Culture in Tenerife
Enjoy the island's cultural offerings with the help of fantastic museums and exhibitions.
Get to know the Art and Culture in Tenerife
If you want to see and experience the culture in Tenerife during your holiday, explore the island: It is full of museums and exhibitions to enjoy.
Whichever hotel you decide to spend your stay in, you will have museums or exhibitions in the same town where you are staying or very close to it, although it is true that places such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife or La Laguna have the largest volume of these centers.
Come and learn about the wide variety of art and culture that Tenerife is home to.
We have museums and exhibitions for all tastes. Art exhibitions in Santa Cruz, walks through traditional houses in the historic centre of La Laguna, the Museum of Science and the Cosmos, the Auditorium of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, The Pyramids of Güímar…
Most of these museums are open 7 days a week, but some close on Sundays or may be closed for holidays or local holidays. If you want to be sure of the schedules, contact us and we will clarify your concerns.
Some of these exhibitions are outdoors such as in the Pyramids of Güímar or walks through traditional houses. Check the weather forecast before you go so you can make the most of your visit.
Exhibitions are somewhat quicker to visit than museums. Most museums are designed for you to spend 2 or 3 hours inside, while exhibitions are usually a little smaller, so they will take up less time.
Virtually all museums have paid admission, except for certain specific days. Many of the exhibitions are free. If you have doubts about whether or not you will have to pay for an entrance ticket, contact us. We are here to help you!
What are the museums in Tenerife?
If you want to learn about the history and culture in Tenerife, stop by the Guanche Museum in Icod de Los Vinos. The Guanches were the aborigines who inhabited the islands before the conquest of the Spaniards and, to this day, part of their culture is still preserved in museums and exhibitions. In all the Canary Islands there are, frozen in time, pieces of the prehistory of each island.
For a technological insight, visit the Museum of Science and The Cosmos. Open every day of the week, it will explain all kinds of curious facts about science and how the constants of the universe work. They even offer a projection in the indoor planetarium for you to learn new things about the cosmos.
Did you know that there are mummies in the Museum of Nature and Man? This museum has a large number of exhibitions on the archaeological history of the island, its species of fauna and flora, as well as a wide variety of ancient and recent discoveries that you will observe through archaeological remains, artifacts and representations of the customs of the Guanches. Don’t miss the impressive and well-preserved mummies!
A wonderful and different museum because it is partially open-air is that of the Pyramids of Güímar. It has indoor exhibits dedicated to the history of these mysterious monuments as well as the fantastic voyages in the name of science of ships such as the RA I and RA II. You will walk through a garden dedicated to poisonous species, an auditorium where documentary screenings are held on the different topics dealt with by the museum and through a multitude of outdoor areas where you can walk, see the pyramids, and relax in the sun or shade while you spend the day.
And the cultural exhibition centres in Tenerife?
The exhibitions are smaller and more varied but because many of them are constantly changing, we can only confirm their location, so here is a lightning round of different exhibition centres by location.
In Santa Cruz de Tenerife you have: Espacio Iriarte Galeria, on Avenida Tres de Mayo nº28, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (known as the TEA) on Avenida de San Sebastián nº8, Centro de Arte la Recova, in Plaza de la Madera, Círculo de Bellas Artes de Tenerife, Agencia de Tránsitos Culturales or ATC (don’t confuse the name, is an exhibition), Leyendecker Gallery, at Rambla nº86, Espacio Cultural El Tanque and Caja Canarias Cultural Space.
If you travel by taxi or really want to walk, you can see a large part of these exhibition centers in one day. All the exhibitions they house are unique and constantly change throughout the year, so if you come to Tenerife more than once, don’t leave them aside, surely when you return the exhibitions inside will be totally different.
In La Laguna: La Cámara Espacio Fotográfico, in Calle Juan de Vera nº71, Galería de Arte Stunt, in Calle Bencomo nº7, Patio de Arte Reginart, in Calle Herradores nº62, Tienda y Sala de Arte Bronzo, in Calle Núñez de la Peña nº19, Galería de Arte Artizar, in Calle San Agustín 63, Convento San Agustín (in Calle San Agustín, Where else?). The convent has religious exhibitions and interior courtyards.
Admission to the exhibitions is usually free, and even in some of them, if you wish, you can buy the different works of art that catch your eye. Taking photos is usually allowed unless a sign or center staff says otherwise.
"Museums are places where time becomes space."
To conclude...
What do you think of our windows on culture in Tenerife? We hope you liked them. If you would like to get tickets for any museum or exhibition, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Most of the exhibitions mentioned in the previous section open around 9:00 or 10:00 am in the morning, close at 1:00 pm or 1:30 pm to reopen at 5:00 pm until 8:00 or 9:00 pm. But it is very important to confirm the opening hours!
Some are closed on Saturdays, Sundays or both, others on Mondays or an alternative day of the week… To find out what the opening hours of the exhibitions you want to visit are, do not hesitate to contact us and we will clarify all the doubts you may have.
Remember that some museums have offers for families and children. Even some places such as the Museum of Science and The Cosmos have a day of the week when admission is free.
And if closed spaces are not your thing and you dare to try the free tours of the islands, you may be interested to know that you have options in multiple municipalities on the island.
Be amazed by the art and culture in Tenerife on your next holiday!