On the rugged north-east tip of Tenerife, the Anaga Rural Park preserves one of the world's last surviving stretches of laurisilva — the prehistoric laurel forest that once blanketed southern Europe before the Ice Ages. UNESCO designated the area a Biosphere Reserve in 2015, and visiting feels closer to a remote Atlantic island than the rest of Tenerife. A single mountain road climbs from La Laguna into the cloud forest, branching down to coastal villages like Taganana and Almáciga where black-sand beaches face huge Atlantic swells. There is essentially no resort infrastructure — most visitors come for the day to walk the well-marked trails out of Cruz del Carmen, but staying overnight in a casa rural is the most rewarding way to experience the silence. Best for visitors who want to balance the south coast's resorts with something genuinely wild and ancient, and any traveller who values walking over beach time.
Misty, vertiginous and ancient. Twisting mountain roads thread through a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where prehistoric laurisilva forest tumbles down to black-sand beaches.
Hikers, slow travellers, nature lovers, photographers, anyone who wants Tenerife at its most untouristed.
Almost none — a handful of casas rurales in tiny villages like Chamorga and Almáciga. Most visitors day-trip from Santa Cruz or La Laguna.
Cliff-top grilled fish at Casa África in Benijo, traditional puchero at Casa Carlos in Taganana, fresh octopus at Bar Roque de las Bodegas.
Time the Benijo coast for sunset on a clear day — the silhouettes of the offshore sea stacks against the sun is the single best photograph in northern Tenerife.