of kid-friendly menu options. So, we ended up eating our Easter dinner at a hamburger joint. Sigh…  travel with kids requires compromises sometimes…

As far as hamburger restaurants so, Piscinas Hamburgerseria was actually pretty good. For starters, it has an excellent second-story ocean view, with views of large waves crashing into the rocky coastline.

The food was good too. Celine and I had especial hamburgers (with a fried egg and ham), while the kids ripped into their own pizzas.

6 Day Itinerary for Visiting Tenerife With Kids

This proposed 6 day itinerary for a family vacation to Tenerife is based on our actual activities for our trip to Tenerife with kids. As mentioned above, we split our time between the beaches around Playa de Las Americas and the rugged mountainous terrain around Anaga Rural Park in northern Tenerife.

Day 1 in Tenerife with Children

We were very excited to arrive in the Canary Islands, so on our first afternoon in Tenerife with kids we made a beeline to the beach. We chose to visit Playa de la Vistas (Beach of the Views) as it was just a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

A good quality black sand beach, Playa de La Vistas is a great beach for families in Tenerife. Those visiting Tenerife with young children will appreciate the long wave break offshore which helps keep the waves much smaller.

Day 2 of a Family Trip to Tenerife

One of the best reasons to visit Tenerife with kids is an opportunity to see the abundant whale and dolphins species which visit the Canary Islands each year. One of the best places to go dolphin and whale watching in the Canary Islands is southern Tenerife.

We had great success on our 2-hour dolphin and whale watching tour on a double-decker catamaran with an underwater viewing area. The kids loved the excitement of choosing a different viewing area for each whale and dolphin encounter. They even got to see a dolphin swim by through the underwater windows – a huge thrill for the kids!

Our Tenerife whale watching tour was over in the early afternoon, so we drove to the nearby Reserva Natural Especial del Chinyero to hike the magical Chinyero Volcano Loop.

This easy Tenerife hike circumnavigates the El Chinyero vent, which was the site of the most recent volcanic eruption on Tenerife in November 1909. This highly enjoyable kid-friendly Tenerife hike alternates between walking through lava flows and beautiful forests of Canarian pine trees.

While in the area, be sure to stop at the Los Poleos Viewpoint to see the lava flow from El Chinyero from a different vantage point.

Day 3 in Tenerife with Kids

Explore a completely different natural wonder on your third day of your Tenerife family vacation with a hike in the Anaga Rural Park. The challenging, but do-able Punta del Hidalgo a Chinamada hike treats families to spectacular mountain and ocean views. This is one of the best hikes we’ve ever done anywhere. If your family is capable of this spectacular Tenerife hike, we highly recommend it.

Day 4 in Tenerife with Children

After a couple of active days hiking on Tenerife, reward your kids with a day of family fun at Playa de Las Teresitas, just minutes from Santa Cruz de Tenerife. One of the most popular family beaches on Tenerife, you’ll love the calm waves, the soft golden sand and a beautiful setting at the foot of rugged mountains from Anaga Rural Park

Day 5 of Family Holidays to Tenerife

Tenerife is such a naturally beautiful island that it makes sense to spend another day of hiking with your kids at the Anaga Rural Park. From the visitor centre there are two kid-friendly hikes to choose from.

The El Bosque de Los Enigmas hike is a 5 km (3.1 miles) long hike through a forest of really interesting trees. A shorter (and more popular) option is the Sendero de Los Sentidos hike, otherwise known as the Path of the Senses. This easy Tenerife hike leads you through a similar forest, while encouraging your kids to learn to use their senses.

Day 6 in Tenerife with Kids

Another must-do attraction in Tenerife with kids is the Teide Volcano Cable Car. Just the beautiful drive up to the cable car through the Teide National Park is reason enough to visit, but the cable car ride up to the top of Teide is a thrill your kids won’t forget.

After your visit to the top of the Teide volcano, be sure to stop at the Sendero de los Roques de García viewpoint. At a minimum, take a quick walk up to the viewpoints of these massive volcanic rock formations, but if you have the time, we highly recommend the kid-friendly hike around them.

We hope that we have inspired you to visit Tenerife with your kids. We had an amazing family holiday to the Canary Island and know that you will too!!