House of the Balconies

Look up before you go in. The wooden balconies hang out over the street, dark with age, and they are the picture most people take home from La Orotava.

Through the door, the house built in 1632 opens around a patio full of plants, with the upper floor looking down on it. The rooms upstairs show how a household lived here, and several of them hold artwork. The house is also a working centre for Canarian crafts: embroidery, ceramics and other island work fill the shop, a training centre keeps the skills going, and the collection includes the crafts of Eladia Machado. It suits anyone curious about traditional Canarian architecture, and it takes about an hour to see properly.

• The balconies can be seen from the street; exploring the interior carries an entry fee.
• The audio guide plays on your own smartphone, so bring headphones.
• Allow about an hour for the visit.
• Pushchairs stay near the entrance, and the entrance is not wheelchair accessible.
• The house has toilets for visitors.

The house stands in the old town of La Orotava, and the bus leaves you almost at the door: the San Francisco stop is about 30 m away, with the Ayuntamiento stop about 160 m off.

By car, there is a car park for customers about 90 m from the house and a public car park with an asphalt surface about 300 m away; street parking is another option. From either car park the rest is a walk through the old streets. A tourist information office sits a little over 200 m from the house if you want a map of the town before or after the visit.

Best: soon after opening in the morning, on any day of the week.

Avoid: the middle of the day, when coach tours reach La Orotava.

The rooms and the patio feel close with a group inside, and the morning gives you the balconies and the street with fewer people in the frame. It is an indoor visit, so it also holds up on the grey, damp days the north of the island often gets.