If there’s one place where you can ALWAYS ride a motorcycle in great weather, it’s the Canary Islands. I’ve visited twice (January and March 2023) and explored Gran Canaria and Tenerife with the motorcycles from Canary Ride. A great getaway from the dark, cold and wet days in The Netherlands and there’s more islands to explore.

Want to ride on the Canary Islands too? If you use my discount code you get 5% off your rental price with Canary Ride. Use LNRMOTO to apply this to your reservation. 

* Bike ridden: Ducati DesertX
** This trip can also be seen as a series on my YouTube channel, scroll down to start watching.

Comparing Tenerife with Gran Canaria is the first thing I did while arriving and riding around. Where Gran Canaria seems to have many microclimates, Tenerife is more of the same overall at first glance. But don’t mistake that as it being boring or not exciting enough. The coastline is vivid and rough and hides many picturesque roads. Weather is pretty much the same all year round, with an average 20ºC, not too shabby! The northern part of the island is more likely to have some rain and clouds than the south. See, microclimates are a thing here too.

I’ve ridden around the entire island on “my” DesertX, a bike I feel highly comfortable on and was happy to see in the rental fleet of Canary Ride. The bigger ADV motorcycles are more at home on this island I think, because of the longer stretches of road. Nevertheless, you’ll have heaps of fun riding ANY motorcycle here.

In the Gran Canaria story I divided the island in an upper and lower part to pay attention to some places that you should definitely not miss. I’ll do the same here but cut it into a west, mid and east section.

Masca hides one of the most spectacular roads on the entire island both in views and surface. The TF-436 has too much curves to count, it’s best to just go with the flow and let the road take you down, or up, or down again. It’s pretty inviting to stick around here for hours as you’ll discover new things after every corner. It is truly the epitome of natural beauty in the Canary Islands. Make sure not to miss the famous rock formation in the village itself. You can’t really overlook it.

A bit less accessible is the TF-445 road. Be cautious when it is allowed to ride up this road, as it is mainly closed to traffic. I was there just in time in the morning and I’m so happy I got lucky. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for the world! The steep drop gave me some serious goosebumps as I watched the crystal blue water hit the rocky cliffs below.

When you finally hit the straight part of the TF-445 in the end, you can spot a colorful lighthouse amongst dark natural tones. Mirador Punta de Teno is truly something else. Make sure to walk around for a bit and be careful at the steep precipices. Small mistakes can have large consequences.

This is probably the highlight (quite literally) of the entire island: El Teide. The white peak is called Pico del Teide and has a height of a staggering 3718 meters above sea level. It’s the highest point in the Canary Islands AND in all of Spain. And you can go all the way up, which I did and what I consider a once-in-a-lifetime-experience. Woah, those views were impeccable! Book your tickets beforehand and enjoy looking down on the other islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Make sure to pack sunscreen and warm clothing though, as it was freezing when I went up in March.

The largest solar observatory in the world is located in Tenerife, how’s that for a fun fact! Teide Observatory has been in operation since January 1990 (my birth month and year). School and group visits here are organized to spread knowlegde and the Teide Observatory has therefor converted an empty telescope dome into an outreach centre. As it being one of the darker places on earth, I desperately wanted to shoot the starry sky during my stay, but sadly it was too cloudy every night.

I like to call Mirador La Tarta the lava cake. Different kind of eruptions have causes this colorful combination of volcanic texture with layers of basalt and white pumis over time and it’s such a weird and spacey thing to see. With clear skies you can spot the island La Palma in the distance while on the lookout.

The TF-21 is the main road around the volcano, which is almost impossible to miss, but just make sure you don’t. It not only offers magical views on the Teide, but you’re able to walk through a moon landscape in Parque Nacional del Teide. Getting hungry? No worries, Restaurante Papillon is more than happy to serve you the most delicious regional dishes while you glance at your parked bike.

What’s the first thing that comes into mind when I say Chinamada? Definitely not made in China, but for sure a less visited place on the island as far as I know. The road towards this deadend is already fantastic, but views here have silenced me. It was quite damped and serene and walking around on the tip of the viewpoint with literally no one around was truly special. It started to drizzle, which only added to the atmosphere.

One of the first viewpoints I visited was Mirador de Chipeque. Seeing the Teide so clearly in the distance filled me with excitement. This was a great appetizer for what was waiting for me in the days following. There are countless viewpoints and it would be impossible to visit all, some you run into by accident and some because of, well, lists like this.

A local guide is the best way to discover new places and I was lucky Jennifer tagged along for a day. She manages the Gran Canaria shop of Canary Ride. Playa de Benijo is one of the more remote beaches in Tenerife, where again the road leading up to it is breathtaking. Jennifer showed me this beautiful bit of coastline and amongst many things we drank some coffee in one of the many tiny and adorable villages.

Bajamar is a small, quiet town on the north coast of Tenerife, not far from Benijo and on the western edge of the Anaga Mountains. One of the landmarks in the area here is Faro de Bajamar. If you decide to stop here, just know there is a possibility you get very wet, as the waves will come smashing over the boulevard. A spectacular sighting and even quite fun to dodge the waves when you see them rolling in.

When Jennifer pointed out the epic hairpins on the TF-134 my jaw dropped. How I wish I had a drone back then! Nearby you can also find the TF-12, of which I have zero pictures, simply because the road was TOO GOOD to stop!

I discovered Costa de El Sauzal by accident, because I spotted a lot of hairpins on my satnav and when I quickly checked it on Maps I knew I had to make it down there. I might’ve regret the walk down, because going back up was at a pretty sharp angle. Character building at its finest and would do it again for these views!