We were blown away by the island of Tenerife, which has countless charming spots. Among other things, it boasts a stunning volcano, magical laurel forests, buildings revealing impossible architectural feats and the dizzy heights of cliffs plummeting into the sea. These are the essential spots in Tenerife, the things you simply cannot pass up and which make up the very essence of the island. Here, then, is a selection of Tenerife’s top ten. Do you know any of them?

1. Teide National Park

This is undoubtedly the island’s most iconic landmark. The Teide National Park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2007 in the category of Natural Properties. It was also awarded the European Diploma by the Council of Europe and is part of the Natura 2000 Network. Indeed, there is no dearth of reasons for earning such accolades. First, Tenerife boasts the most comprehensive supra-Mediterranean vegetation on earth. It also features one of the most stunning volcanic landscapes in the world and, of course, the most prominent one in the Canary Islands. Further information here.

2. Historic Quarters

Tenerife boasts a large number of historic sites. First, there is La Laguna Historic Quarter (a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999), a unique example of an unwalled colonial settlement. The original, 15th-century layout – as pinpointed by the engineer, Leonardo Torriani, on his map of La Laguna – has survived virtually intact. This is a must-visit town as it served as the blueprint for colonial cities in the Americas, notably Old Havana, Lima and Cartagena de Indias, characterised by the same aesthetic in their streets and houses. Other must-visit venues include the Arona Historic Quarter, the Buenavista del Norte Historic Quarter, and the historic quarters of Garachico, Guía de Isora, Güímar, Icod de los Vinos, La Orotova, Los Realejos, Los Silos, Puerto de la Cruz and San Juan de la Rambla. Further details here.

3. Anaga Rural Park

Just a few minutes’ drive from the capital (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) lies the Anaga Rural Park, listed as a Biosphere Reserve, with its exceptionally well preserved natural assets. You would not be the first visitor to be awed by its beautiful, rugged range of sharp peaks. And, its deep valleys and gorges run down to the sea and fan out in the form of numerous beaches where you can have a refreshing swim. The area is also rich in indigenous fauna and flora.

4. Whale Spotting

The island’s south-west coast is ideal for whale spotting. There, you will see the whales drifting calmly along in the ocean. Whale encounters are an exciting experience and you will get the chance to photograph them close-up. Tenerife has several companies that organise excursions to see these cetaceans in the wild but, be warned – you should look out for pleasure boats with the “Barco Azul” (Blue Boat) ensign, as they are the only ones authorised by the Canary Island government to run these outings. You should heed this warning for safety purposes – both for your own safety and that of the whales – as these vessels are certified as complying with the standards designed to safeguard these species. The boats sail from the ports of Los Cristianos, Puerto Colón and Los Gigantes and you can choose from an array of prices and travel times to best suit your needs. Further information here.

5. Parque del Drago

Located next to the San Marcos parish church, the parque del Drago (Dragon Park) is the main attraction in Icod de Los Vinos. Its famous Drago Milenario (millennial dragon tree), although officially only 800 years old, is one of the leading natural, cultural and historic symbols of the Canary Islands. The Icod dragon tree (Dracaena draco canariensis),considered to be the oldest in the archipelago, is 16 metres high and has a circumference of 20 metres at its base. A garden of indigenous species has been created around the tree. Particularly edifying and illustrative for visitors, the garden also features smaller dragon trees, cactus spurge and sweet spurge, etc. The nearby church square also has some interesting botanical specimens.

6. Teno Rural Park

The Teno Rural Park is located at the north-western tip of Tenerife and stretches across parts of the Buenavista del Norte, Los Silos, El Tanque and Santiago del Teide municipalities. With a surface area of 8,063.3 hectares, it is one of the island’s most beautiful nature parks. Its ecological, cultural and landscape value has been preserved largely on account of its remoteness. The scenic variety is striking, ranging from stunning cliffs to valleys, low islands, laurel forests and magnificent examples of traditional architecture.

