Relaunch of The Real Tenerife website and insider guides

For the last few years, The Real Tenerife website has been virtually rotting on the vine. We didn’t outright abandon it, but we certainly neglected it. There were several reasons for this. One was we left Tenerife for Portugal in 2017. Another was that we grew so weary of other writers using our experiences and knowledge as a resource without crediting us (it brings a wry smile to see writers now complaining about AI doing similar. At least AI links to its sources) that we debated taking the website offline. And the third was our work took us all over Europe to create Slow Travel holidays and write guides, and that took up the bulk of our time.

I go into this in more detail on my writing site. Click here if you want to read more.

Why we’re writing about Tenerife again

Additionally, Andy and I (the folk behind The Real Tenerife for those who don’t know us) have a purist approach to specialist travel writing. Basically, if we’re no longer in a destination, we don’t feel we should be writing about it. In the world of travel writing, this is nonsensical. Most travel articles are written by someone who’s spent hardly any time in the destinations they write about. At best, they might spend a couple of weeks a year, which is probably less time than people who visit regularly on holiday. They’re never going to come close to the knowledge we built up during our time living on Tenerife, or on subsequent visits since.

Even most travel pieces by anyone who lives on Tenerife tend to focus on southern resort areas rather than the whole island. As this was one of the reasons we launched The Real Tenerife way back in 2006, it feels like there’s been a backward step.

Some ‘insider’ information I read in UK tabloids recently reinforced why we felt motivated to resurrect The Real Tenerife. It was a ‘revelation’ you allegedly won’t find in guidebooks or travel sites. It was this – Tenerife is a year-round holiday destination. Reading this being passed off as insider advice reminded my why there is a need for an alternative source of information about Tenerife, and also the other Canary Islands.

We decided to relaunch The Real Tenerife toward the end of last year, then spent the early part of 2026 visiting Tenerife to update our information and knowledge.

So, what’s new?

The Real Tenerife website

• The website has been given a complete makeover, hopefully making it look fresh and also more user friendly.
• There will be fewer articles, with a focus more on insider information.
• Given the protests against mass tourism, we’ll especially concentrate on areas where sustainable tourism is needed. Ironically, while there are protests about overtourism in resort areas, there are places suffering because of a lack of tourism.
• Finally, there will be more of a focus on other Canary Islands. A question we were often asked was ‘Do you have similar information for (insert name of Canary Island here)?’ Over the years, we’ve written Slow Travel guides for each of the islands apart from Lanzarote, but we did produce travel content about the island for a Lanzarote-based hotel for a period.

The website is still a work in progress, so please bear with us.

The Real Tenerife Guidebook

The Real Tenerife Guidebook has been completely updated for the 26/27 season, again with an emphasis on insider information rather than lists of hotels and restaurants (although, we still share personal favourites). We planned to change the cover as well, but an online poll across various social media platforms convinced us the man in the sea with a goat in his arms was irreplaceable. Instead, we added a few more images to the front cover and changed the design to match our new logo.

Real Tenerife Island Walks

Again, our Real Tenerife Island Walks have been updated with some routes removed, some added, and some amended. These include coastal routes in both the south and the north and amended and extended routes in and around Santiago del Teide and the Orotava Valley.

Real Tenerife Town & City Guides

For our Real Tenerife Town & City Guides, there is an additional route in Santa Cruz, while the gardens route in Puerto de la Cruz is now a gardens and Agatha Christie circuit. La Orotava and La Laguna have been updated to reflect the best of what to see in both of their historic centres.

Walk This Way Tenerife

This is the last on our ‘to do’ list for our Tenerife guides. The current guidebook will be removed from sale and, eventually, replaced with a more rucksack/hiking trouser pocket friendly guidebook. But this will take some time.

All there is left to say is, we hope you enjoy the fresh look and changes, and a very welcome back.