Santa Cruz and La Laguna in Tenerife, where Spanish history and tradition meet the tropics

Naturally diverse
The area around La Laguna is home to flower varieties that exist only in the Canary Islands, and the Monte de las Mercedes in particular. It is part of the Anaga rural park, an area of incomparable beauty and breathtaking views out to the other islands. Travelling to the island’s beauty spots is easy by road and once there, the area is especially suited to walking and hiking. It is well worth making a trip to the park’s visitors’ centre at Cruz del Carmen to gain a valuable insight into local crafts as well as the extraordinary nature of the region’s landscape.

A focus of culture
With its sweeping curves and dramatic, dynamic contours, Santiago Calatrava’s stunning design for the Tenerife Auditorio in Santa Cruz has created a landmark brimming with culture. The Auditorio is home both to the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the annual Canary Islands Music Festival, as well theatre, opera and dance. For all its modernity, Santa Cruz has not neglected its heritage, as the Casa de Polvora (or House of Gunpowder) and San Juan Castle attest, while La Laguna’s historic cathedral and pedestrian streets have earned it UNESCO World heritage status.

A taste for Tenerife
Tenerife is known for dishes that are often accompanied by rich mojo sauces with coriander or red pepper. What better start could there be to a gastronomic tour of Santa Cruz than breakfast at one of the kiosks and cafés near the Mercado Nuestra Señora de Africa? The market offers an abundance of local produce from healing honey to bananas harvested on the island and freshly caught fish. Santa Cruz offers wine tours while La Laguna has a reputation for breads and cakes and a visit to some of its many typical Canarian tascas will bring many rewards.

Shopping for pleasure
Santa Cruz, in particular, offers a wide range of shopping opportunities throughout the week, with the chance to buy anything from electricals to perfume. Many shopping areas have been pedestrianised and there is always plenty of choice. On Sundays you can also buy artisan products at the Rastro or little free market. The city’s Rambla de Pulido is famous for its instrument shops, textile stores and shoe boutiques. Of course, Santa Cruz also has department stores and hypermarkets with easy parking and lots of places to eat or rest, for the dedicated shopper.

There is food for the mind, body and soul to be found in Santa Cruz and La Laguna in Tenerife. Just four hours’ flight from the UK and enjoying year-round sunshine, they are an ideal destination for a short break when it’s still cold at home. The region offers an enticing combination of culinary, cultural and natural attractions – not to mention shopping and with GB Airways flying into the north of the island twice a week from Gatwick it is now all the more tempting to base a two-centre holiday in these two alluring cities.

Between Santa Cruz, the current capital, and La Laguna, its predecessor, lies an area of outstanding natural beauty. Tenerife is an island full of fascination, with its series of microclimates, unique indigenous flora, characteristic flat-topped drago trees, and its 300,000-year-old volcanic landscape. But the island’s natural diversity is also reflected in its produce, from artisan-made cheeses to handmade sweets, and the breadth of its cuisine, which includes the famed tapas. Many of its delights can be found in the markets that help make shopping in Tenerife such a pleasure, but if your appetites are more cerebral the two cities also offer a range of cultural experiences.