7. Huge Cliffs

This cliff, aptly named Los Gigantes (the Giants), is situated in Santiago del Teide and is part of the Teno Rural Park. At some points it towers 600 metres above the sea and the cliff-face is sheer, capable of making you giddy if you look at it from the bottom. The seabed at the foot of the cliff, some 30 metres deep, is home to a great variety of natural species, attracting enthusiasts of diving and deep-sea fishing.

8. Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria

At the end of the 14th century – that is, about a hundred years before the conquest of Tenerife – a Gothic carving of Our Lady of Candelaria turned up on the coast of the Güímar Valley. The local Guanche people worshipped the statue under the name Chaxiraxi. Designed by Enrique Marrero Regalado, the basilica was built in 1959 on the initiative of the Bishop of Tenerife, Domingo Pérez Cáceres, a native of Güímar. Regionalist in style, it has three naves, a faux Mudéjar ceiling and a 25-metre-high dome surmounting the transept.

9. Star-Gazing

The Teide National Park is ideal for observing such amazing features of the night-sky as the rings of Saturn, the Moon’s craters and distant galaxies and nebulae. Teide and Cumbres de Teide were recently awarded Starlight certificates, which endorses them as privileged international spots for star-gazing.

Set at 2,400 metres above sea level, the telescopes of the Teide Observatory are managed by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, which bears out the excellent state of night-sky observation on the island. Enthusiasts can book a guided tour in which the innards of those huge devices are described in detail, as are the telescope-observation methods used by scientists the world over. Further details here.

10. Gastronomy and Wine

Island cuisine is another of Tenerife’s identity traits and, of course, the tastiest one. Dishes are based on locally sourced products and make up a cuisine in which tradition blends with the avant-garde. Papas, mojos, gofio, cheese, fish, honey…

Tenerife wines are unique for their original flavour and the sacrifice involved in their making, as the vineyards are often cultivated in remote, narrow stretches of land. These conditions, together with nutrient-rich volcanic soils, endow their wines with features which have been lauded in Europe since the 16th century. There are five DOs in Tenerife – Tacoronte-Acentejo, Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Valle de la Orotava, Valle de Güímar and Abona. Each of these areas yields wines with a personality of their own, be they red, white or Malvasia. Further details here.

Itching to discover Tenerife through its greatest hits? Check out our flights here.

Text and images by Turismo de Tenerife

In England, football culture is a world apart. Match days become a liturgy in which fans turn soccer players, the pitch and the ball into their own holy trinity. Football fever has London as its holy city, and its numerous stadiums as endearing temples of goal worship. The city boasts five teams in the Premier League, a list of companies added to a sizeable bunch of historic clubs. Here, then, are the 10 best stadiums in London.

10. Leyton Orient FC
Stadium: Brisbane Road. District: Leyton

While lacking a prize-winning record, and although having spent several seasons drifting in the Football League Two, Leyton Orient FC is one of London’s most endearing teams, as is their stadium. Inaugurated in 1937,Brisbane Road breathes everything one would expect from a historic British field – terraces, throaty songs and a sour smell of warm beer.

9. Queens Park Rangers FC
Stadium: Loftus Road Stadium. District: Shepherd’s Bush

While the West Endstands for an upmarket London, Queens Park Rangers FC encapsulates its glamorous side in football. Once the seat ofShepherd’s Bush FC (the club closed down in 1915), since 1917Loftus Road has been the home of The Hoops. Another iconic shoebox exuding footballing legend from its four grandstands, which its owners are unfortunately thinking of retiring.

8. Millwall FC
Stadium: The Den. District: South Bermondsey

Their football fans are known to be among Britain’s most belligerent, to which the followers of Millwall FC reply with their chant: “No one like us, we don’t care”. Founded in 1885 by a group of stevedores, from 1910 to 1933 Millwall played at a stadium known asThe Den.It was then demolished to make way forThe New Den,the first stadium to be built after the Hillsborough tragedy. It was also the home ground for the fictitious club,Harchester United,the fortunes of which were the plot of a television series,Dream Team,broadcast by the Sky channel from 1997 to 2007.

