Overview

Puerto de la Cruz is on the north coast of Tenerife. It's a traditionald and charming resort which caters well for tourists. There is the seafront and several beaches, a town centre which has lots of restaurants and shops, a number of beautiful gardens, parks and squares. Its a low key resort.

Transport & Parking

The nearest airport is Tenerife North but most scheduled flights from the UK go to Tenerife South. This is the way I travelled. There is the option of bus, shuttle or taxi from the airport. I took a taxi. The journey took about 1 hour and when I travelled it cost £140 return (November 2018).

Access

On the sea front there are 2 parts which are flat and padestrianised. 1) The sea front next to Playa Martianez and Costa Martiánez (a swimming pool complex which 'Ive written a seperate EG's review for) and this area has a wide, flat padestrianised, paved walk way. In this area there are a few large hotels, restaurants and shops. There are palm trees and places and some seating. This area is popular, lively and busy, nice place to people watch. 2) The area round the old harbour, or old port, is also flat, but there are cobblestones. It is possible to walk round the harbour. There is also a small beach, with black sand and some seating. The area connecting these two sea fronts are on a noticable but not a steep slope. Puerto de la Cruz becomes hilly quickly once you move away from the sea front. However the area by the old harbour is still quite flat. This includes Plaza Charco, one of the main squares and La Ranilla, the old fishermen's area/ old town which has a number of delightful restaurants and street art, brightly painted houses with balconies and cottages (I have written seperate EG's reviews for both of these places). Moving away from the sea front there is an area called La Paz, it's up a steep hill from the sea front, but once at the area itself it has a more a gentle slope. In this area is the Botanic Gardens, Plaza de Mirador de la Paz a viewing point and where there is a statue of Agatha Christie, Parroquia de San Amaro, a small church and Sitio Litre Garden (I've written seperate EG's reviews for all of them). This area has a number of hotels, restaurants and shops. It's popular with tourists. From this area there are buses or taxis into the town centre. I stayed at Hotel El Tope (see seperate review). There are numerous restaurants and cafes everywhere. I was staying half board at my hotel but I have written reviews for the places I visited for lunch. On the outskirts of the town is Loro Park, a zoo, however I didn't bother to visit as from the comments about it, the park is set on a steep hill.

Toilets

I didn't see any public toilets accessible or otherwise while I was in Puerto de la Cruz. The only accessible toilets I used during my holiday were at the Airport and Costa Martiánez.

Staff

I found people very friendly in Puerto de la Cruz, and hotel staff, taxi drivers, waiters, shop keepers, etc all spoke English and were very helpful.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Puerto de la Cruz is a laid back, relaxing ,charming resort. Bi-annually it hosts an Agatha Christie festival, which I hope I will be able to return for. There's also day trips that you can take to explore the rest of the island, such as Mount Teide. However, there was enough for me to potter around and explore in the town itself and it made for a very enjoyable holiday. I had a lovely time and I highly recommend it.

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