Stargazing in Las Cañadas del Teide

Starlight Tourism destination with an abundance of stars

Inside the Teide National Park in Las Cañadas in Tenerife you will find an extraordinary natural platform from where you can contemplate the skies. The area is known as a Starlight Tourist Destination, and you can observe constellations and stars from almost any part of the park. It is also possible to view the stars at a professional level using the equipment of the IAC, the Canarian Institute of Astrophysics. Easy to get to by road, visitors can find their own viewpoint or use one of the official ones with parking alongside. There are toilets and a restaurant at the Parador Nacional (part of a national string of tourist hotels) and El Portillo is also close by.

A natural balcony for admiring the constellations

At over 2,700 metres above sea level, on clear moonless nights there is a spectacular star display at any time of the year. If you are here in August you shouldn’t miss the shooting meteor showers of the Perseids and at nightfall towards the north-east you can see the shining star of Vega, the main star of the Lyra constellation. Just beside Vega is Cygnus (also known as the Northern Cross) passing through the Milky Way.