7. Tottenham Hotspurs FC
Stadium: White Heart Lane. District: Tottenham

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspurs FC set up atWhite Hart Lane in 1899. Until 1972, it was one of the few stadiums that lacked advertising signage installations, after which it also succumbed to football marketing. Eternally vying for the hegemony of North London football with their eternal rivals, Arsenal, Spurs couldn’t keep turning down the prospect of extra revenues from advertising. Despite the charm of their home ground, the development plans of the Lilywhites, as the Spurs’ fans are known, involves building a new stadium alongside the existing one

6. Fulham FC
Stadium: Craven Cottage. District: Fulham

Fulham FC have always had a soft spot for their stadium, while berating the ground of their rivals, Chelsea, with whom they have kept up one of the staunchest rivalries in London football. Built in 1866,Craven Cottage is one of the most historic and architecturally beautiful grounds in English football. In front of the main entrance to the stadium is a statue of…Michael Jackson, a personal tribute to the King of Pop from his friend, the club’s chairman,Mohamed Al-Fayed.

5. Chelsea FC
Stadium: Stamford Bridge. District: Fulham

Stamford Bridgewas originally earmarked to be Fulham FC’snew ground, after having been based since 1866 at Craven Cottage just opposite. When the latter refused to move, another occupant of the premises had to be sought. Eventually, the London Athletics Club was founded for the purpose, and in 1905 it was renamed Chelsea FC. Located at the Shed End of the pitch is theChelsea Centenary Museum,surely one of the most interesting football museums in London.

4. West Ham United FC
Stadium: Upton Park. District: Upton Park

Thames Ironworks FCemerged in 1895, later to be calledWest Ham United FC, the team of the shipyards’ ironworkers. West Ham’s social legacy has led their fans, the “hammers”, to stake their claim as representatives of the East London working-class spirit. They dispute this class pride with their archrivals, Millwall. Their cockney essence comes to the fore on match days atUpton Park,West Ham United’s home ground since 1904. The Upton Park team is nicknamedThe Academy of Football,on account of its excellent work with homegrown talent, among other things. Sadly, as of the 2016–2017 season, West Ham will move to theLondon Olympic Stadium.

3. Arsenal FC
Stadium: The Emirates Stadium. District: Holloway

Unveiled in the summer of 2006, the Emirates Stadiumis one of the most striking colosseums in the world. Even so, Arsenal FC will always be associated with its old home ground,Highbury.After the club moved from these premises, Highbury has been reconverted into luxury apartments. The original facade of the stadium has been preserved intact, while the rectangular pitch has been turned into a green square. The flats are located on the site of the former main stands.

2. The Football Association
Stadium: Wembley. District: Wembley

Wembley stadium, crowned by its emblematic twin towers, opened on 28 April 1923. That same evening it hosted the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. From then on it has become, as Pelé once declared, “…the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football.” Demolished in 2003, the new Wembley was erected on the same site and, while it is no longer the original ground, it is still regarded astheSTADIUM.

1. Brentford FC
Stadium: Griffin Park. District: Brentford

Founded in 1889, in its one-hundred-year history,Brentford FChasn’t played a single season in the top flight. This modest record has not prevented The Bees, as the fans of this West London club are known, from topping this chart. Why is this so? Because, not only doesGriffin Parkevoke everything one could imagine when picturing an English football ground – it also has the unique claim to being the only football stadium in Britain (and, probably, the world) that has a pub in each of its four corners. It wins the number 1 spot, hands down!

Whether you like football or not, a tour of these veritable sports cathedrals is worth the trip to London. Check out our flights here.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez

By Mariana Calleja from TravelThirst

Florence made us happy. Yes. Florence made us go creative, free and overwhelmed about everything in life.

The food thing in Moscow is rather odd – with exceptions, it’s usually simpler and better quality in economical eateries than in pretentious upmarket restaurants. Why should that be? We could go off on a historical, aesthetic, cultural, existential rant that would lead us back to Lenin’s czars, via the Cold War, and end up reflecting on certain post-Perestroika aesthetic criteria affecting much of Russia’s ruling classes, Yeltsin’s new rich now happily ensconced in capitalism. That aversion to minimalism; that Russianhorror vacuiexuded largely by the prevailing fashion, architecture and – of course – gastronomy.

Hence, by adopting the mantra that less is more – an idea many Russians eschew – you will win the gastronomic battle in a city as fascinating as it is hostile, but overwhelmingly beautiful, so different from what we pictured in our mind’s-eye. A city in which you need to have all your wits about you, the impelling need to come to grips with everything which is the driving force behind any journey. And, remain impervious to the odd diatribe hurled at you by Russians of any age and condition, who vent all their pent-up energy just to make it quite clear from the word go that they detest you and everything you stand for.

And, once you have experienced the cold and have been shouted at in Russian; once you have strolled along those huge avenues designed for tanks rather than people, and discovered, to your dismay, that in many respects Moscow is more like London than Moscow, then you will realise you have gained greater insight into the 20th century. And, that nobody who has not borne the brunt of being yelled at forcefully in Russian at least once in their life is in a position to voice an opinion about last century, or about its legacy, its influence on us and, in short, about who we are.

However, as we dedicated long, endless hours of strolling about to existential reflection, we also ate. At times, amazingly poor food, in mainly pseudo-modern restaurants. At others, very tasty food, in those places we are interested in here – notably more modest restaurants. Here, then, is the selection of our ten favourite restaurants in Moscow:

1. Caffe del Parco (Via di Camaldoli, 7)

Take note, hipsters. This will be your favourite restaurant in Moscow, located in what is surely about to become your landmark district in the city – Red October – alongside the river, by way of a Russian version of Williamsburg-Malasaña-Shoreditch still in the making, and that is the best part about it. There aren’t many establishments there yet, although there is the odd interesting store, a bookshop and a good number of restaurants with recycled furniture, bars, DJs and nightlife. Caffe del Parco, recently opened by a Sicilian who settled in Moscow some years ago, is a charming, minimalist café-restaurant where they have recovered the nonna’s recipes and where we were lucky enough to taste one of the best risottos ever. Just another of the thousands of paradoxes Moscow metes out to the visitor.

2. Cafe Mart

Pressing on with our modern streak, this cafe, one of two branches of the Moscow Modern Art Museum, is located in a delightful garden adorned with statues by the Georgian artist, Tsereteli, and packed with families dedicated to the noble art of brunch, with a host of children scuttling about the dining-room or participating in one of the workshops held inside. Delicious coffee, pastries, sandwiches and the odd dish on the simple, unpretentious menu featuring a combination of French cuisine with Georgian specialities in a setting that could well be somewhere in Berlin or Amsterdam.

3. Harat’s Pub

This small, cosy Irish pub on Arbat street, a broad pedestrian avenue that acts as the nerve centre of the city’s shopping and leisure milieu, happens to be one of the few options for having a drink. It is an unusual spot, run by a friendly Muscovite and former resident of Andalusia who loves Latin culture to the extent that he cares less about heading an Irish pub and is unfazed by its siting in one of Moscow’s mainstream precincts where one would expect to find some Russification, rather than forays into the cosmopolitan. He and his rock clientele seem to be enthusiasts of the Spanish beat, so that when you step inside you are hit by a full-blown “Lega-lega-li-za-ción” seemingly blaring out from some boomboxes. Indeed, the crowd here are fans of Spain, Ska-P, imported birras and Ireland in all their magnitude, and this strange yet endearing mix makes for one of Moscow’s most entertaining bars.

4.  Varenichnaya N.1 (Arbat, 29)

This is our favourite restaurant in the city, an unpretentious, pleasant, centrally located and economical eatery also on Arbat street which offers traditional Russian cuisine in the form of such dishes as vareniki (a pasta pie with various fillings, topped with a delicious sauce), pelmini (a similar dish of Ukrainian origin) and chebureki (traditional meat-filled pasties). They also have a selection of traditional pancakes, cocktails with or without alcohol, coffee and homemade pastries. All set in large, crowded but very cosy premises with motley adornments revealing extraordinary good taste juxtaposed with others striking one as just the opposite. This matters not the least when you sink your teeth into one of the economically priced delicacies served by charming staff who, surprisingly, are able to communicate in English.

