Teide Star Safari: Sunset, Stars and an Optional Dinner at 2,130 m

The Star Safari runs from hotel pickup to the end of the night. The dinner up at 7 Cañadas is optional, booked as an extra rather than included in the fare. The coach is air-conditioned and collects across South Tenerife. The drive is the first part of the tour rather than dead time: the guide covers the volcanic history of the park, the plants and animals that manage to live in it, and the legends that came before either. Commentary on the coach is in English. Pick-up times move through the year, and yours is confirmed the day before, or on the morning of the tour for Tuesday departures. Restaurante 7 Cañadas sits inside Teide National Park at 2,130 metres, in La Orotava. Add the dinner and it is three Canarian courses with a welcome drink, bread, water and wine, eaten with the volcanic plain outside the window. Sunset comes above the sea of clouds, with a glass of cava or orange juice included and Teide's shadow taking the sun. Spain's highest peak, 3,718 metres. Then the sky. The guides work with powerful telescopes and laser pointers: planets, constellations, distant galaxies, with the mythology and the science in the same sentence. The stargazing is run in English, Spanish or French. Astrophotography is part of the night, and the photographs and the sunset time-lapse come with the tour. Warm coats are provided if you need them. After that the coach goes straight back to the hotels.