# A night on Teide, an hour and ten minutes from Santa Cruz: observatory, sunset, stars and the summit at 3,718 m

Saturday at the observatory, Roques de García, sunset and stargazing with a telescope; a night at the Parador and on Sunday the cable car with a permit to step into the crater.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/canary-islands/teide-national-park/itineraries/night-of-stars-and-summit-teide · Revisado: 2026-11-13

Dónde: Teide National Park

From Santa Cruz, Teide can be done in a day, but you go home without the best of it: the sunset, the night sky and the first cable car of the morning with the park empty. With one night at the Parador, inside the caldera, you get all of it and do not drive the mountain road at night.

## How to get there from Santa Cruz?

By car, via La Laguna and the TF-24, the La Esperanza road, which passes the Teide Observatory before entering the park at El Portillo. It is about 65 km and an hour and ten minutes to the Parador. You need a car: the observatory has no bus and the stargazing is at night.

## Where to sleep

AccommodationWhereWho for

Parador de Las Cañadas del TeideInside the caldera, facing the RoquesEveryone; heated pool and restaurant

Hotel Spa VillalbaVilaflor, 25 minutes awayCouples: adults only, spa included

Altavista RefugeAt 3,260 m, on the slopeMountaineers from age 14, in bunk beds

The Parador is what makes this getaway work: you are five minutes from the cable car and the stars. If you want a spa, the Hotel Spa Villalba in Vilaflor, with dinner at Restaurante Eustaquio if it is not Wednesday. For the mountaineer's version, swap the night for the Altavista Refuge and climb to the crater at dawn.

## Where to eat

Parador restaurant, lunch and dinner every day: Canarian puchero, goat stew, grilled cheese.

Cable car base station café, for coffee before or after going up.

Restaurante Eustaquio, in Vilaflor, dinners from 18:00 to 22:00 except on Wednesdays.

## El plan

### Day 1 · 10:00 · Leaving Santa Cruz
Via La Laguna and the TF-24. Arrive at the observatory barrier 30 minutes before your time.

### Day 1 · 11:00 · Teide Observatory
A guided visit of an hour and a half at Izaña: the Sun through solar telescopes and a night telescope from the inside. From €21, free for ages 8 to 16.

### Day 1 · 13:30 · Lunch at the Parador
Canarian cooking, from 13:30 to 15:00. Leave your suitcase.

### Day 1 · 15:00 · Roques de García
The 3.6 km loop from the La Ruleta viewpoint, opposite the Parador. About two hours.

### Day 1 · 17:30 · Sunset at the Narices del Teide
A quarter of an hour by car along the TF-38. Pico Viejo and its lava flows in the last light.

### Day 1 · Night · Stargazing with a telescope
An hour at the cable car base station with a Starlight guide, from €35. The time depends on sunset and is chosen when booking; dinner at the Parador before or after, from 18:30 to 21:30.

### Day 2 · 09:00 · Cable car
The first slot of the morning. Eight minutes to La Rambleta.

### Day 2 · 09:30 · The summit
The Telesforo Bravo trail, with the Tenerife ON permit: 653 m and about 40 minutes up to 3,718 m. With the permit you have two hours up there; also look in at the Pico Viejo viewpoint.

### Day 2 · 12:00 · Coffee at the base station
Something hot on the way down, and back to Santa Cruz via El Portillo; home in time for lunch.

## Consejos

### Start with the permit
It is the only thing with very limited places. Once you have the permit date, book the cable car and the Parador.

### Winter clothes for the night
It is very cold at the stargazing and on the summit, especially with wind.

### Plan B if the cable car closes
The permit date cannot be moved: if the cable car does not run, on Sunday do the Llano de Ucanca and El Portillo.

## Cuándo no ir

### Driving down to Santa Cruz at night after the stars
It is a good hour of mountain bends. Sleep up there.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Is it worth sleeping on Teide?
Yes, if you want the sunset, the sky and the first cable car of the day. In a day trip from Santa Cruz you miss all three.

### What do I need to book?
The summit permit, the cable car, the stargazing, the observatory visit and the Parador.

### Can I do it without a car?
Not this getaway: the observatory has no bus and the night has no transport.

### Can children come?
From age 8 for the observatory and the stars; the cable car, from 3. The summit needs teenagers used to walking.

## Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide**: A mountain manor inside the volcano
Paradores describes it as a mountain manor house at 2,152 m, in the middle of the Las Cañadas caldera, facing the Roques de García and with the peak in view from the dining room and from some rooms. Paradores presents it as an example of sustainability: it generates its own electricity and draws its water from the mountain. At night, with no lights around, the sky is the show.
The rooms and the house
It has standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible rooms. For cold nights there is a lounge with a fireplace, and for the afternoon, a covered heated pool, sauna and gym. The outdoor parking is free. Pets are admitted: check the conditions before booking. The restaurant serves Canarian cooking, with lunch from 13:30 to 15:00 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30.
Getting there and what is nearby
It is about 70 km from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, via La Laguna and the La Esperanza road (TF-24) and then the TF-21; you can also reach it from La Orotava, Chío, Arona or Granadilla. Without a car, bus 348 ends at its door, leaving Puerto de la Cruz at 9:30 and returning at 16:00. Next door is the Cañada Blanca visitor centre, and the cable car is about five minutes away by car.
Sleeping here changes the day: you can be at the Roques de García first thing, go up on one of the first cable car slots and watch the sunset at the Narices del Teide viewpoint without having to drive down the mountain road afterwards in the dark.
- **Hotel Spa Villalba, Vilaflor**, desde 118 € / night: The Hotel Spa Villalba is in Vilaflor, at 1,500 m, on the Camino de San Roque and inside the Teide forest crown, the Canary pine forest that surrounds the park below the caldera. It belongs to Hoteles Reverón, a family firm on the island dating from 1929. It is adults only, from age 14, and does not admit pets. It has 27 rooms, spa included in all rates and its own restaurant.
Vilaflor, the southern village 25 km from the park
Vilaflor is the southern village from which the TF-21 climbs to Las Cañadas, and the hotel calculates 25 km to the National Park. By that road you reach Boca Tauce, the Llano de Ucanca and the Roques de García without going via the north, and in the afternoon you can watch the sunset up there and come down to sleep. The hotel has no transfer: from the airport, according to the hotel itself, a taxi costs about €40.
Seven room types, with stairs or without
The 27 rooms are of seven types: standard double with mountain view, attic with garden view, superior double with mountain or garden view, junior suite, suite with hydromassage and suite with hydromassage and terrace. All face the pine forest, the garden or the mountains, and all have air conditioning, heating, free wifi, safe, coffee or tea maker, paid minibar and bathrobe.

Standard double: 35 m², bath and no balcony, on the east or west side; it keeps the building's original structure and is reached by stairs. From €118 a night on its website.
Superior double: 38 m², with sofa and balcony, facing east; from €138.
Suite with hydromassage and terrace: 50 m², up to three people, with a hydromassage bath and a terrace with an outdoor jacuzzi looking at the pines and the south of the island; from €135 on December dates.

The superiors and suites have a lift or are on the ground floor. Check-in from 14:00 and check-out until 12:00.
Spa and pool under the pines
The circuit begins in a relaxation room and continues through a Turkish bath, sauna, sanarium, pebble paths and jacuzzi, with a separate menu of massages and treatments. The pool has an indoor part and an outdoor part among Canary pines: in winter it is covered and heated, and in summer it is uncovered, with jets for neck and back. Access to the circuit is included in all rates, although prior booking may be required depending on occupancy.
La Vendimia and the Anconito garden
The La Vendimia restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner à la carte and at the table, with no buffet. The cooking starts from Canarian with international dishes, uses vegetables and herbs from its organic Anconito farm and wines from the Reverón organic winery, and has vegetarian and vegan options. The terrace looks out over the forest crown. On half board, drinks are paid separately. For dinner outside the hotel, the Eustaquio Restaurant is in the same village.
On foot from the door
The GR-131, the trail that crosses the island, passes practically by the door. The hotel also suggests a 6 km route to the Reverón winery, of moderate difficulty and a little under two hours, and longer ones through the Paisaje Lunar and Las Lajas. For bikes it has its own room.

