Tenerife

The volcano at the island's heart and the crater plain below it form the park, a World Heritage site. Anyone may hike to just short of the peak, but the last path to the summit crater needs a free park permit, and these often run out weeks ahead.

It lifts you from the crater plain to a ridge near the summit in a matter of minutes. High wind often halts it for the day, so confirm in the morning that it runs before setting off. The air up top is thin and cold, and you need a jacket even in midsummer.

A row of rock pillars left by hardened lava; the narrow-waisted Roque Cinchado among them appeared on the old 1000-peseta note. Circling them from the parking area is an hour on foot, and the loop has no shade. Late light frames them well against Teide.

A fifteenth-century town on an open grid with no walls, World Heritage because colonial cities in the Americas copied its plan. The tram climbs from Santa Cruz, and the height makes it cooler and wetter than the coast. Note the wooden balconies of its houses.

The mountains at the island's northeast tip hold laurel forest surviving from before the ice ages, wet with mist. The short trail from the Cruz del Carmen centre is the easiest. Even with the south beaches clear, this side is often in cloud, so bring a jacket.

Huge cliffs climb straight out of the sea on the west coast, and boats from the harbour below pass at their base. Pilot whales and dolphins live here all year, so whale-watching trips leave nearly every day. Mornings are calmer at sea than afternoons.

A few houses strung along a ridge deep in a Teno mountain ravine make up this village, by tradition a refuge from pirates. Access is one hairpin lane, and meeting a bus means one side backs up. The car park fills, so arrive in the early morning.

A concert hall designed by Calatrava and opened in 2003, its white concrete roof curling up to one side like a wave. It stands on the shore by the Santa Cruz port, best seen from the breakwater. On days without a performance a guided visit shows the inside.

A beach off the village of San Andres, northeast of Santa Cruz, laid in the 1970s with golden sand shipped from the Sahara. Most island beaches are black from the volcano, which is why this one stands out. A breakwater keeps the waves gentle.

Once a trading port on the north coast until the 1706 eruption filled its harbour with lava. Lava that ran into the sea and hardened then formed El Caleton, rock pools that now serve as natural swimming baths. They are closed when the waves run high.

On the east coast, the shrine of the Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canaries. Bronze figures of nine Guanche kings stand along the seaward edge of its plaza. For her mid-August feast, pilgrims walk through the night from all over the island to fill it.

A giant dragon tree in Icod de los Vinos, northwest Tenerife; estimates of its age vary widely, but it is treated as an island emblem. The garden around it charges for entry, though the square before San Marcos church just above shows the whole tree well.

An old noble town on the northern slopes, its mansions with balconies carved from dark wood lining steep cobbled lanes. Casa de los Balcones is the best known, and around Corpus Christi a huge picture of volcanic sand is laid in the town hall square.

Santa Cruz's market, its fruit, fish and flower stalls gathered round an arcaded courtyard. Island-grown tropical fruit and every kind of mojo sauce can be seen in one place, and on Sunday mornings a flea market spreads around the building.

A black-sand beach west of Puerto de la Cruz, laid out together with the garden behind it by Lanzarote artist Cesar Manrique. A promenade winds along it between palms and flowerbeds; when Atlantic surf runs high, a red flag goes up and swimming stops.