How to holiday with Mum and Dad without making the entire trip about their age
Taking your parents to Tenerife can be one of those holidays you remember for years.
Perhaps they used to organise the family holidays and now the roles have reversed. Perhaps they already know Tenerife better than you do. Or perhaps this is the first time you’ve travelled together since you were a child.
Whatever the circumstances, the trick is not to turn the holiday into a week-long exercise in looking after Mum and Dad. Plan around everyone’s needs and Tenerife can work remarkably well for different generations travelling together.
Start by asking what your parents actually want
This sounds obvious, but adult children sometimes start planning around what they think their parents can manage rather than what their parents would actually enjoy.
- 🌴 Do they want quiet days around the hotel?
- 🍽 Are restaurants an important part of the holiday?
- 🚗 Do they want to explore the island?
- 🌊 Would they rather spend most days beside the sea?
Some people in their seventies are considerably more adventurous than their children. Others simply want sunshine, a comfortable hotel and somewhere pleasant for an evening meal.
Age alone tells you surprisingly little.
Choose a resort that gives everyone some independence
A good family holiday does not require everyone to remain together from breakfast until bedtime.
This is one reason established southern resorts such as Los Cristianos and parts of Costa Adeje can work particularly well. They combine beaches, restaurants, cafés and tourist services within relatively concentrated areas. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
- ☕ Your parents can go for coffee without needing a lift
- 🏖 Different generations can spend the morning doing different things
- 🍽 Everyone can meet again for lunch or dinner
- 🚕 Taxis provide an easy fallback when someone has had enough walking
Our guide to Los Cristianos for older travellers explains why this kind of resort can work so well.
Don’t automatically book the biggest villa you can find
A villa sounds ideal for a family holiday: plenty of bedrooms, a private pool and everyone under one roof.
But think about how the holiday will actually work.
- 🚗 Will every outing require someone to drive?
- ⛰ Is the villa halfway up a hillside?
- 🍽 Can your parents walk to restaurants independently?
- 🏊 Does the pool have easy steps or only a ladder?
Sometimes two hotel rooms in an excellent location provide far more independence than a spectacular villa several kilometres inland.
Don’t fill every day
This is probably one of the easiest ways to ruin a multi-generational Tenerife holiday.
Teide on Monday. Whale watching Tuesday. La Laguna Wednesday. A full island tour Thursday. By Friday, nobody wants to see Tenerife ever again.
Instead, leave genuine gaps in the itinerary.
- ☀ One excursion day
- 🌴 One completely unplanned day
- 🍽 A leisurely lunch somewhere different
- 😴 An afternoon when everyone does their own thing
Tenerife offers everything from beaches and coastal restaurants to boat trips, volcanic landscapes and historic towns, so there is no shortage of things to do. You simply don’t need to do all of them on the same holiday. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
Our guide to easy days out in South Tenerife has some deliberately less exhausting ideas.
Be realistic about walking
Your parents may walk perfectly well at home but still find themselves surprisingly tired in Tenerife.
- ☀ Warm weather changes how walking feels
- ⛰ Tenerife is a volcanic island and many areas are hilly
- 🏨 Large hotels can involve considerable internal walking
- 🚶 Promenade distances quickly add up
This does not mean treating your parents as though they are fragile. It simply means recognising that a taxi home can sometimes be a much better decision than another 25-minute walk.
Our article on how much walking a Tenerife holiday can involve is useful before you travel.
Choose a hotel that works for your parents as well as you
The rooftop bar may look fantastic on Instagram, but your parents might be rather more interested in whether the lift works and how far breakfast is from their room.
- 🛗 Reliable lift access
- 🚿 Sensible bathrooms
- 🍽 Restaurants within easy reach
- 📍 A convenient resort location
- 🚕 Straightforward taxi access
Our guide to choosing a Tenerife hotel for older travellers covers the practical questions worth asking.
Plan some things together — and some things separately
This is where multi-generational holidays often become much more enjoyable.
You might spend the morning together, then split up for the afternoon. One part of the family might head to Siam Park while Mum and Dad have lunch beside the sea. Everyone meets again for dinner.
- 👨👩👧👦 Shared experiences still feel special
- 🌴 Nobody has to compromise every day
- ☕ Your parents retain their independence
- 😴 Everyone gets occasional breathing space
Tenerife lends itself particularly well to this because its main tourist areas offer activities for very different ages and holiday styles. Official tourism guidance specifically highlights Adeje and Arona for their combination of beaches, pedestrian areas, leisure and tourist infrastructure suitable for different family travel rhythms. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
Think carefully about the big excursion
Most families will want at least one day when everyone heads out together.
That might be Teide, whale watching, a scenic drive or a trip to another part of the island.
- 🕐 Check how long the day actually lasts
- 🚶 Ask how much walking is involved
- 🚤 Check boarding arrangements for boat trips
- ☕ Make sure there are sensible opportunities to stop
A shorter excursion that everyone enjoys usually produces better memories than an ambitious 11-hour expedition that leaves half the family exhausted.
Let Mum and Dad pay for dinner occasionally
This one has nothing to do with accessibility, but it matters.
When adult children organise a holiday for older parents, it can be very easy to slip unconsciously into a carer-and-dependent relationship.
Your parents are still your parents.
- 🍽 Let them choose the restaurant sometimes
- ☕ Let them disappear for coffee on their own
- 🛍 Don’t supervise every outing unnecessarily
- 🌴 Give everyone some space
The aim is a family holiday, not an escorted tour.
Have a quiet backup plan
At the same time, sensible preparation means thinking about what you would do if circumstances changed.
- 💊 Know where essential medication is kept
- 📄 Have travel insurance details available
- 📞 Keep useful contact numbers accessible
- 🏥 Know what to do if someone becomes unwell
Our guide to what to do if an elderly relative becomes unwell in Tenerife is worth reading before the holiday rather than during an emergency.
You don’t necessarily have to provide all the support yourself
If one parent already needs some help at home, families sometimes assume they must provide all of that support throughout the holiday.
That can quickly change the nature of the trip for everyone.
- 🤝 Occasional companionship can provide a break
- 🚶 Someone can accompany a parent on an outing
- 🌴 Support can be arranged for part of a day
- 🧘 Family members can have some time to themselves
Our guide to arranging help for an elderly relative while you go out explains how occasional support can fit into a normal family holiday.
Don’t make age the theme of the holiday
Perhaps the most important point is that travelling with older parents does not have to become an “elderly holiday”.
You are still going to Tenerife.
Have lunch beside the Atlantic. Order another bottle of wine. Take the boat trip. Sit outside until sunset. Find a restaurant everyone loves and go back three nights later.
The planning simply creates the conditions that allow everyone to enjoy those things.
The bottom line
Tenerife can work exceptionally well for holidays with older parents because different generations do not need to want exactly the same thing.
Choose a convenient resort, resist the temptation to over-plan, allow everyone some independence and build the holiday around what your family actually enjoys.
And if Mum and Dad decide they’d rather spend the afternoon drinking coffee beside the promenade while you climb a volcano, that may well be evidence that you’ve planned the holiday properly.
For general ideas about family activities and places to visit around the island, see:
Tenerife’s official tourism website.
If your parents would benefit from occasional assistance while you are here, you can explore our companionship services, care and support services, request care or get in touch with Tenerife Carers.