## Dónde dormir without a car
- **Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide**: A mountain manor inside the volcano
Paradores describes it as a mountain manor house at 2,152 m, in the middle of the Las Cañadas caldera, facing the Roques de García and with the peak in view from the dining room and from some rooms. Paradores presents it as an example of sustainability: it generates its own electricity and draws its water from the mountain. At night, with no lights around, the sky is the show.
The rooms and the house
It has standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible rooms. For cold nights there is a lounge with a fireplace, and for the afternoon, a covered heated pool, sauna and gym. The outdoor parking is free. Pets are admitted: check the conditions before booking. The restaurant serves Canarian cooking, with lunch from 13:30 to 15:00 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30.
Getting there and what is nearby
It is about 70 km from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, via La Laguna and the La Esperanza road (TF-24) and then the TF-21; you can also reach it from La Orotava, Chío, Arona or Granadilla. Without a car, bus 348 ends at its door, leaving Puerto de la Cruz at 9:30 and returning at 16:00. Next door is the Cañada Blanca visitor centre, and the cable car is about five minutes away by car.
Sleeping here changes the day: you can be at the Roques de García first thing, go up on one of the first cable car slots and watch the sunset at the Narices del Teide viewpoint without having to drive down the mountain road afterwards in the dark.
- **Altavista Refuge**, desde 71 € / bed: What spending the night at 3,260 m is like
The Altavista Refuge is on the slope of the Teide, at 3,260 m, on the Montaña Blanca trail. It is run by the cable car company and is open every day of the year. It has 49 bunk places in shared dormitories: 39 in the main building, spread over two floors, and 10 in an annex. You sleep in it for one night only, and the reason is the next morning: the booking includes the permit for the Telesforo Bravo trail to reach the peak at dawn, between 6:00 and 7:30, without arranging anything separately.
It is cold. Even in summer the website asks for a fleece, long trousers and a thermal blanket, and in winter gloves and a hat; without warm clothing you can be refused entry to the trail. There is a rest room with a fireplace and a dining room, but there is no bed linen: a sleeping bag is compulsory. There are no showers either: two toilets for everyone. The refuge is not connected to the water mains and the electricity comes from solar panels, so use little and take your rubbish back with you. Quiet from 22:00 to 6:30. At 3,260 m you feel the altitude: if you feel dizzy or have a headache, the rule is to descend as soon as possible.
Hours, rates and food
You book only on its website; nobody is admitted without a booking. The general rate is €71; FEDME members pay €56.80 and Tenerife residents €29. Check-in is from 19:00 to 22:00, and you cannot enter the dormitories earlier. At 8:00 you vacate them. Between 8:00 and 11:00 and between 17:00 and 19:00 it closes for cleaning; from 11:00 to 17:00 passing walkers use the toilets and the machines outside.
There is no meal service. Carry up your dinner already made: there is a kitchen with a microwave and fridge to heat it, but no cooking. The machines sell water, soft drinks, hot drinks and snacks, and accept coins and card, not notes. No alcohol, fire, candles or smoking.
Going up and coming down
On foot along trail 7, which leaves from km 40.7 of the TF-21: 4 to 5 hours' climb, between 9:00 and 17:00. Or on the cable car, with a separate ticket, and an hour's walk from La Rambleta via the La Fortaleza viewpoint. If wind stops the cable car, you climb the whole way on foot, so do not cut it fine. The next morning you come down via Montaña Blanca between 7:30 and 12:00, or by cable car if it is running, with a ticket that can only be bought at the top, by card. By bus, line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz and the 342 from Playa de las Américas reach Las Cañadas.
From age 14, and under-16s with a responsible adult. Pregnant women and people with heart, respiratory or mobility conditions cannot sleep here. No animals are admitted.

