You will smell La Laguna before you see it: woodsmoke on the breeze, damp eucalyptus from the hills, the green coolness that the south of the island simply does not have. San Cristobal de La Laguna sits up on a misty plateau in the north, and the first thing it asks of you is to slow down and get out of the car. The historic centre is pedestrianised, so the realism of this day trip starts with parking. Do that part right and the rest is pure pleasure: a UNESCO old town in the morning, vineyards and a second old town in the afternoon, and some of the best food on Tenerife in between.

Why La Laguna is worth the drive

San Cristobal de La Laguna was the first capital of Tenerife, founded at the end of the fifteenth century, and it stayed the island capital until Santa Cruz took the title. What makes it a UNESCO World Heritage Site is not a single monument but the whole plan: La Laguna was laid out as the first unfortified colonial town, a deliberate grid of straight streets and open squares. That blueprint travelled across the Atlantic and became the model for dozens of colonial cities in the Americas. Walking it today, you are reading an original copy of an idea that shaped half a hemisphere.

It is also a living university town, not a museum. The Universidad de La Laguna fills the streets with students, which means the cafe culture is genuine, the bars stay busy on weeknights, and the colourful canarian mansions are still lived in and worked in rather than roped off. You get heritage and a pulse in the same square.

The route and where to park

From the south resorts, La Laguna is about 60 to 75 minutes up the TF-1 and then the TF-5 motorway. From Santa Cruz it is barely fifteen minutes. The golden rule is the same for everyone: do not try to drive into the old town. The historic core is pedestrianised and the surrounding streets are a tangle of one-ways designed to keep you out.

Park once and walk everything. The easiest options are the car parks on the edge of the centre, with the Padre Anchieta underground car park and the Las Quinteras car park both within a couple of minutes of the cathedral. A compact car makes this part painless, because the ramps and bays in these garages are tight. Once you are parked, the entire old town is a flat, walkable grid, which is the whole point of how it was built.

  • Aim to arrive before 11am on a weekday for the easiest parking and the quietest streets.
  • Use the park-and-walk garages on the ring, not the street; the centre is pedestrian-only and tow-happy.
  • Keep coins or a card for the barrier; most central car parks are pay-on-exit.
  • If you are combining the north, fill the tank in La Laguna before heading west, since stations thin out in the hills.

What to see in the old town

Start at the Catedral de La Laguna, the city cathedral, then walk five minutes to the Iglesia de la Concepcion, whose stone bell tower is the icon of the skyline. You can usually climb the tower, and the view over the tiled roofs and the green Aguere valley is the photo you came for. Between the two churches runs Calle San Agustin, the grandest street, lined with the colourful canarian mansions that give La Laguna its character: deep ochre, indigo and oxblood facades, heavy wooden doors, and behind them the hidden patios with carved balconies and a well in the middle.

Slow it down with a coffee

This is a university town, so the right move is to claim a table on Plaza del Adelantado or one of the side streets, order a barraquito (the layered Canarian coffee with condensed milk and a twist of lemon), and watch the town go by. Many of the mansions now hide courtyard cafes and small museums, including the Casa Lercaro, so wander in through the open doors and look up at the patios. There is no rush; that is the entire spirit of the place.

Out into the green north

La Laguna pairs naturally with the rest of the north, and a compact car makes the hop effortless. Head west on the TF-5 and the landscape turns to terraced vineyards and laurel-misted hills. Your first stop is Tacoronte, the heart of the oldest wine region on the island; the volcanic-soil reds and whites here carry their own protected designation, and the roadside bodegas pour them with local cheese for a few euros.

Continue to La Orotava, the other great northern old town, draped over a hillside above the Atlantic. Its showpiece is the Casa de los Balcones, a sixteenth-century mansion with intricately carved wooden balconies, and the steep cobbled lanes reward the same park-once-and-walk approach as La Laguna. From there it is a short drop down to Puerto de la Cruz, the original tourist town of Tenerife, where you can swim in the Lago Martianez sea pools, eat fresh fish on the harbour, and watch the surf hammer the black volcanic coast. On the way back, the misty hills and the Mercedes forest above La Laguna make a moody finish to the day.

If you have the appetite for more northern driving, this region connects beautifully to two of our favourite routes: the laurel jungle of the Anaga forest road trip just east of La Laguna, and the cliffside drama of the Masca gorge drive further west.

Where to eat

The north eats well and cheaply. In La Laguna, the streets around the old centre are full of student-priced tapas and the markets do excellent local produce, so look for guachinches, the seasonal family eateries that serve home cooking with their own wine. Out in the country between Tacoronte and La Orotava, the guachinches are the real thing: a handwritten menu of grilled meat, wrinkled potatoes with mojo, and a jug of last year’s vintage. Down in Puerto de la Cruz, go for fresh fish and seafood on the old harbour. Wherever you stop, ask for papas arrugadas with mojo rojo and mojo verde, and a glass of the local tinto.

Best time to go

La Laguna sits high and often catches cloud, so it is cooler and damper than the south; that is its charm, not a flaw. A weekday morning gives you the easiest parking and the most local feel, with the town waking up rather than packed. Weekends are livelier and busier, especially Saturday mornings around the markets. Bring a light layer even in summer, since the plateau can be ten degrees cooler than the coast, and treat any low cloud as part of the experience: the mist on the mansions and the forest is exactly why the north looks like nowhere else on the island.

Which car for this day

This is a city-plus-north day, not a roof-down beach run, so the ideal car is small, easy to park and economical. A compact hatchback slips into the tight underground garages of La Laguna and La Orotava, and sips fuel on the long motorway stretches between stops. Browse the economy range for the easiest park-and-walk option, or step up to an electric or hybrid model that runs near-silent and clean through the historic centres and barely touches a drop on the hills.

If you would rather save the open-top for a coastal day, keep a convertible for the south and pick a compact for this northern loop. Either way, you can compare the whole fleet in one place and choose by what your day actually needs.

How to get the car

Here is where Mandry Cabrio makes the day simple. We deliver your car straight to the airport or your hotel, so you can start the loop the moment you land or step out of reception, with no shuttle and no detour to a rental desk. Nothing is charged to your card when you book and you pay on pickup, not weeks in advance. If anything comes up on the road, our team is one WhatsApp message away.

Ready to explore the UNESCO north? Reserve your compact or hybrid now, have it delivered to your airport or hotel, and pay only when you pick it up. Browse the full fleet and book in minutes.