You can choose to visit only Teide OR Masca with Garachico for a Half-Day Private trip (4-6 hours) or to combine both (Teide, Masca & Garachico) for a Full-Day Private trip (8 hours).
This is private excursion exclusively for your group and the tour starts and ends at your hotel or other accommodation at any part of South Tenerife. We can pick you up from the North / or Cruise Ship on request with or without extra charge (depending on the distance).
Since it is a private tour, we can make slight changes for the program and departure time. If you wish to do so, please contact us by the email info@tourtlee.com.
Discover the magnificent landscapes that surround Tenerife’s Mountain Teide and the Masca Valley on this entertaining full-day private tour. Accompanied by a knowledgeable guide, travel through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Teide National Park on a voyage of natural discovery: gaze at sweeping volcanic panoramas and capture photographs of the island’s unique dragon tree. Ascend to Vilaflor, one of Spain’s highest villages, and enjoy leisurely time in Masca and Garachico, historical villages cradled by rolling hills.
Avoid the headache of driving by yourself on the small narrow roads up to the mountains. We will pick you up from your hotel or other accommodation with our comfortable air-conditioned minibus and a friendly, very knowledgable English speaking guide (other languages - Spanish, German, French and Dutch - are available on request).
This is the most popular tour in Tenerife, during which you will have a possibility to see the highlights of the island and observe the breathtaking changes of the landscape: from dry-ish parts of South to the lush forests on the way to the highest peak in Spain - Mountain Teide. Due to the changes in altitude you will feel the different temperature changes that exist on the island. You will be surprised how the weather, nature, and vegetation dramatically different just in 50 meters distance. That’s because the Southern part is protected by mountains and North is constantly getting higher humidity level from the clouds. This is one-of-a-kind experience and you definitely shouldn’t miss it!
Masca & Garachico
First we will pass by Los Gigantes for a quick photo stop with a breathtaking view. Its main feature are the giant rock formations, Acantilados de Los Gigantes, that rise from the ocean to a height of 500-800 meters after which the town has been named. Los Gigantes literally translates as "The Giants”, and it is the one of the must-see places on the island.
Afterwards we will continue to the historic mountain village of Masca through the narrow roads with stunning scenery, which is an attraction by itself. Be captivated by the lush valley and the breathtaking blue sea in the distance, along a narrow road that runs between the cliffs and ravines that characterize this valley, and that also, according to legend, made it a perfect hiding place for the pirates, because this area was completely inaccessible for soldiers with horses. We will make a photo-stop on the way with a beautiful panoramic view of the Masca village before stopping for a walk inside the village.
Then we will travel onwards to the historic Garachico - the first capital of the island - the centre of economy and main island’s trade harbor in the past, which was partly destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1706, where you can admire a typical Canarian architecture and unique lava pools.
You will see marks left with two huge 300-year old lava flows that destroyed the town. Prior to then, Garachico was an important port exporting wine and other local products. However, a several weeks lasting eruption poured lava into the old bay and destroyed the town. We will have a nice walk in the historical part of Garachico, visiting the main square with two churches that survived the catastrophe, and seashore with its famous natural lava pools and old fort Castillo de San Miguel.
After Garachico we will continue to the old town of Icod de Los Vinos. The main attraction here is the oldest Dragon tree in the world – El Drago. There are different speculations on how old is this majestic tree (estimates vary from 650 years to 3,000!), but with no doubt it is the oldest and largest pine tree in Tenerife and maybe in the world!
The dragon tree is known for its thick, red resin, called “dragon’s blood.” The tree got its name from one of Hercules’ legendary adventures. Hercules was tasked to bring back three golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides, guarded by a 100-headed dragon. To get the apples, Hercules killed the dragon, spilling the creature’s blood all over the land - and everywhere the dragon’s blood touched the soil, a “dragon tree” was said to sprout. The trunk of the dragon tree somewhat resembles a dragon’s scaly leg, covered with ridges formed by growth-produced leaf scars, continually added year after year.
Apparently, this “dragon’s blood” has healing properties. In the past, it was extracted on an industrial scale to make varnishes and lacquers. It has been used as a wood stain (particularly for violins), as an ingredient in medicines, as a hair color, and even as a fluid for embalming or mummification. In fact, RMS Titanic was carrying 76 cases of dragon's blood, shipped for Brown Brothers and Company, when the ship sank in 1912.
So many of these trees disappeared as a result that, nowadays, the tree is a protected species.
The other attraction of Icod de Los Vinos it is a butterfly house - Mariposario del Drago, where over 800 kinds of exotic butterflies fly freely in direct contact with the visitors. Originating from tropical zones all around the planet (Malaysia, Costa Rica, Guyana, Australia, Papua, etc.), the range includes some of the world’s most spectacular species and a variety that ranges from the smallest butterflies with a wingspan of only 2 cm to giant ones that have a 30 cm wingspan. Caterpillars are bred in the laboratory and it is here that the butterflies are born.
