Initially we wanted to explore today the capital but our relative really wanted to see Puerto de la Cruz so we take the car out of the subterranean bunker and we drive the one hour to Puerto de la Cruz. Luckily we find a parking spot and now it is time to explore this touristy city. It is the first tourist town in Canary Island when travel for health reasons was a primary driver of travel to the islands.
Right at the edge of the parking area is an overlook, El Peñon del Fraile, and it overlooks a football stadium, not what we expected. But in the other direction at least we can see some part of the town, but not the historic area.
The first stop is El Castillo San Felipe, one of the fortifications protecting Puerto de la Cruz from invasions. Now it is a temporary exhibitions space with free entry so in we go to see the exhibits.
The exhibits are actually quite interesting even if they are relatively small and we enjoy the paintings both more classical and modern.
Outside the castle is protected by a gun pointing the wrong direction, inland not towards the sea. The views here are quite good though and we explore the area a bit more especially as there is a beach right next to the Castillo.
Playa de Castillo is nearby and it is one of the more famous beaches in Puerto de la Cruz but surprisingly it is closed, it seems that there is some issue with the water, we cannot really understand what but it seems serious given how barricaded it is.
Now it is time to move towards the old center admiring all the interesting houses along the way. It is also quite hot so we try to use any patch of shadow that we can find but there aren’t that many unfortunately.
On the way is the Archaeological Museum, which is mostly closed so it is free to enter to see the three rooms they kept open. There is also an entire school here making a racket but at least the mummy room is empty. We are surprised that it is not protected and you can touch it but then we notice it is a reproduction, that makes a lot more sense.
Otherwise there are just a few informational panels so soon it is time to move on towards the middle of the old city.
On the way we also find the tourist tram going through the downtown area but today we are not going to use it as we want to use our legs a bit.
Next we stop at the Ermita de San Juan Bautista a historic church which has quite a few interesting artifacts and relics and surprisingly is free to enter and explore.
Right downtown is Playa del Muelle which seems to be unaffected by whatever issues Playa del Castillo seems to be having but also seems like a really undesirable beach with pebbles all the way. Next to it is Casa de la Aduana, the former Toll House, which is now a visitor center and gift shop.
Then we pass one more fortification, Batería de Santa Barbara, which is quite more impressive and continue on following the seashore for a while before turning again inland.
On this stretch we find the City Hall and nearby a parking that we wanted to use initially. Luckily we didn’t because it is closed, for some unknown reason.
Now it is time to go up towards the next point of attraction, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia, using narrow passages taking us up to major plaza anchored by the church.
Unfortunately while the plaza is quite beautiful and the church is impressive it cannot be entered so we just have to enjoy it from the outside before starting our return trip to the car.
On the way we stop however to eat an ice cream and cool ourselves before continuing on.
We follow a slightly different trail while returning to the car and there are a lot of frescoes, some are quite interesting and we enjoy this way a bit more than the one we took initially. And then we take our car stop at a gas station for gas and it is time to explore the next city, La Orotava.
