Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre
Visit the Teide Visitors’ Centre, and live the Teide Legend experience—the ideal option on Mount Teide if the cable car is closed on the day of your visit, or if you don’t plan to travel on it even if it is open.
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A visit to the Teide National Park, one of the most visited National Parks in Europe, is something unique that you should experience at least once in your life. And this not-to-be-missed visit should include a stop at the Teide Cable Car Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre, a place well equipped to offer visitors a leisure and cultural experience with a difference in a facility that comprises an exhibition hall, café, shop and sanitary area, and which embraces both legend and volcanological science, along with entertainment and gastronomy, in a setting worthy of a film
Located at the base station of the famous Teide Cable Car in Tenerife (Canary Islands), this Visitors’ Centre in the Teide National Park is an attraction in itself, and the perfect place to visit on days when the cable car is not available to take you high up. Here, you can enjoy the “Science and Legend” exhibition, an exciting adventure that tells the Guanche legend about the volcano and its last great eruption about 1,000 years ago, and contrasts it with the modern, scientific perspective on the eruption.
The exhibition draws on scientific advice and support from the Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología (MUNA), from Tenerife’s Island Council, and from the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (Involcan), an organisation attached to the Canary Islands Government.
Services
At the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre in the Teide National Park you will find (in addition to the “Science and Legend” exhibition) an official shop where you can buy a nice souvenir of your visit, along with fantastic Teide Legend merchandise; this includes the outstanding “Volcano Teide Legend” comic, illustrated by one of the Canary Islands’ most internationally famous graphic artists, and with a script and articles by one of the Islands’ most prominent cultural heritage experts.
At the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre, you will also find a welcoming café-restaurant with panoramic views of the Teide National Park, where you can enjoy a delicious snack.
The Teide Visitors’ Centre is an essential element of your visit to the volcano that dominates the island of Tenerife, as it offers a range of services and activities that go far beyond a mere trip to the summit of the volcano.
Teide Legend Experience
A legendary experience awaits you on your visit to the Teide National Park, a unique experience just for you and yours that you can enjoy at your own pace.
Teide Legend Tour
The Teide Legend Tour is a comprehensive, audio-guided tour, available for both Android and Apple devices, that will accompany you from the moment you leave your accommodation, as you drive up the volcano in your own car until you reach the cable car base station, travelling along any of the main access roads.
As soon as you set out from your holiday accommodation, you can start listening to detailed information about the natural and cultural heritage of the Teide National Park and its main points of interest, including the most spectacular viewing points and paths.
As you drive up Mount Teide, the audio-guided tour will tell you about the extraordinary biodiversity of the Teide National Park, and you will meet the characters of the epic tale of the eruption that occurred about 1,000 years ago at the summit of Mount Teide, when the volcano began to emit a thundering roar while streams of lava completely transformed the area and the mountain that was worshipped by the entire population. Gods and humans alike await you at the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre, where you can enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition.
The “Science and Legend” exhibition (included in your Teide Legend Tour ticket), which you will find at the Teide Cable Car Visitors’ Centre, is a fascinating experience for the whole family, as it presents the scientific interpretation of the eruption juxtaposed with the Guanche legend of Guayota and Achamán.
But the fun doesn’t end there! Round off your visit by calling into the Visitors’ Centre café, where you can enjoy a snack while you admire the fabulous views from the café’s large windows. A special finishing touch to a 1.5-hour tour between lava and sky.
And remember, you only need one Teide Legend Tour ticket per vehicle, because one ticket for the audio-guided tour will admit the ticket holder and the rest of their group to the “Science and Legend” exhibition.
Would you like to take away a very special memento for yourself, or to give a little piece of the Teide Legend as a gift to someone you love? Then call into our official shop, and get the comic that tells the Guanche legend of the Teide volcano, and a range of other merchandising items including mugs, bracelets, t-shirts and more.
Teide Legend Exhibition
As part of your Teide Legend Exhibition experience, you can visit the “Science and Legend” exhibition at the Teide Cable Car Visitors’ Centre, where you can enjoy a thrilling story of volcanology, history and anthropology which does not ignore the principal legend surrounding this majestic volcano: the legend of Guayota, the demon of Mount Teide. And all this takes place in a setting inspired by a lava tube.
The permanent “Science and Legend” exhibition at the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre explains how the island’s first inhabitants, the Guanches, used the resources provided by the Teide volcano. It includes a replica of a Guanche mummy as well as re-enacts the eruption that formed the peak of Mount Teide a thousand years ago.
Using visual displays, video reproductions and a short film, the scientifically verified data about the eruption is shown alongside the legend about the formation of the peak that we now know as the summit of Mount Teide.
You will meet the characters of the epic tale of the eruption that occurred about 1,000 years ago at the summit of Mount Teide, when the volcano began to emit a thundering roar while streams of lava completely transformed the area and the mountain that was worshipped by the entire population.
