It’s a well known fact that butties taste a whole lot better when they’re eaten in the great outdoors, preferably with a view of some sort to accompany them.
No matter where you base yourself on Tenerife, the chances are you’re going to have to do at least a modicum of travelling to get to the start of a walk and unless you’re just going for a coastal stroll, you’ll still be on the trail at lunchtime. With that in mind, here are our top 10 spots for unwrapping the sandwiches:
Location: La Orotava
Walk: Los Órganos
Lunch: At the end of the hardest climbing section of the trail, you pass through a rock gate but before continuing on the path, climb onto the rocks to the left for a flat seat and grandstand views over the forest to Mount Teide.
Location: Teide National Park
Walk: Climbing the walls
Lunch: At the summit of Guajara where’s there’s a stone seat with your name on. You won’t find many better views on the park, unless it’s from the summit of Mount Teide itself. If it’s nippy, sit in the shelter of the old observatory instead.
Location: Masca
Walk: In ancient footsteps – Masca Barranco
Lunch: If, like us, you park in the village and have to walk the barranco both ways, Masca beach is the perfect place to cool your feet, unwrap the butties, watch people catching the boat to Los Gigantes and try not to hate them.
Location: La Orotava
Walk: The Guanche Way
Lunch: Almost 11km and 3hrs into this fabulous walk, you arrive at the lovely little spring and shrine of Cruz Del Dornajito for lunch with just you, the birdsong and the views.
Location: Vilaflor
Walk: Paisaje Lunar
Lunch: Where else but sitting at either of the two little miradors overlooking the strange and wonderful rock formations of the paisaje knowing that it’s downhill pretty much all the way home.
Location: Anaga
Walk: Chamorga to Roque Bermejo
Lunch: On the quayside at Roque Bermejo where the water taxi from Santa Cruz drops off and picks up hikers and you can enjoy views inland to the mountains and out to sea before tackling the Barranco de Roque Bermejo return.
Location: Chio
Walk: An explosive landscape – Chio to Chinyero
Lunch: Bearing in mind how long it takes to get to this walk in the first place, a couple of hours into it is a large, lonely pine tree flanked by dry stone walls and it makes the perfect picnic spot. The spreading branches provide welcome shade while the vistas over the Chinyero lava fallout are splendid.
Location: Los Realejos
Walk: Barranco Ruiz
Lunch: At the lovely picnic zone where you start and end the walk. There are no views, other than up the barranco itself, but there’s always a mass of activity in the picnic zone itself and in the busy kiosk where, if you’ve forgotten the butties, you can buy a bocadillo.
Location: Arona
Walk: Roque Del Condé
Lunch: Where else but on the summit, drinking in the panoramic views below your feet and feeling very grateful for having made it this far. There’s a tree on the south edge of the flat top which, if no-one else has bagged it, affords some welcome shade.
Location: La Orotava
Walk: A glimpse of rural life
Lunch: Short enough to wait until you’ve finished and then grab a table amongst the pine trees above the cauldron-like basin of the wonderful picnic site of La Caldera where you began.
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