## Dónde dormir if you're on foot
- **Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide**: A mountain manor inside the volcano
Paradores describes it as a mountain manor house at 2,152 m, in the middle of the Las Cañadas caldera, facing the Roques de García and with the peak in view from the dining room and from some rooms. Paradores presents it as an example of sustainability: it generates its own electricity and draws its water from the mountain. At night, with no lights around, the sky is the show.
The rooms and the house
It has standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible rooms. For cold nights there is a lounge with a fireplace, and for the afternoon, a covered heated pool, sauna and gym. The outdoor parking is free. Pets are admitted: check the conditions before booking. The restaurant serves Canarian cooking, with lunch from 13:30 to 15:00 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30.
Getting there and what is nearby
It is about 70 km from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, via La Laguna and the La Esperanza road (TF-24) and then the TF-21; you can also reach it from La Orotava, Chío, Arona or Granadilla. Without a car, bus 348 ends at its door, leaving Puerto de la Cruz at 9:30 and returning at 16:00. Next door is the Cañada Blanca visitor centre, and the cable car is about five minutes away by car.
Sleeping here changes the day: you can be at the Roques de García first thing, go up on one of the first cable car slots and watch the sunset at the Narices del Teide viewpoint without having to drive down the mountain road afterwards in the dark.
- **Altavista Refuge**, desde 71 € / bed: What spending the night at 3,260 m is like
The Altavista Refuge is on the slope of the Teide, at 3,260 m, on the Montaña Blanca trail. It is run by the cable car company and is open every day of the year. It has 49 bunk places in shared dormitories: 39 in the main building, spread over two floors, and 10 in an annex. You sleep in it for one night only, and the reason is the next morning: the booking includes the permit for the Telesforo Bravo trail to reach the peak at dawn, between 6:00 and 7:30, without arranging anything separately.
It is cold. Even in summer the website asks for a fleece, long trousers and a thermal blanket, and in winter gloves and a hat; without warm clothing you can be refused entry to the trail. There is a rest room with a fireplace and a dining room, but there is no bed linen: a sleeping bag is compulsory. There are no showers either: two toilets for everyone. The refuge is not connected to the water mains and the electricity comes from solar panels, so use little and take your rubbish back with you. Quiet from 22:00 to 6:30. At 3,260 m you feel the altitude: if you feel dizzy or have a headache, the rule is to descend as soon as possible.
Hours, rates and food
You book only on its website; nobody is admitted without a booking. The general rate is €71; FEDME members pay €56.80 and Tenerife residents €29. Check-in is from 19:00 to 22:00, and you cannot enter the dormitories earlier. At 8:00 you vacate them. Between 8:00 and 11:00 and between 17:00 and 19:00 it closes for cleaning; from 11:00 to 17:00 passing walkers use the toilets and the machines outside.
There is no meal service. Carry up your dinner already made: there is a kitchen with a microwave and fridge to heat it, but no cooking. The machines sell water, soft drinks, hot drinks and snacks, and accept coins and card, not notes. No alcohol, fire, candles or smoking.
Going up and coming down
On foot along trail 7, which leaves from km 40.7 of the TF-21: 4 to 5 hours' climb, between 9:00 and 17:00. Or on the cable car, with a separate ticket, and an hour's walk from La Rambleta via the La Fortaleza viewpoint. If wind stops the cable car, you climb the whole way on foot, so do not cut it fine. The next morning you come down via Montaña Blanca between 7:30 and 12:00, or by cable car if it is running, with a ticket that can only be bought at the top, by card. By bus, line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz and the 342 from Playa de las Américas reach Las Cañadas.
From age 14, and under-16s with a responsible adult. Pregnant women and people with heart, respiratory or mobility conditions cannot sleep here. No animals are admitted.

