Santiago del Teide

Santiago del Teide Church

Santiago del Teide is a town of 11,000 people (2019) on the west coast of Tenerife.

Understand

The town is right in the middle among all hiking and tourist destinations in the area, even though Los Gigantes is the more convenient hub with numerous accommodation options.

Get in

By car

The municipality is well-connected to the south by the TF-1, which in the future will continue northwards from here through a tunnel under the Teno massif. As of early 2024, however, crossing the mountains still means curvy mountain roads. From Icod de los Vinos, you can take the nice and straight TF-5 to El Tanque from where the very curvy TF-82 will take you over the mountains. The TF-373 is a more quiet and less windy alternative, but it takes you further away from civilization before merging into the TF-82 a bit north of Santiago del Teide. Other access roads are the TF-436 from Buenavista del Norte via Masca and the TF-454 and TF-82 from Los Gigantes via Tamaimo.

By bus

• Línea 325 – Puerto de la Cruz <-> Icod de los Vinos <-> Santiago del Teide <-> Los Gigantes
• Línea 355 – Buenavista del Norte <-> Masca <-> Santiago del Teide
• Línea 460 – Icod de los Vinos <-> Santiago del Teide <-> Tamaimo <-> Chio <-> Guía de Isora <-> Costa Adeje
• Línea 462 – Los Gigantes <-> Tamaimo <-> Santiago del Teide <-> Arguayo <-> Chio <-> Guía de Isora

Get around

Taxis are abundant in case you miss the bus to Masca.

Otherwise, the town is very walkable.

See

• Art Route. A set of paintings on the facades of the houses of Santiago del Teide (dedicated to the islands) and the Fisherman's Museum in Puerto de Santiago, with a facade by the artist Bernard Romain. (updated Mar 2023)
• 1 Pottery centre, Arguayo. Weirdly enough a very low rating. Check ahead what's wrong if you go there. (updated Mar 2023)

Do

• Virgen del Carmen festival – July 16
• Santiago Apóstol day – July 25

Hiking

Besides the opportunities below, also check out Los Gigantes#Hiking and Teno Rural Park#Hiking, which are just around the corner, and with Los Gigantes probably being your preferred place of stay overnight anyway.

• Almond Flowers Trail (Ruta del Almendro en Flor) – Best done in the middle of February when the trees are fully flowering. An easy to medium hike from Santiago del Teide to Arguayo. About 13 km and 4 hours of hiking. Trail coordinates: GPX, KML.

  

  Almendro en Flor

• 1 Chinyero – The last volcanic eruption on the island occurred here in 1909 and left a surreal landscape with pitch-black lava rocks and glowing green pine trees in between. There is an easy circle around the volcano of about 5.5 km, but you have to get there first. Either you go by car and take the road towards Teide, that will bring you closest, but you can also hike from Santiago del Teide (GPX, KML), Los Partidos (GPX, KML), San José de Los Llanos (GPX, KML), or even Garachico (GPX, KML).

  

  Chinyero

Basically there are so many hiking trails northeast of Santiago that you don't really need to bother about which one you take, as long as you have a destination. The whole area is also called 2 Montanas Negras, where you can roam around as you please.

Buy

The town is overly touristy, you will thus probably find enough to spend your money on.

Eat

• 1 Bar Restaurante Santiago del Teide, c/ Casas de Reina, ☏ +34 922 864 190. Roadside restaurant popular with the locals, serving a selection of local cuisine. There are only 3 tables for outdoor seating, so reservation in advance is required. They have an English menu on request. (updated Oct 2019)
• 2 Bar Cafetería Tropic II. It won't get more local than this place. Great and inexpensive hamburguesas. (updated Mar 2023)

Sleep

You will find most accommodation options in Los Gigantes, Puerto de Santiago, or Playa de la Arena. Otherwise, check out San José de los LLanos:

• 1 Albergue San José de los LLanos, San José de los LLanos, ☏ +34 660675521. A inexpensive and friendly hiking hostel. Simple breakfast is included. From €15. (updated Mar 2023)

Camping

The closest official camp grounds nearby are:

• 2 Zona de Acampada San José de los Llanos, San José de los LLanos, ☏ +34 922239199. Free. (updated Mar 2023)
• 3 Zona de Acampada de Arenas Negras, San José de los LLanos, ☏ +34 922239199. Free. (updated Mar 2023)

Go next

• Teno Rural Park including Masca – Great hiking, gorges and forests
• Los Gigantes – Convenient hub for trips in this region and to the nearby Los Gigantes cliffs
• Teide National Park – The obvious choice next from here