The exhibition’s star characters include the young Guanche Tassat, the sun goddess Magec, the demon Guayota, the wizard Guañameñe, and the guardian and protector of the Guanches, Achamán.
In an educational and entertaining experience, the gods and the Guanches both put forward their version of the events that resulted in the last great eruption of Mount Teide a thousand years ago, in contrast to the scientific explanation of the various stages of the eruption.
The whole is related and explained on the basis of rigorous data, to add solid knowledge to the magic of the mythical battle between good and evil that marked one of the most important moments in the history of the Canary Archipelago.
Admission to the exhibition is free for children up to the age of 13, and you can also book combined tickets to reserve your copy of the comic in advance, and/or a reviving snack package in the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre café-restaurant. So what are you waiting for?
Don’t forget: if you are planning to use the cable car, entry to the exhibition is included free with your tickets, so you won’t need to book Teide Legend Exhibition tickets as well.
Official shop
Once you have discovered all the secrets of the volcano, you will find the Teide Visitors’ Centre official shop at the exit of the “Science and Legend” exhibition.
This is a place that those who love souvenirs won’t want to miss, where you can find exclusive items related to the legend of the volcano.
Located at the exit of the exhibition hall, just before the café-restaurant, this shop offers a wide selection of items inspired by the legend of Guayota, along with other interesting items related to Mount Teide and for hiking enthusiasts.
There is a plethora of mugs, caps, magnets, bracelets and the full-colour “Volcano Teide Legend” Comic, which tells the gripping story of Mount Teide’s last great eruption from the point of view of the legend, as well as books, decorative objects and clothing.
Whether you need to give someone a gift, or buy something to keep for yourself as a memento of your visit, you will find it at the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre’s official shop.
Dining service
Before you leave the Teide Cable Car Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre in the National Park, we strongly recommend you stop off at the café-restaurant, situated right at the exit of the official shop.
It’s the perfect way to round off your visit to the volcano.
Here you can fill up on anything from mouthwatering dishes prepared with local products to a delicious roll, and a soft drink or a coffee while you enjoy the amazing, panoramic views of the Teide National Park. The perfect spot to relax and recharge your batteries after your visit to the exhibition.
Get ready to savour the island in Spain’s highest restaurant.
Opening times
Apart from Christmas Day, the Teide Cable Car Visitors’ Centre is open every day of the year—including the days when the cable car is not operational due to weather conditions.
The Teide National Park Visitors’ Centre’s opening hours are the same as those of the Cable Car facilities, and can vary depending on seasons and holidays. So we recommend you check the regularly updated opening hours here.
Location
The Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre is located at the same site as the Teide Cable Car base station, at km 43 of the TF-21. It opens regardless of whether the cable car is operational or not.
So we encourage everyone visiting the Teide National Park to call into the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre to enjoy a legendary experience and a snack in Spain’s highest restaurant.
If you’re travelling by car, you can easily reach this Visitors’ Centre on Mount Teide from different parts of the island of Tenerife, as the road connections are excellent. You also have the option of making the trip on public transport. For further information, view the article on how to get to Mount Teide on public transport.
And if you’d prefer to visit Mount Teide and the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre on an organised excursion, you can always book a Teide Tour, available every day (with or without the cable car option) with pick-up points in various parts of the island. The excursion also includes free admission to the “Science and Legend” exhibition at the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre.
Price
Access to the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre shop and café is free, apart from admission to the “Science and Legend” exhibition (which is free for children under the age of 13). And you can exchange the cost of your adult ticket for a discount in the official shop or the café-restaurant.
You can check the cost of admission to the exhibition and the different combined packages with the shop or café, and buy Teide Legend tickets here.
Other Visitors’ Centres on Mount Teide
Before or after your visit to the Teide Cable Car Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre, don’t forget to stop off at these other important Visitors’ Centres that are certain to enrich your trip to the National Park:
- The Cañada Blanca Visitors’ Centre
- The El Portillo Visitors’ Centre
- The Telesforo Bravo Visitors’ Centre
Other interesting activities
- Everything you need to know if you want to visit Mount Teide with the cable car: Obtain detailed information on how to visit Mount Teide and use the cable car.
- What to do if the Teide Cable Car is closed: Find out what your options are if the cable car is not operational.
- How to climb Mount Teide without a permit?: Find out how to enjoy Mount Teide if you haven’t managed to obtain your permit to access the crater in time for your visit.
- Teide Legend Exhibition Experience: Find out about the Guanche legend of the volcano and visit the Teide Legend Visitors’ Centre.
- Teide Legend Tour Experience: Explore the Teide National Park independently with the comprehensive audio-guided tour available for Android and Apple devices, and visit the “Science and Legend” exhibition in our Mount Teide Visitors’ Centre.
- How to visit Mount Teide?: All you need to know in preparation for your visit to Mount Teide.
