Music show or Teide at sunset?

The short answer

The two evenings answer different questions. The music show is for people who want to sit down in an auditorium, stay warm and watch a cast move through the history of music. The Teide trip is for people who want an outdoor evening on a volcano, with a guided sunset and a night sky. Neither replaces the other. If you only have one free evening, pick by weather tolerance and by who is travelling, using the sections below. A useful test is to ask what you want to remember afterwards: a cast and a stage, or a mountain and a sky.

The show in a paragraph

The History music show is a stage production at the Pirámide de Arona in Playa de las Américas. Turismo de Tenerife says thirty performers from as many as fifteen countries take part, with classic and contemporary choreography, film scores and Broadway songs. The booking page lists it at two and a half hours, rates it 4.7 from 983 reviews and says all ages can attend. The ticket carries no food or drink, and the show does not run every night.

Read next: History music show: worth it?

The Teide trip in a paragraph

The booking page lists a guided group tour for sunset and stargazing in Teide National Park, rated 4.7 from about 3,780 reviews and listed at three to five hours. Wikipedia says the park is centred on Mount Teide, the highest mountain in Spain, and that UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 2007. Its booking page gives the meeting point and what is included, so read it before you choose; this guide covers only the length and the rating. Wikipedia adds that Teide is the most visited national park in Spain, so expect company at the best viewpoints.

The volcano in brief

Wikipedia calls Teide the highest mountain in Spain, the highest volcano in the Atlantic Ocean islands and, measured from the ocean floor, the third highest volcano in the world. It says the Guanches, the island's first inhabitants, held it to be a place of worship and believed it was the gate to hell, and that Teide is the most visited national park in Spain. That history is part of what a guided evening there can offer beyond the view.

Indoors against outdoors

This is the clearest difference. The show is under a roof, seated and shielded from wind, whatever the weather does. The Teide trip is outdoors on a mountain, and mountain weather can change. If cloud covers the sky, a stargazing evening loses its main point, while the show runs on regardless. If you are travelling with older relatives who dislike cold or uneven ground, that alone may settle it.

How long each evening is

The show is listed at two and a half hours, in the resort you are probably staying in. The Teide tour is listed at three to five hours, and Wikipedia notes that coach trips run through the park from the tourist towns of the south, so the evening is shaped around the drive as well as the sunset. Neither listing gives times here: the voucher and the calendar give the start time. If you have an early start next morning, that is worth weighing.

Clear skies, and cloud

Wikipedia says the Izaña Observatory, at 2,371 metres, registers almost 3,500 sunshine hours a year and that most summer days have completely clear skies. That makes the mountain a good bet for a stargazing evening in summer. It is not a guarantee: skies change by season and by day, and a tour can only promise the trip, not the sky. Check the forecast you trust, and read the booking page for what happens if conditions are poor.

Cold and altitude

Wikipedia says Arona has temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 degrees Celsius, while the Izaña Observatory, at 2,371 metres on the volcano, records an annual average of 10.2 degrees. The coast and the mountain are different climates, and a night at altitude is much cooler than a night in Playa de las Américas. Bring warm layers for Teide, and treat the show as the choice for anyone who wants an evening in light clothes. Warm clothing, closed shoes and a charged phone are sensible for any night spent outdoors on a mountain, and the tour's booking page says what to bring.

The night sky

Turismo de Tenerife says the park was listed as a Starlight Tourism Destination by the Starlight Foundation in 2014 and is also a Starlight Reserve. It adds that, alongside Chile and Hawaii, the Canary Islands are one of three best places on Earth to observe the night sky. The Teide Observatory, run by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias since 1964, sits on the mountain. Summer brings the Milky Way, the same page says, and the Perseids and Geminids come in August and December.

What the show gives that the sky cannot

The show gives you a seat, a roof and a fixed programme in a known place near your hotel. It does not depend on cloud, wind or a cold car park. The cast, costumes and music are the same whether the weather is bright or poor. For a party that includes grandparents, toddlers or anyone who does not enjoy being outdoors in the dark, that predictability is the whole attraction.

What the sky gives that the show cannot

The Teide trip gives you scale. A volcano at sunset, a clear sky afterwards and the Teide Observatory on the same mountain are things no auditorium can offer. Turismo de Tenerife puts the Canary Islands among the three best places on Earth to observe the night sky. If what you want from a holiday is landscape and a sense of space, an evening in a seat will not replace it. It is also a guided group outing, so the timing and the driving are handled for you.

Families and small children

The show is listed as suitable for all ages, though two and a half hours is long for the youngest and some reviewers mention queues for seats. The Teide trip is a late outdoor outing in the cold, which can suit older children who like the idea of stars and a volcano and be hard going for toddlers. Read the age rules on each booking page before you choose, because this guide has only the show's own listing to go on.

Doing both

Many visitors can fit both, since they fall on different evenings. Check the show's dates first, because it does not run every night, then place the Teide trip on a night when the sky looks clear in the forecast you trust. Book the one with fewer dates first. If you must drop one, drop the one that depends on weather, and keep the one you can rely on. A sensible order for a week in the south is to book the show first for a night near the start of the trip, keeping a spare evening later for Teide in case the sky is poor on your first choice.

Who this isn't for

The show is the wrong pick if you want to be outdoors under stars, or if the music of film, rock and pop does not appeal. The Teide trip is the wrong pick if you dislike cold, winding mountain roads or a late return, or if your children sleep early. Neither is a dinner evening: for the show, the ticket carries no food or drink, and the Teide listing's own page says what, if anything, it provides. Both evenings also assume that you are happy to book ahead, so they suit planners better than people who like to decide on the day.

Read next: A night out in Las Américas

Booking both

Open each booking page and read the calendar, the age rules and the start time. Cancelling the show is free if done at least 24 hours before it starts. Compare the two voucher times against your hotel transfers, then book the date that fits both. Cards lower on this page lead to both. Then check each page's rules for ages and what is included, because the two products differ and only the booking pages give the current terms.