Well for us it is because we have timeshare there.

But i just love the place.

Weather is excellent most of the year.

There are some great long walks to go on.

Nightlife is fantastic.

Love most of the hotels.

For us it is like home from home.

We know when we go to the strip that we will have a great night out.

this year were going to try some different bars, or so we keep saying.

But we always go somewhere different for our summer holidays and Cyprus it is.

For me, besides the obvious attraction of the year-round climate, it's the sheer diversity of the place. A large percentage of holidaymakers equate Tenerife with PDLA & LC, which have their own appeal but do not really give a true impression of what is a truly spectacular island. Away from the south coast you will find a range of scenery and towns/villages etc that you barely suspect exist from the beaches of the south. Getting out and exploring the 'real' island is what it's all about for me. I once walked in the mountains around Teide on a February day in heavy snow-showers and finished the day by sitting on my terrace in Los Cristianos enjoying a drink in warm sunshine. There can't be too many places in the world where you can do that and only travel 20 odd miles.

because it is in the canries.. and we love it.

there are loads of places to explore off the beaten track. The climate is great, there is loads to see and we never get tired of going there..the views from Teide, the waves crashing on the rocks in the little villages, the way of life, the general atmosphere away from PDLA busiest areas ( we are not ones for the really mad night life), it is only 4 1/2 hours away from where we live ( and so is scotland but tenerife is soooo much better)

its tenerife..end of story...

same here been to purto de la cruz about 8 times and love it. got so many freinds over there have not been back for about 4year only cuase my girl is 10 and there is not a lot for her up there. but we will be back one day thats for sure tenerife is brill

Agree with all the above posts. We first visited Tenerife approx 25 years ago when we stayed in Puerto de la Cruz. We absolutely loved it from day 1. Our next visit 23 years ago took us to the south and Costa Adeje. Again fell in love with that side of the island. We bought a time share a couple of visits later and have never looked back. We travel to Tenerife 2 or 3 times a year and after all that time we are still finding different places. We always hire a car when there and some days when the kids want to stay at the pool hubby and me often go off driving around the Island. As Cyberhiker said where else can you drive from a sunny beach and within 30 minutes or so reach a snow covered volcano. It is such a diverse Island. It is amazing.
Also I have to say that I feel very at home and relaxed as soon as we arrive in Tenerife, so much so that we are in the process of selling our house here in the UK to take up permanent residence in Tenerife.

Rgds Jackie

When we first booked to go to PDLA people said we wouldn't like it and we wondered if we were doing the right thing. Within 2 hours of arriving we wondered what folk had been talking about!!!

We just love the mix of bars from mad to chillin to suit your mood, good choice of restaurants to eat and the overall atmosphere out there. We always hire a car to get off the beaten track and have seen the most breathtaking scenery - especially looking down through the pine forests on Teide when you are above the clouds.

You can spend a day seeing virtually nobody, in villages that time has forgot ie through Masca Valley but the drive down is not for the faint of heart!!! Get back in the evening and have the night out of your lives. We just love it there and roll on September when we will be back again!!

We first went in the mid 90's on a cheap teletext package. The apartment we got was excellent, (in Costa Adeje) and we have been going back ever since, twice, sometimes three times a year. We just love the place. I cannot imagine going anywhere else. We love the beach, the whole atmosphere, the food, the sun and sea too...

Roll on mid september when we are back again......

Having travelled to 15 different Countries/ Islands abroad,visiting several of these more than once. Always thought I wouldn't like Tenerife, for some reason or another. That was until 2002 when had my first holiday there. Haven't looked back since,and although have now been on holiday to Tenerife 14 times in the last 4 years,there's always something new to see and do or somewhere new to eat and drink. Feel very much at home there. As everyone has said,it is such a diverse Island with the beautiful scenery of the North and amazing views, to the "something for everyone" in the main resorts of the South. Not to mention the weather,of course!...so lovely and warm all year round. I'm trying Los Cristianos the next time and hiring a car for 14 days, looking forward to seeing even more of the Island.

