Accommodation
There are really many places to stay in Tenerife, and although most of them are apartments and mid-range hotels, you can also find cheap guesthouses,
casas rurales and luxurious facilities. Looking for a place to stay, it is best to contact the selected hotels directly or use one of the many websites, through which reservations can be made (e.g.. www.canarias.com, www.abcanarias.com).
There will be no problems with finding accommodation in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and in practically the entire northern part of the island – for peace of mind, however, it is worth making a reservation a few days in advance. It could be worse in the south, and especially in the resorts of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas. It's just expensive there, and some places are reserved by agencies.
Therefore, people, who plan to stay longer in one of the resorts, they should rather use a travel agent – their offers of flight and stay are definitely much cheaper than looking for accommodation and flight on your own.
In Tenerife, it is not allowed to pitch tents outside the campsites, and there are few on the island. The campsite can be found in the north, w Punta de Hidalgo, and two in the south, near El Medano. The situation is saved by special camping zones, where you can only pitch a tent after obtaining permission from the local council – Cabildo of Tenerife (c / Diego de Almagro 1, Santa Cruz of Tenerife; tel922239199, fax 922239191). The permit is usually issued for a period 3-7 days and must be requested from 3-30 days before scheduled arrival. The zones are usually equipped with toilets, sometimes in showers, but the amenities end there. More information on the location and conditions of each zone: www.webtenerife.com (Press tab&Travel lndustry-Travel Industry Zone-Activities-Camping-Camping areas).
Gastronomy
In Tenerife you can try many delicacies of Canarian cuisine, and in resorts also Chinese cuisine, German, English, etc.. e.t.c. Three dishes definitely have to be tried: meat party (pieces of pork stewed with garlic, hot peppers and white wine), a rather unusual taste from Santa Cruz de Tenerife – sweet blood sausage (Black pudding made of pork tenderloin with an admixture of potatoes, raisins and honey) and grilled fish chicharros, that were once so popular in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, that their inhabitants are still called chicharreros. Those who like sweets will not be disappointed with huevos moles (a kind of pudding made of noodles and sugar). Everything tastes even better with wine, especially, that the drinks from Tenerife have a very good reputation.
There are five wine regions on the island: Acentejo-Tacoronte, Orotava Valley, Ycod-lsora-Daute, Guimar and Anaga. All types of wine are produced in each of them, however, the red one is said to be best in Tacoronte (especially from the vineyards of Wña Norte and Brezal), white in the Valle de Orotava, and the pink ones in the district of Giiimar and on the Anaga peninsula.