Description: We had read a lot about Masca - Tenerife's Shangri La, nestled high up in the mountains. Despite everything you read, it still is a real thrill to visit this very special and beautiful place on the island.

We headed for Santiago del Teide - watch out for the little trail of white crosses, just outside the town. They lead all the way up the slopes to an altar at the top. Watch out for the left-hand turn in Santiago del Teide signposted "Masca" and "Buena Vista del Norte." This is the famous, or infamous road to Masca.

Masca is a tiny hamlet right in the Teno Mountains. It was virtually undiscovered until the road from Santiago del Teide to Buenavista was built in the 1970's. Before this road, a track down the cliff was the only access to the village. Masca was then, unsurprisingly, a stronghold of the Guanche - the original inhabitants of the island. They resisted from here, the invasion of the Spanish in 1496.

Masca is now the second most visited spot on the island after Mount Teide. We had read so much about the "white knuckle ride" you would experience driving along the road to Masca. I did feel slightly anxious and fairly apprehensive, but my fears were unfounded. Yes, the road is extremely steep and has extremely sharp hairpin bends; yes it does loop back on itself and yes it is at times narrow. Everybody though, seems to take it very slowly and carefully. We did not meet any oncoming traffic and the drive was a lot of fun.

Definitely stop at the Cherfe viewpoint. You can see Santiago del Teide from here, but better than that, you get the first glimpses of Masca. You also see the road and the hairpin bends laid out in front of you - a spectacular sight.

The drive down the road, as I said was really fun and a fantastic experience. We came to Masca almost before we realised. There are parking spaces at the side of the road, take the first one you see - if you carry on down the hill, it is very hard to get back up again to park! There were ticket machines to pay for the parking, but all of these were broken.

We sat on the wall, overlooking Masca and just drank in the stunning views. It is a tiny place and it seemed like the buildings were literally clinging to the edge of the mountain. The path down into Masca is so steep and also cobbled. Make sure you are wearing sensible shoes - even with these it is slippery and not easy to navigate.

The few houses are beautiful. They are wonderful examples of rural architecture. They are made from volcanic rock, the tiled roofs are held up by bamboo canes which apparently helped to keep mice and lizards outside the houses.

We spent about half an hour in Masca. We had a look in the few shops, sat on the terrace of a nice cafe and sipped freshly squeezed orange juice, while gazing over the mountains. When we got there, it was dull and overcast. The clouds shifted by the time we arrived at the cafe, but had formed again before we finished our drinks, and we just missed a huge rainshower - torrential rain. The weather seemed to change exceptionally quickly - take your photos while you can, in 5 minutes, quite unexpectedly, the whole mountains can be obscured.

We visited Masca on a Thursday at about 11am. I had read that you should avoid 11am to 3pm because the jeep safaris descend on the area and that Fridays were the best day due to no tour buses then. However, although there were some people around, it was not at all crowded and very pleasant.Close