Shopping in Tenerife

There is an almost infinite range of possibilities for shopping in Tenerife, plus the fact that there are no customs duties or VAT, making prices even more attractive. The shopping areas are generally close to the ports and in the tourist resorts. The area around Calle del Castillo in Santa Cruz is a good spot as well. Although the Canaries are a duty-free area, it doesn't follow that all goods are free of tax. Prices are bumped up by the local IGIC tax, which puts 4 per cent on the value of goods and is sometimes not included in window display price tags.

The Canaries are known for exquisite embroidery (bordados) and fine thread work (calados) and decorative lacework, especially doilies (rosetas). Exceptional patience, skill, delicacy and care are required of the local women who do the work. However, you should beware of street sellers and market traders offering very inferior low priced imported factory-made embroidery and claiming that is genuine local craftwork.

Canarian potters traditionally didn't use the potter's wheel, and still today on Tenerife and La Gomera highly skilled local potters working entirely by hand produce distinctive household objects and decorative items. Look out in the craft shops for their ganigos, household pots made without a potter's wheel, necklaces and other jewellery decorated with Guanche symbols.

Local Tenerife basketwork is attractive and pretty, and makes a good choice for souvenirs. Skilled wickerwork craftsmen and women can be seen working in the many craft fairs.

A range of all these locally made items can be found at the following craft stores. It may be worth shopping around, as the stock varies from place to place. Shop hours are generally Mon-Sat 9:30-1, 3-6:30.

This beautifully restored 17th-century mansion contains a craft shop, where local people can often be seen at work. As well as cheap souvenirs, a wide range of high-quality items, such as Spanish and Canarian lace and linen and traditional Canarian embroideries, are on sale. Some are made on the premises, as the Casa de los Balcones also serves as a highly regarded school of embroidery.

Located opposite La Orotava's famous Casa de los Balcones, this craft and souvenir shop has the same owners and stocks similar products.

The most important craft shop on the island, a jealous guardian of authenticity and tradition. It is run by the state-run crafts organisation, the Empress Insular de Artesania del Cabildo de Tenerife, and specialises in genuine local work. There is a craft museum attached.

Artesania Los Telares See weaving and other local crafts in production before you buy. There is a similar arienesia at Agulo, the next village about 3km away.

Choose from banana-shaped bottles of sugary cobana (banana liqueur), dolls in national costume, items made from palm leaves, or banana-leaf baskets. On a more serious level, there is a wide range of high-quality local pottery items, linen goods or lacy handmade handkerchiefs, napkins, place mats and tablecloths. Lace and embroidered goods and other items are sold not just in dedicated souvenir shops but also in garages, newsagents, and supermarkets.

Torviscas, Los Cristianos, Alcala, Garachico

(Armenime, south Tenerife) At Armenime in the south, Tenerife's Palace of Pearls, where thousands of square feet are devoted to pearls and pearl jewellery. Open 7 days a week. 09.00 till late. Free entrance.

Casa del Viño, housed in a traditional country house in the north of Tenerife. Lovingly restored this is a museum and visitors centre. Sample excellent quality wines of Tenerife. Authentic cuisine and impeccably run restaurant. Museum hours Tues - Sat. 11.00 - 20.00 Sundays 11.00 - 18.00 - Restaurant hours Tues - Sat. 13.00 - 23.30 Bar hours 11.00 - 23.30

One of the strangest specialties in the Canaries is the palm-tree 'honey' of La Gomera. Not real honey, Miel de Palma is made like maple syrup. The guarapo, or sap, of the date palm is tapped, then boiled. The result is a dark paste that is rich, tasty and sweet. Buy it where you see signs at smallholding's around the island, or in San Sebastian at the market.

La Gomera retains many ancient qualities, including the making of handmade pots without a potter's wheel. One of the villages best known for this is tiny El Cercado, high on a narrow, winding road in the west of the island. Many of its simple cottages are pottery workshops, where the pots are made from the island's striking dark red clay.

Self-caterers and others will sometimes prefer to go to a supermarket to make shopping easy. The Continente Centro Commercial not only has a huge hypermarket with a vast range of goods at reasonable prices, but there are also 150 other shops on the site. The Continente is 6km south of Santa Cruz by the Santa Maria del Mar exit from the Autopista del Sur (South Motorway). Mon-Sat 10-10