Depending on your preferences we can stop for a lunch in a cozy local restaurant to try local Canarian foods and have a relaxing time in the middle of our private tour.
Mountain Teide and National Park
On our way to Teide you will be able to experience an amazing natural phenomena that we call “the sea of clouds”. It’s truly breathtaking and not every day you have a chance to travel over the clouds. We will make a short stop in a local village to admire the view and to enjoy authentic Canarian coffee “El Barraquito” or a hot chocolate with Spanish delicacy “churros”.
Mountain Teide and Teide National Park is considered one of the 12 Treasures of Spain. It is not only the highest peak in Spain and Atlantic, but Mount Teide is also the third largest volcano in the world from its base, after only Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
An active volcano that last erupted in 1909, Mount Teide is surrounded by the Teide National Park. The park, which has an area of nearly 19,000 hectares, was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in mid-2007. As the most visited national park in the Canary Islands and Spain, Teide hosts close to three million visitors. In 2010, Teide was also the most visited national park in all of Europe and second most visited worldwide.
History
A sacred mountain to the aboriginal Guanches, Mount Teide was long considered a mythological mountain. It’s hard to overstate how important this geological wonder was to the native people - it was held in regard similar to the Mount Olympus by the ancient Greeks. According to the aboriginal legend, the devil kidnapped Magec, the god of light and the sun. The devil imprisoned the god inside of the volcano, a world of darkness and fire, similar to many religious visions of hell. The supreme god of the Guanches fought the devil and plugged the volcano after freeing Magec. Today, some still believe that the devil is living deep inside of the mountain.
The aboriginal Guanches also believed that Mount Teide was responsible for holding up the sky. Archeologists, over the years, have found many tools and pottery crafted from stone and other natural products. It is thought that these tools were built by the Guanches and offered to the mountain to counter the influence of evil spirits.
National Park of Teide
As we will enter Teide National Park you will see the biggest single crater in the world with the Mount Teide located in the middle. We will do a several photo stops together with longer stops in the most scenic places where we will take short walks in an amazing scenery from another planet.
With its three-million-year-old lava flows, volcanic cones, strata, and ancient rocks, this may look like a scene from another world, no surprise that many movie directors choose it as a set for their “alien” movies.
Learn about the secrets of this volcanic landscape while you walk to the feet of the emblematic Mount Teide. Standing over 7,500 meters above the ocean floor, the Teide is the country’s tallest elevation. The dormant volcano was active for the last time in the eighteenth century. Since then, there have been no more eruptions, but volcanologists are always vigilant.
During the guided tour of this incredible National Park, you will visit Los Roques de Garcia, one of the most popular attractions in the park. These enormous rock formations used to decorate one of the Spanish peseta banknotes.
Your professional English-speaking guide will also reveal the different types of plants that live in this apparently infertile area. One of the most striking is the Teide red Tajinaste, also called as “blood of Teide”. It is a strange, slightly extraterrestrial flower that fits perfectly into the lava landscape around Teide volcano (3790 m). It grows up to three meters high, and during the spring flowering, its red spear is effectively intersected by the dark lava landscape. They grow in groups, sometimes even in hundreds of specimens. Tajinaste is also very popular with bees, which produce rare and excellent honey of light color and creamy flavor of its fragrant flowers with plenty of pollen. Honey from Tajinaste is sought after and during its flowering, beekeepers move their hives near the flowering islands of the red treasure from Tenerife.
Interesting facts
- Within the Park, there are over 1,000 archaeological sites dating from the time of the “Guanches”, the original population of Tenerife.
- The land here is among the most fertile on the planet, as the volcanic ash imparts an astonishing wealth of nutrients to the soil.
- No human casualties have even been recorded as a result of Mount Teide’s volcanic eruptions.
- Its volcanic landforms are very unusual in comparison with those of other volcanoes.
The permit to the peak of Mount Teide
The peak of the volcano with its crater is closed to the mass tourists and you will need a special permit to conquer the peak. Since it is a private tour we can climb to the crater to visit the highest point in the Atlantic Ocean and Spain (to hike there it will take us about 1-2 hours, and we will need to charge an extra fee).
If you want to do so, please inform us in advance via email info@tourtlee.com and we will organize your permit. In this case, please, book this tour as earlier as possible, because the number of permits is very limited. We suggest booking at least 3 to 4 months in advance.
In the case, if there’s too late to have a permit, you still can book an option to use Teide cable car along with our private tour which will take you nearly to the summit, to the altitude of 3550 m.
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