5. Varvary

A rundown of gastronomy in Moscow is not complete without mention of Anatoly Komm, the country’s first chef to earn a Michelin star, who has an avant-garde restaurant offering haute cuisine known as Varvary. If you can afford it, it is worth booking a table in the dining-room run by this eccentric and unclassifiable chef who applies the latest cutting-edge techniques to a base of traditional Russian cooking (soups, smoked food). Komm regrets the terrible autarky Russia is going through and the indigenous people’s reluctance to open up to influences from neighbouring Europe, and he must know what he’s talking about. This is not the case with his luxury Muscovite restaurant, which offers molecular cuisine for customers with informed tastes, worlds apart from those “new rich”, as Kromm puts it, practically uneducated and with rather pompous tastes. The dishes crafted by this sensitive, art-loving man are noteworthy for their spectacular aesthetic, among other things.

6. Monsieur Croissant (Baumanskaya, 42)

You need to move away from the centre and approach the area of Baumanskaya, which we strongly urge you to do if you want to discover the real Moscow, which is much warmer and welcoming, far from the inclemencies of a centre as hostile as it is spectacular. And, if you decide to confront the beautiful although complicated Moscow metro system, this small restaurant is a great choice, whether you want to breakfast on one of its buns or pastries or have a simple but well prepared lunch, such as pasta with vegetables or the soup of the day. Nearby is a Hotel Mercure, where we happen to be staying, at a laughable price compared to downtown rates and just two metro stops from Red Square.

7. Tamerlan

This mega-restaurant with its mock luxury comes with a clientele dressed as if they’re were all attending a wedding downing vodkas like they were water. This Asian restaurant is a good option if you’re feeling like some glamour, as the Eurasian cuisine is outstanding, the price, reasonable and the decor, striking and attractive.

8. Chemodan (Gogolevskiy Blvd., 25/1)

It would be unforgivable to leave Moscow without having dined at least once in Chemodan, a delightful, absolutely unclassifiable restaurant that breaks the mould of what one would imagine contemporary Moscow to be like. Chemodan is located in the vicinity of Arbat and has an ambience (with its grand lamps, wallpaper, carpets and paintings hung on the walls) more reminiscent of a bar of intellectuals in the Paris of the twenties than what you would expect in Putin’s Russia. As you open the door and are met by a charming little old man, with the sound of Bésame mucho in the background, you know you’ve come to the right place. There, you give yourself over to cuisine with Russian roots, selecting from a well-worked menu featuring pampered, sensitively crafted dishes from all over the country.

9. Café Pushkin

Only if you have around €300 in your pocket should you venture into Café Pushkin, a legendary locale which is worth mentioning for figuring in all possible world rankings for both the best restaurants and the most beautiful ones. Don, therefore, your best attire and take your place like some Cinderella in this majestic environment lined with fine woods and where even the most secluded corner is lavished with tasteful luxury. Prepare to savour Russian cuisine with French touches – or, might that be the other way around? Despite the charm of the establishment, however, the dishes may not satisfy those diners seeking haute cuisine in its pure state.

10. Beverly Hills Diner

Lastly, a big lark, which we’re eager to not leave unmentioned as it is surely the most telling joke we have seen in Moscow. This is the most American of eateries, where you would expect Olivia Newton-John to make her entry at any time. It stands in downtown Moscow, with neon lights that appear to be proudly blaring out to the world that – yes – they won the Cold War. You bite your tongue and see for yourself, with some resentment, that you’re not quite sure what victory is being celebrated. You realise that, after so much salmon and Russian sauces, what you really fancy is the pleasure of the familiar, being able to finally sink your teeth into a hamburger.

Come and experience it for yourself! Check out our flights here

Text and photos by Laura Conde (Gastronomistas)