Book Los Cristianos attraction tickets

Few places on the southern coast of Tenerife announce themselves quite as directly as Los Cristianos. What began as a modest fishing village has grown into one of the Canary Islands' most visited resort towns, yet the original harbour still anchors the place in something older and more purposeful than the apartment blocks and promenades that surround it. Ferries to La Gomera and El Hierro depart from here, fishing boats still work the same waters they always have, and the Atlantic light in the early morning carries a quality that no amount of development has managed to dilute.

The town sits at the southern tip of Tenerife, sheltered from the trade winds that cool the island's northern and eastern coasts, which is why this corner of the island receives more sunshine hours per year than almost anywhere else in Spain. The beach at Los Cristianos curves gently around the bay, and the adjoining resort of Playa de las Américas bleeds into it so gradually that first-time visitors rarely notice where one ends and the other begins. Further west, Costa Adeje occupies the higher ground both literally and in terms of the market it courts, with a string of larger hotels facing the sea. Together these three areas form a continuous coastal strip that draws visitors from across northern Europe throughout the year, not just in summer.