Santa Cruz & San Cristóbal de La Laguna (UNESCO)

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the island's capital, is often overlooked by tourists — a mistake. The bustling port city has a surprisingly vibrant cultural scene, the spectacular Auditorio de Tenerife (designed by Santiago Calatrava, the "Sydney Opera House of the Atlantic"), excellent shopping on the Calle Castillo, and one of the craziest carnivals in the world — the Santa Cruz Carnival is considered the second largest worldwide after Rio.

The Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África is a must: In the 1940s halls with their colonial-style patio, tropical fruits, Canarian cheeses, spices, and fresh fish pile up. The atmosphere is authentic, the prices fair, and the small bars in the market serve fresh fish from 8 €.

San Cristóbal de La Laguna — briefly La Laguna — is located only 9 km north of Santa Cruz and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. The former capital of Tenerife (founded in 1496) was the first unfortified colonial city in Spain, and its street grid served as a blueprint for urban planning in Latin America — from Lima to Havana to Cartagena. The old town is a cohesive ensemble of over 600 historic buildings: magnificent city palaces with wooden balconies, baroque churches, quiet monasteries, and the oldest university in the Canary Islands (founded in 1792).

The Calle San Agustín and the Calle Obispo Rey Redondo (the "Cathedral Street") are the architectural showpieces. Particularly worth seeing: the Casa de los Capitanes Generales (17th century), the Catedral de La Laguna with its neoclassical facade, and the Palacio de Nava — a city palace that combines all stylistic epochs from Mannerism to Baroque to Neoclassicism. La Laguna is also a university town with 25,000 students, which ensures lively cafés, affordable tapas bars, and a youthful atmosphere.