Puerto de la Cruz: a garden from 1788, a hotel from 1890 and winter in the sun

Before it was an industry, winter sun was a medical prescription. In the nineteenth century, British doctors sent patients with weak lungs to spend the winter in mild climates, and the Atlantic islands — first Madeira, then the Canaries — became open-air sanatoriums. In Tenerife, the chosen spot was a small harbour in the Orotava valley. That is where it all began.

The essentials

• The Orotava Acclimatisation Garden, today the Puerto de la Cruz Botanical Garden, was created by royal order of Charles III in 1788.
• British health tourism from the nineteenth century: mild winters to escape the cold and tuberculosis.
• The Gran Hotel Taoro, opened in 1890, housed the casino from 1979 and is once again a hotel after its restoration.
• Agatha Christie stayed in the Puerto in 1927.
• Lago Martiánez, by César Manrique (1977), closes the walk by the sea.

A garden where plants learnt to travel

Charles III’s idea was practical: to acclimatise tropical plants in Tenerife before taking them on to the gardens of mainland Spain. The result, well over two centuries later, is a block of humid shade in the upper part of the Puerto where the trees have had time to grow enormous. It is best walked slowly, in the morning, before the heat builds. It is also the best starting point for understanding the town: here the exotic arrived before the tourists.

The English of the valley

Health tourism arrived in the nineteenth century as an extension of the cure centres of Madeira, and spread above all among the British and, later, the Germans. What began as winter stays became a colony. With the banana trade, the British settled in the valley and left traces you can still visit: the English library, founded in 1903, and the Anglican church, along with the English cemetery. Taoro Park, on the hill, was where they met and spent their leisure time.

Walking through that part of the Puerto means walking through a town designed for staying months, not days: quiet streets, gardens and viewpoints over the sea. It is a different rhythm, and it is still there.

The hotel on the hill

At the top of Taoro Park stands the Gran Hotel Taoro, opened in 1890 and extended in 1893. For decades it was the grand hotel of winter tourism in Tenerife. It stopped taking guests in 1975 and housed the casino from 1979. After a long restoration, it is a hotel once more. Even if you are not staying there, the walk through the park and the views over the Puerto and the sea are worth the climb. For somewhere calm to stay on the island, see quiet-luxury hotels in Tenerife.

The town has had distinguished visitors. The most often cited is Agatha Christie, who stayed here in 1927.

Martiánez: Manrique’s epilogue

Heading down to the sea, the walk ends at Lago Martiánez, the seawater pool complex designed by César Manrique and opened in 1977 — now a listed heritage site, reopened in 2026 after renovation. It is the other face of the Puerto: the tourism of the 1970s, handled with a respect for landscape that was rare at the time. For swimming along this coast, see Tenerife’s rock pools.

How to walk it

• Morning: the Botanical Garden, first thing.
• Mid-morning: up to Taoro Park and a stroll through the old British quarter.
• Midday: down to the old town, by the fishing harbour, for lunch.
• Afternoon: Lago Martiánez and a walk along the sea.

If you stay longer, La Orotava, a few kilometres up the valley, rounds off the trip, above all at Corpus Christi, with its flower carpets. And for a table chosen with care, see fine dining in Tenerife.

When to go

The Puerto was made for winter, and it is still its best season. The north is damper and cooler than the south, and greener for it. For what the island is like from December to March, see Tenerife in winter.

Our view

Puerto de la Cruz is neither the newest nor the most polished Tenerife. It is the oldest in the business of welcoming, and it shows. Anyone looking for authenticity finds something here the south does not have: a town that has spent two centuries learning to host people who come to spend the winter, unhurried.

Data as of October 2026, checked with Turespaña (spain.info), the Canarian and trade press (RTVC, Diario de Avisos, Hosteltur, Alimarket) and publications of the Instituto de Estudios Hispánicos de Canarias. Opening hours and tickets for the Botanical Garden and Lago Martiánez: check before you go.