Everywhere on the island the volcano Pico del Teide looks you over the shoulder. When you get this close, you can almost see the peak reach the sky. It reaches almost four kilometres into the sky.

A lift takes us 1200 metres up, almost to the top in eight minutes. At the beginning of the journey you are warned against the trip if you have problems breathing or heartproblemes. Take this warning seriously – the air is thin, about 2/3 of the pressure at the surface of the sea, and it is cold on the top, so bring warm clothes. If you are in good health, you can go up there without problems, but you’ll soon discover, that you loose breath at the slightest effort. 

It’s not allowed to climb the last bit to the edge of the crater, as the wear and tear over time has been too much. But it’s also to hard an effort in the thin air.

Enjoy the amazing view of fx Gran Canaria, La Gomera, the surrounding caldera and the vast number of lava floods on the sides of the crater. It’s at special experience to look down into the crater, Pico del Viejo (The old peak). You get there by following the track to the left after getting of the lift.

In 2014 going for a ride on the lift costs 26 Euros (about 195 kr). It is well visited and the queue can be long, so we advice you to take off early in the morning. Notice, that the lift closes if the weather is bad or the wind is strong.

Standing on the top, you sense that Teide is a volcano and the suppressed activity. 100 years have passed since the last eruption on Tenerife, and an eruption in Pico del Teide is much longer ago, but the smell of sulphur is unmistakable. From Teide you can often see how the clouds gather at the northern part of the island, while the southern part is cloudless.