## Dónde dormir if you're flying
- **Parador de Las Cañadas del Teide**: A mountain manor inside the volcano
Paradores describes it as a mountain manor house at 2,152 m, in the middle of the Las Cañadas caldera, facing the Roques de García and with the peak in view from the dining room and from some rooms. Paradores presents it as an example of sustainability: it generates its own electricity and draws its water from the mountain. At night, with no lights around, the sky is the show.
The rooms and the house
It has standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible rooms. For cold nights there is a lounge with a fireplace, and for the afternoon, a covered heated pool, sauna and gym. The outdoor parking is free. Pets are admitted: check the conditions before booking. The restaurant serves Canarian cooking, with lunch from 13:30 to 15:00 and dinner from 18:30 to 21:30.
Getting there and what is nearby
It is about 70 km from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, via La Laguna and the La Esperanza road (TF-24) and then the TF-21; you can also reach it from La Orotava, Chío, Arona or Granadilla. Without a car, bus 348 ends at its door, leaving Puerto de la Cruz at 9:30 and returning at 16:00. Next door is the Cañada Blanca visitor centre, and the cable car is about five minutes away by car.
Sleeping here changes the day: you can be at the Roques de García first thing, go up on one of the first cable car slots and watch the sunset at the Narices del Teide viewpoint without having to drive down the mountain road afterwards in the dark.
- **Altavista Refuge**, desde 71 € / bed: What spending the night at 3,260 m is like
The Altavista Refuge is on the slope of the Teide, at 3,260 m, on the Montaña Blanca trail. It is run by the cable car company and is open every day of the year. It has 49 bunk places in shared dormitories: 39 in the main building, spread over two floors, and 10 in an annex. You sleep in it for one night only, and the reason is the next morning: the booking includes the permit for the Telesforo Bravo trail to reach the peak at dawn, between 6:00 and 7:30, without arranging anything separately.
It is cold. Even in summer the website asks for a fleece, long trousers and a thermal blanket, and in winter gloves and a hat; without warm clothing you can be refused entry to the trail. There is a rest room with a fireplace and a dining room, but there is no bed linen: a sleeping bag is compulsory. There are no showers either: two toilets for everyone. The refuge is not connected to the water mains and the electricity comes from solar panels, so use little and take your rubbish back with you. Quiet from 22:00 to 6:30. At 3,260 m you feel the altitude: if you feel dizzy or have a headache, the rule is to descend as soon as possible.
Hours, rates and food
You book only on its website; nobody is admitted without a booking. The general rate is €71; FEDME members pay €56.80 and Tenerife residents €29. Check-in is from 19:00 to 22:00, and you cannot enter the dormitories earlier. At 8:00 you vacate them. Between 8:00 and 11:00 and between 17:00 and 19:00 it closes for cleaning; from 11:00 to 17:00 passing walkers use the toilets and the machines outside.
There is no meal service. Carry up your dinner already made: there is a kitchen with a microwave and fridge to heat it, but no cooking. The machines sell water, soft drinks, hot drinks and snacks, and accept coins and card, not notes. No alcohol, fire, candles or smoking.
Going up and coming down
On foot along trail 7, which leaves from km 40.7 of the TF-21: 4 to 5 hours' climb, between 9:00 and 17:00. Or on the cable car, with a separate ticket, and an hour's walk from La Rambleta via the La Fortaleza viewpoint. If wind stops the cable car, you climb the whole way on foot, so do not cut it fine. The next morning you come down via Montaña Blanca between 7:30 and 12:00, or by cable car if it is running, with a ticket that can only be bought at the top, by card. By bus, line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz and the 342 from Playa de las Américas reach Las Cañadas.
From age 14, and under-16s with a responsible adult. Pregnant women and people with heart, respiratory or mobility conditions cannot sleep here. No animals are admitted.
- **Hotel Spa Villalba, Vilaflor**, desde 118 € / night: The Hotel Spa Villalba is in Vilaflor, at 1,500 m, on the Camino de San Roque and inside the Teide forest crown, the Canary pine forest that surrounds the park below the caldera. It belongs to Hoteles Reverón, a family firm on the island dating from 1929. It is adults only, from age 14, and does not admit pets. It has 27 rooms, spa included in all rates and its own restaurant.
Vilaflor, the southern village 25 km from the park
Vilaflor is the southern village from which the TF-21 climbs to Las Cañadas, and the hotel calculates 25 km to the National Park. By that road you reach Boca Tauce, the Llano de Ucanca and the Roques de García without going via the north, and in the afternoon you can watch the sunset up there and come down to sleep. The hotel has no transfer: from the airport, according to the hotel itself, a taxi costs about €40.
Seven room types, with stairs or without
The 27 rooms are of seven types: standard double with mountain view, attic with garden view, superior double with mountain or garden view, junior suite, suite with hydromassage and suite with hydromassage and terrace. All face the pine forest, the garden or the mountains, and all have air conditioning, heating, free wifi, safe, coffee or tea maker, paid minibar and bathrobe.

Standard double: 35 m², bath and no balcony, on the east or west side; it keeps the building's original structure and is reached by stairs. From €118 a night on its website.
Superior double: 38 m², with sofa and balcony, facing east; from €138.
Suite with hydromassage and terrace: 50 m², up to three people, with a hydromassage bath and a terrace with an outdoor jacuzzi looking at the pines and the south of the island; from €135 on December dates.

The superiors and suites have a lift or are on the ground floor. Check-in from 14:00 and check-out until 12:00.
Spa and pool under the pines
The circuit begins in a relaxation room and continues through a Turkish bath, sauna, sanarium, pebble paths and jacuzzi, with a separate menu of massages and treatments. The pool has an indoor part and an outdoor part among Canary pines: in winter it is covered and heated, and in summer it is uncovered, with jets for neck and back. Access to the circuit is included in all rates, although prior booking may be required depending on occupancy.
La Vendimia and the Anconito garden
The La Vendimia restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner à la carte and at the table, with no buffet. The cooking starts from Canarian with international dishes, uses vegetables and herbs from its organic Anconito farm and wines from the Reverón organic winery, and has vegetarian and vegan options. The terrace looks out over the forest crown. On half board, drinks are paid separately. For dinner outside the hotel, the Eustaquio Restaurant is in the same village.
On foot from the door
The GR-131, the trail that crosses the island, passes practically by the door. The hotel also suggests a 6 km route to the Reverón winery, of moderate difficulty and a little under two hours, and longer ones through the Paisaje Lunar and Las Lajas. For bikes it has its own room.