Tenerife: Mount Teide Stargazing Tour with Dinner & Pickup

4.76

(156 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to feel cold up there, honestly — Tenerife had been all sun and sticky heat down by Los Cristianos, but as we wound up toward Mount Teide for this stargazing tour, the air thinned and cooled. Our guide (Miguel, with a grin that made you trust him right away) stopped at this old Canarian restaurant tucked between pine trees. The smell inside was all wood smoke and something meaty simmering — I can still taste that first bite of pork, salty and rich. They poured us a glass of local wine (red, earthy), and we clinked glasses with a couple from Manchester who’d never seen stars like this before either.

The drive higher felt almost surreal — clouds below us like some kind of soft ocean. We pulled over just in time for sunset; Miguel pointed out where La Gomera floated on the horizon. Everyone went quiet when the sky started shifting pink to gold to deep blue. I tried taking photos but none of them caught it right, you know? It was just… bigger than a screen could hold.

After dark, they set up telescopes in a clearing that smelled faintly of dust and cold stone. Our astronomy guide (I think her name was Ana?) handed me the laser pointer at one point — my hands shook a bit, but she laughed it off and showed us Saturn’s rings through the lens. She told stories about ancient myths behind the constellations; I remember Orion’s belt glowing sharp overhead while someone’s phone buzzed quietly in their pocket (kind of ruined the mood for a second). Still, when I looked up later, everything felt silent again except for people whispering names of stars in different languages.