What is the Tenerife self-guided walking tour?
The Tenerife self-guided walking tour is a narrated stroll through the centre with no guide in tow: the World City Trail app marks the way on the map and, at each landmark, tells you through your earphones what you are looking at. Allow about 3 hours in all; the 10 stops are spread over 3.5 km, which comes to roughly 48 minutes on foot. The whole route lies in Santa Cruz, the capital of the island, where squares, a theatre, a market and churches sit within easy walking distance of each other.
In Parque García Sanabria, opened in 1926, the narration points you to the floral clock made in Switzerland and given in 1958 by the Danish consul. Plaza de los Patos has a fountain copied from the Frog Fountain in Seville's María Luisa park, and tiled benches still carrying ceramic adverts for the companies that sponsored the square. At Teatro Guimerá, described as the oldest theatre in the Canary Islands, you hear about the dramatist born in Santa Cruz who gave it his name, and on Candelaria Square about the marble obelisk of 1768 with four Guanche figures at its base. At Plaza de España, a tunnel beneath the square still shows walls of the Castillo de San Cristóbal.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 48 min · 3.5 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Along the route
A chapter for every stop
Each landmark comes with its own narrated chapter of history, local legend and curious facts, and the full text stays on screen for anyone who likes to read along.
The map does the steering
Google Maps shows the way to each stop; the full route is 3.5 km, around 48 minutes of walking in total.
Your timetable, nobody else's
No meeting point, no group to wait for. Spend an hour in a museum or linger over lunch, then rejoin the route later or on another day.
Where to eat and browse
The app recommends cafés, restaurants and local shops close to the stops, and lets you choose a different first stop or change the order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who gets the most out of it
First time in Tenerife
One walk gives you the lie of the land: where the main sights are and why each of them matters.
Travellers who set their own pace
Linger where something catches your eye and move on where it does not, with no group to keep up with.
Half a day to spare
About 3 hours covers the centre and still leaves an afternoon or an evening for something else.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
From the floral clock to the bandstand
10 stops · about 48 min walking · start: Parque García Sanabria · finish: Plaza del Príncipe de Asturias
You set out from Parque García Sanabria and walk to Plaza 25 de Julio, which everyone calls Plaza de los Patos, and on to Plaza Weyler with its Carrara marble fountain. Teatro Guimerá and the African Market, the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, come next, followed by the Church of La Concepción and Candelaria Square. Plaza de España, built over an old castle, and Plaza San Francisco, facing its Baroque church, lead to the end of the walk beside the bandstand of Plaza del Príncipe de Asturias. You can choose another first stop in the app, and no stop needs a ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Parque García SanabriaStart
Parque García Sanabria, opened in 1926 and named after the mayor who approved its construction, is with about 67,000 square metres the largest urban park in the Canary Islands. Its Swiss-made floral clock, given in 1958 by the Danish consul, stands among fountains and sculptures from an international exhibition held in 1973.
2Plaza 25 de Julio (Plaza de los Patos)
Plaza 25 de Julio, better known as Plaza de los Patos, was built between 1913 and 1917 near the city hall. Its fountain is an identical copy of the Frog Fountain in Seville's María Luisa park, and its tiled benches carry painted ceramic adverts for the companies that sponsored the square.
Read the full story →
3Plaza Weyler
Plaza Weyler was laid out in 1893 as the forecourt of the Captaincy General building and is named after General Valeriano Weyler. Its white Carrara marble fountain, made in Genoa by Achille Canessa, dates from 1899.
4Teatro Guimerá
Teatro Guimerá was built in 1849 as the Teatro Municipal and is described as the oldest theatre in the Canary Islands. It was renamed in 1923 after the playwright Àngel Guimerà, who was born in Santa Cruz.
5African Market
The Nuestra Señora de África market opened in 1943 in place of the old Recova, and its design, chosen in a competition, is by the Tenerife-born architect Enrique Marrero Regalado. Construction was directed by the municipal architect Rumeu de Armas.
6Church of La Concepción
The church was begun in 1500 as a church of the Holy Cross and renamed in 1638. After a fire in 1652 it was rebuilt, and its tower was added in 1786, while the Cross of the Conquest, which arrived with Fernández de Lugo in 1494, is linked to the church.
Read the full story →
7Candelaria Square
Candelaria Square takes its name from the Virgin of Candelaria, patroness of the Canary Islands. Its centrepiece, the Triunfo de la Candelaria, is a white marble obelisk of 1768 by Pasquale Bocciardo, with four marble figures at its base representing the Guanches.
8Plaza de España
Plaza de España is described as the largest square in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Canary Islands, and it was refurbished by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. It was built in 1929 over the Castillo de San Cristóbal, and a few original castle walls can be seen in a tunnel beneath the square.
9Plaza San Francisco
The Baroque church of San Francisco de Asís faces this square with its main façade, and its portal has two Solomonic columns, which are rare in the Canary Islands. Built for the Franciscans in the 1670s and 1680s, it keeps its tower as the main surviving part of the former convent, which was largely demolished in 1929.
10Plaza del Príncipe de AsturiasFinish
The square was laid out in 1857 on the orchard of a convent and inaugurated in 1860 in honour of Alfonso XII, then Prince of Asturias. Its central bandstand, placed in 1929, is surrounded by laurel de indias trees, and two Genoese statues represent Spring and Summer.
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