Llano de Ucanca Vista Point

Stand at the edge of the car park and the ground falls away into a pale plain as flat as a tabletop, ringed by dark lava and broken rock. Teide fills the sky behind it, 3,715 m of volcano, with the Roques de García standing in front. Smooth floor against rough lava: the whole scene hangs on that.

After dark the place changes character. The car park goes quiet and there is open sky in every direction. Once the moon has gone down, the Milky Way stands out plainly over the caldera.

• There are no toilets and no drinking water at the viewpoint or nearby — fill up before you drive into the park.
• The pull-offs along the park road get crowded in the middle of the day, when the tour buses stop; more stopping places come further along.
• Nights up in the caldera turn cold. Bring a warm layer if you come to stargaze.
• Stargazing works best after the moon has set.

You arrive by car. The viewpoint sits right beside the road through Teide National Park, and the free car park is at the lookout itself, surfaced in stone setts. From the car there is nothing left to walk: the plain opens at the car park's edge.

If it is full, a second free car park with a dirt surface lies about 1 km away in a straight line. The nearest bus stop, Parador del Teide, is about 1.6 km away in a straight line, so coming by bus means a walk across open volcanic ground with no shade.

Best: early morning, or after dark once the moon has set. Avoid: the middle of the day.

Tour buses stop along the park road around midday and the pull-offs fill up, while early in the day they are quieter and the low sun throws the lava into relief. For stars, a moonless sky over the open caldera shows the Milky Way straight from the car park.

The Llano de Ucanca lies inside Teide National Park, and the park's rules apply on the plain and around the viewpoint. Keep to marked paths and tracks. Take no rocks away, and leave the plants alone — many of the park's plants grow nowhere else. Flying a drone needs the park's authorisation.