La Orotava is probably the best place to visit in Tenerife if you're interested in seeing authentic Canary Islands architecture, with typical its wood balconies. The entire town of La Orotava almost feels like an outdoor museum and just walking its streets is a pleasant way to spend your time.
Almost every time we have visited La Orotava up until now it has been pouring rain, but even so, we loved discovering the town and just walking up and down on its narrow streets.
La Orotava is a town in the northern part of Tenerife, close to Puerto de la Cruz and less than 30 km away from the capital of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (the TF-5 motorway passes through the northern part of the city). We always rent a car for the duration of our stay whenever we are in Tenerife, so we always drive to La Orotava, as it's the fastest way to get there.
Otherwise, from Los Cristianos for example, you would have to take a bus either to Puerto de la Cruz (line 343) or towards Santa Cruz (line 110) and change there for another bus line that goes to La Orotava. The journey will take at least 2 hours one way with all the bus changing, so this means that if you're staying in the South of the island you will have to travel for around 4 hours in total to go visit La Orotava.
If you're on holiday in Puerto de la Cruz, La Orotava is just a short bus ride away, so we highly recommend visiting this place for at least half a day.
La Orotava is a place full of history and old buildings, so it's a beautiful place to just walk around and admire the architecture. We really admired the town each time we visited and for us, it's like an open-air museum, with all the beautiful houses and wooden balconies.
Many visitors come to La Orotava just to see the famous Casa de los Balcones. It is the top attraction in La Orotava for many people, although the entire town is an architectural jewel.
If you come by car, you have to know that parking may be difficult in the area, but there is free parking for visitors right across the street from Casa de los Balcones.
The house is a historic landmark and was built in 1632. The house features wooden balconies specific to the Canarian architecture, which you can see in the interior courtyard, where you can enter for free (even if you don't pay to visit the inside of the house). Inside you can see several works by the artist Eladia Machado.
The name “Plaza de La Constitución” dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, in homage to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, but nowadays the square is also popularly known as Kiosk Square.
It's a very lively place to stop and grab a coffee and also admire the lovely view, surrounded by some of the most iconic beautiful buildings in La Orotava.
Plaza del Ayuntamiento is another beautiful square in La Orotava where you'll find yourself surrounded by iconic buildings with typical architecture for the Canary Islands!
During December, in this very plaza you'll be able to see one of the best Nativity Scenes in Tenerife (Belen de Navidad).
We always go to eat at guachinches in Tenerife whenever possible and this part of the island is filled with options.
In La Orotava, we can recommend Guachinche La Casona, where we had a full meal for two with water and a beer for the price of 18 Euros. The food was great, the service was friendly and the terrace also boasts a beautiful view.
Hijuela del Botanico is a public garden in La Orotava with many species of trees and flowers from all over the world, not just the Canaries.
It is free to visit and it's like a small botanical garden. It's lovely at every time of the year, even during the winter months, when we usually come to visit.
Hours to visit Jardin Hijuela del Botanico:
As you can see, La Orotava is located in a green area of Tenerife, with lush vegetation and beautiful flowers and trees, as opposed to the south of the island. So it's really a pleasure to take a walk through the gardens of La Orotava during any season of the year.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Victoria Gardens were part of the mansion of the Marquesado de la Quinta Roja, which would later be converted into the famous Hotel Victoria. This is the reason why the gardens are also known as Jardínes del Marquesado de la Quinta Roja.
Nowadays both the hotel and the gardens are municipal property and entrance to the gardens is free.
Wondering what else to see in La Orotava? While walking through the city, you can look for these interesting places in La Orotava: