Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Tenerife. Final thoughts

To be completely honest with you, I wasn’t really excited about my trip to Tenerife in the beginning. I never wanted to go there. I never even considered it as a bucket list material. Funnily enough, it was on my “never to go to” list, along with Turkey, Egypt and Thailand.

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. What and where we ate in Tenerife

I’m so happy that we had an entire apartment all to ourselves. And having a possibility to cook in our own kitchen was a game changer. It made things so much easier and cheaper. We could eat what we wanted at any time we wanted, and Lidl was just around the corner. Plus, the food and local wines are quite cheap on Tenerife. So, most of our breakfasts (croissants, eggs, jamon, zebra donuts, pastry) and dinners (Canarian black potatoes, local fish, salads, etc.) we had in the apartment.

Road trip to Mount Teide, Tenerife, Canary islands, Spain

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Road trip to Mount Teide

 “To visit Tenerife and not to see the Mount Teide is like to come to Rome with no intention of seeing the Colosseum”, that’s what I thought when I was checking Tenerife travel brochure in the morning.  So, on the last day of our vacation we finally went to see the famous Peak up-close. Spoiler alert: best decision ever!

Puerto de Los Gigantes, Tenerife, Canary, Islands, Spain

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Flipper Uno. Aboard the pirate ship

After watching Pirates of Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl back in 2003 I got obsessed with the wooden ships, and ever since I was hoping that one day it will be possible to sail one. I also remember how excited I was being onboard the Russian frigate Shtandart during the Turku Tall Ship Races in 2017. If someone asked me then would I leave my 9 to 5 job and join the crew for a minimum wage, I would happily say yes without any hesitation.

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Las Americas and Los Cristianos

The only thing we wanted to do after a long and exhausting day we had yesterday was to take it easy and have as less driving as possible. And since we didn’t want to spend the whole day in the apartment or by the pool, we went to see one of the most famous beaches in Tenerife, Las Americas.

Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Puerto de la Cruz and the sea of clouds

For our fourth vacation day we wanted to do something special. Something big. A real road trip! But not just any road trip, we were planning to drive around the whole Tenerife island and make at least four stops on our way: Puerto de la Cruz, Mirador la Tarta, San Cristobal de la Laguna and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Spoiler alert, it didn’t go as planned.

Vigilia Park Apartments, Los Gigantes, Tenerife, Spain

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Los Gigantes

I thought it would be nice to have one day when we don’t need to drive anywhere. A day-off for my husband since he is the only driver in our family. Yep, I am 30+ and I still don’t have a driving licence. Why not? Well, first of all, driving schools are extremely expensive in Finland, and secondly, I work in Helsinki center and it’s much easier to come there by public transport than by car. Although I admit, sometimes driving license can be really handy during our travels.

Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain

Last minute deal: 7 days in Paradise. Costa Adeje and Monkey Park

I woke up early in the morning but kept my eyes shut as long as I could. The surreal feeling hasn’t left me, and I was almost sure that all our yesterday’s adventures were just a wonderful dream. But as soon as I opened my eyes and looked around, I breathed a sigh of relief. The dream was actually a reality. Good morning, magical Tenerife! And good morning, beautiful ocean view!