Santa Ursula Holidays

Travel Agent's View

Situated close to the Orotava Valley and the Teide National Park it is a popular base for walking and hiking holidays

The night life is fairly low key here, there are a few bars and restaurants which offer typical Canarian and international cuisine

Located to the north of the island, Santa Ursula is an ideal choice for those seeking a relaxing holiday. Situated close to the Orotava Valley and the Teide National Park it is a popular base for walking and hiking holidays.

The night life is fairly low key here, there are a few bars and restaurants which offer typical Canarian and international cuisine, but for a greater choice the nearby resort of Puerto de la Cruz is a short taxi or bus ride away. The nearest beach is also located in Puerto de la Cruz.

Santa Ursula is situated approx 15 km from Los Rodeos airport.

Insider's View

by Andrea Montgomery

Tenerife Insider

if you're looking to be in the Tenerife that wasn't built for tourism ... you're exactly where you need to be

Santa Ursula is also the place to try some of the local wine, it's country wine which is fruity and easy to drink but be warned, it packs a punch

Let's get one thing straight, Santa Ursula is not a resort, it's a working Canarian town. There's no beach, no shops geared towards the needs of tourists, no night life and the centre of town is the other side of the motorway from the only hotel.

But if you're looking to be in the Tenerife that wasn't built for tourism and keen to try the very best traditional Canarian food on the island, you're exactly where you need to be. This stretch of northern coast, which includes Santa Ursula, El Sauzal and Tacoronte, is renowned for its restaurants and in fact, Los Limoneras restaurant in Tacoronte is where the King of Spain eats when he visits Tenerife.

There's one family in Santa Ursula who own four restaurants and they're all wonderful and ridiculously good value for money. La Bodeguita de Enfrente and Dondé Mario are where I usually go and are extremely popular, especially on Sunday lunchtimes.

Santa Ursula is also the place to try some of the local wine. This is rich vine growing country and you'll see lots of se vende vino (wine for sale) signs on garage doors and garden gates from local harvests. It's country wine which is fruity and easy to drink but be warned, it packs a punch. Too much tasting and you'll find yourself losing the battle with gravity on some of Santa Ursula's streets which are steep enough to warrant the use of ropes and crampons. On the bright side, I find that using up all those calories on street scaling creates room for some cakes and luckily, there's a re-fuelling stop on hand. Pop into La DulcerÃa La Sirena and salivate your way to the counter.

My advice? When tranquillity threatens to turn into boredom, head down the hill into Puerto for a much livelier scene and the beach. Insider Sig