Holidays in Tenerife | Our Experience ♥

Back when I was pregnant with Tyler in 2012, Jacek and I went on two holidays in
the space of two weeks. The first was to the Algarve, where we also
went on a day trip to Lisbon and the second was to the Canary Island of Tenerife.

I had never
thought about featuring these holidays on the blog before, but since I'm
really into the travel and adventure aspect of my blog at the moment and I
thought, why not feature these places and the things we did?

In
case other people are looking to holiday on the island, check out Holiday Gems Tenerife deals. There are always great offers to be had on holidays to Tenerife and not only is the island perfect for couples, but it's an ideal destination for families too. I've previously shared the best family activities in Tenerife if you're thinking of visiting with your little ones in tow.

Tenerife
was never a place which I thought about going before Jacek booked our
holiday - Lanzarote was always out Canary Island of choice, but holidays
to Tenerife always seemed to be so popular amongst our friends and
family so we thought, why not experience the island for ourselves?

When
we arrived on the island I immediately liked the atmosphere, it had a
cool, relaxed vibe, just the type of setting you want for a holiday,
away from the hassles of everyday life. The island itself was beautiful
and even though the island doesn't have much by way of flowers or
greenery, the volcanic ash beaches, rolling hills and crystal clear
waters by far make up for this and gave a sense of being in another world - the landscape being very foreign to the rolling green fields of Ireland that I'm used to.

The weather was hot, but not overly so. During
our week in Tenerife there seemed to be a haze in the sky that just
wouldn't clear until the very end of our holiday, this meant that the
sun couldn't come through as intensely as it usually would have (a great
aspect if you have children who you want to protect from direct
sunlight) but it was still lovely and warm.

This is the hazy effect you
can see in all the pictures in this post, it's actually called the
'calima effect' and is caused by dust blowing over from the Sahara
Desert and reducing viability - you learn something new everyday!

We stayed Playa de las Americas, one of the most popular spots on the island and in the Bungalows Barranco,
which were lovely, charming, little apartments with a bedroom and
bathroom upstairs and a kitchen come sitting room downstairs.

We had a
little patio that led directly out to the pool and it was just perfect
for a couples holiday. We spent our days on the beach, which was just a
fifteen minute walk from our apartment, the nearest beach was full of
volcanic ash - a unique trait of the island, whereas the beach further
along the strip (and the one we preferred to visit) did have sand, sun
chairs and umbrellas. It was lovely and the perfect spot to have a dip
in the warm sea, I've never had as much fun as I did swimming with Jacek
in those waters, it was Heaven on Earth.

There
were sellers on the beach with everything from alcoholic drinks to
watermelons - the latter which we enjoyed in abundance, due to me being
pregnant and all so you didn't have to leave the beach for any
refreshments, unless you wanted to of course!

The strip full of shops,
restaurants, bars and clubs was just a ten minute walk from our
apartment and we went down there for dinner every night. Once again, the
atmosphere down there reflected my impressions of the island when we
first arrived - cool, chilled and just a really nice place to be in the
world. I can see why the island is so popular because of this!

Tenerife offers lots of activities such as water
sports and excursions, but as I was so ill from crippling morning
sickness that I didn't feel up to doing much apart from lounging by the
pool and lying on a sun chair at the beach.

Being in the warm waters of
Tenerife really was lovely though and such a cure for my sickness too.
We did manage to go on one excursion though, Jacek always ropes me into
these excursions whenever we travel, which was a bus journey around the
entire island, so we really did get to experience all that Tenerife has
to offer and all aspects of the beautiful island.

We got to stop in the north of the island, which is
far less touristy and which actually has a lot of history and culture -
like the statues of the ancient rulers of the island before it was
colonised by the Spanish, the Black Madonna and the Casa de los Balcones (House of the Balconies) - the latter which Jacek had a particular penchant for, he must love balconies!

My favourite part of our holiday was having dinner on
the strip, right by the beach and strolling back to our apartment along
the beach holding hands. It's lovely watching the sun set over the
water while having dinner with the one you love - yes I am an old
romantic, but it really is the simple things that make a holiday truly
special and which give the long-lasting memories from it all and this is
one thing I'll always remember from our visit to Tenerife. It was
actually quite a romantic holiday for us and the perfect getaway before
we became parents.

I will say that Tenerife has a lot going for it, it's
suitable for families, couples and holidays with friends. It really
does offer something for everyone, no matter what you're going there
for. Hopefully I've shown you another side to the island rather than
just the beaches, palm trees and sunshine - although I would have shown
you all that too had my memory card not have become corrupted, a whole
weeks worth of photos gone in a mere second... so a big thank to Jacek
for these pictures, aren't I lucky that he's a fellow contributor to
this little blog of mine?

Have you ever been to Tenerife? Is it an island you'd like to visit one day?