Puerto de la Cruz Walkabout

Puerto de la Cruz is a well known and lively resort on the north coast of Tenerife. We were staying just to the south and on this day we did no driving having decided to spend the entire day exploring our location by foot. We covered over 12 tough miles walking up and down steep hills all day with some coastal trekking, a delicious lunch and a little nosey around town!

Following a 30 minute initial downhill walk into town for a coffee we headed east along the coastal path in search of Playa El Bollullo which is said to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Tenerife. The path was quite steep and rugged in places passing along tracks through banana plantations. We first came to Playa de San Juan but the tide was in, there was very little beach and the sea was choppy!

We climbed back up the coast path and soon came to Playa El Bollullo and by now we were about 4 km east of Puerto de la Cruz.

With its deep blue sea, white surf framing the soft silky black lava sand and rugged cliff backdrop, Playa El Bollullo was certainly a phenomenal beach. But sadly it was closed due to rock falls! Apparently work is currently being done to try and secure the rocks above the beach and the plan is to open it again in a few months.

We couldn’t walk any further along the cliff path so headed up and found the delightful and most welcome Bullullo Beach restaurant with its amazing views over the beach and surrounding cliffs. As a non-driving day we both decided to indulge in cocktails. Big mistake! If you ever visit this place avoid ordering a Margarita as it was the worst ever. It tasted like a bitter lime cordial with no hint of tequila 😦

With the coast path being closed we didn’t want to turn back so we headed up the road to continue our walkabout. Probably not the best move as we ended up doing a big circuit via a place called El Rincon and back up the hill near to where we were staying! However we were both hungry by now and made our way back to Puerto de la Cruz town.

Other than the beach views one highlight of the day was lunch in Pizzeria Da Arianna! This Italian restaurant was so good we stayed in there for about 2 hours. The service was excellent, the Rioja and the food delicious (I had one of the best pasta’s ever and Chris had the biggest pizza of his life) and the cost was very reasonable at just 42 euros (£34.67) for everything including a starter and coffees.

To walk off our huge lunch we continued into the heart of Puerto de la Cruz and came across the colourful Agatha Christie steps where each step contains the name of one of her novels.

We continued downhill towards the sea.

Along clean, colourful, well kept, palm tree-lined paths…

With hotels perched high above us…

Until we reached Puerto de la Cruz main beach!

At the tip of Puerto de la Cruz is the Lido Martinez which is surrounded by bars and restaurants dotted along a promenade. Lido Martinez is a huge swimming pool complex that is popular with locals. Wikipedia says that Lido Martinez first opened in 1971 and has undergone several renovations since then.

Time to head back uphill to the Villa Finca El Drago! We took a different route this time and made our way next to the coastline before heading inland where we visited a supermarket and stocked up on snacks to take back.