Mrs MX5

Just had to add, you mentioned Masca and also that it is not for the faint hearted. We drove to the viewing point at the top of Masca once (I say once because I would never go again) not because it is not breathtaking scenery or a beautiful place, but because I have a thing about heights and the roads up to Masca are quite scary. We alway hire a soft top car when in Tenerife and the day we went to Masca I was hanging onto the door handle for dear life. It was like a white knuckle ride for me. It didn't help having the three kids in the back laughing as they told me that if the car went over the side that the door handle was going with it. Even my husband who was driving,and knows no fear, (what man does) on looking back up the mountain after we had reached the bottom said he did not realise how high it was or how tense he actually was whilst driving down. The thing is that all there is between you and the drop are breeze block looking things every so many feet apart.

Still love Tenerife but I would rather see Masca in pictures from now on.

Rgds Jackie

Jackie
I take it the roads up to Masca twist and turn? If they do I'll maybe have to give it a miss.....I always get terrible car sickness! It's strange,I can go out in a boat in really stormy sea,and don't get sea sick,but I've nearly always been car sick,even just driving up to Teide. I can laugh about it afterwards,because it usually wears off quite quickly. I'm not too bad with heights though,...poor you

Jackie, Fiona the road you drove on is probably the new improved road as you mention the castellations at the edges. You should have tried driving on the same road without them and it was slightly narrower in places before the "improvements" not only that but there is the occasional bus tour to contend with. Is the little mini bus still at the top of the road before you go down into Santiago del Teide it use to be a welcome stop for a drink and the relaxation of tense arm muscles

Oh Jackie i've just been roaring laughing - sorry!!!

Think my tan had completely disappeared by the time we had got to the bottom of the valley - would i do it again?, it depends on how much bravado i've got on the day!!!!! Driven in lots of different countries and different terrains but this took the biscuit!!

allmen
I hope we're not putting people off driving into the mountain!
Jackie's got the thing about heights, I'm car sick, and sounds like you're tensing up your arm muscles....:rofl (must admit I don't normally do the driving in Tenerife though ) Also have to say, I'm glad I didn't experience the road before the improvements
It is a beautiful Island though, and even if we (me and my OH) decide not to drive up into the mountain???..will see how I feel ... there are some other lovely places to see.
P.S.You're going roughly when I'm going too..have a good one!

Thanks for your views you have said it all.There is so much to do and see,young and old people always smiling enjoying life.THANKS

Would you go if there was no Soul Suite

Allmen

Yes the mini bus was at the top, and boy was I glad to get out of the car just to put my feet on terra firma for a while before we started the drive down. Brilliant views from up there but I still couldn't go too near to the railing around the viewing point.

Fiona - There are bends in the road but those I can deal with - it's the drop of hundreds of feet that's I can't remember how many times I told my husband to stop the car and let me walk down; at least that way I could have walked the side away from the drop. It was just a nightmare doing those left hand bends when the passenger is on the outside. On several occassions he told me to move back over my side before I ended up on his lap, I just seemed to lean further and further away from my door so that I was not so near to the edge. The best thing about that day for me was getting back to the resort and heading straight for the bar for a few voddy & cokes, Medicinal purposes of course.

Regards Jackie

Jackie
I have to admit the voddy and coke sounds much better to me too!

I'll be making my 4th visit to Tenerife since 2003...

It's such a beautiful island - even PDLA has it's good points. I love the fact that it can be both lively, but quite peaceful. There's plenty to do, and if you fancy a bit of culture, you can just drive up to the capital within a couple of hours - with fantastic scenry along the way.

Everytime we've visited the island, we discovered new bits we missed on the previous visit!

When we first booked, people pulled disapproving faces, saying it was 'cheesey' and tacky, so we too were beginning to wonder if we'd made a mistake. That changed the 1st day we were there!

Have visited most of the Canary Islands over the last 25years, Tenerife was the first, they all have their charms but I think Tenerife has the most to offer. I am not a big fan of the south of the island apart from Los Gigantes but the North really appeals. I got caught in a flash flood hiking down to the sea from Masca a few years ago and feared for my life but returned a couple of years later and drove to Masca, can't say the road made me nervous but then I live in Bavaria and regularly drive in the Alps and have been to the Himalayas.
After 35years in Germany my husband and I are thinking of moving and Tenerife is at the top of the list.