Sitio Litre: the Historic Orchid Garden in Puerto de la Cruz
Sitio Litre is a small historic garden in Puerto de la Cruz and it deserves an hour of any visit: the gardens are open to visitors while the 1730 mansion at their centre remains a private residence, per the garden's own account. This guide covers what the garden is, what actually grows there, who came before you, and how the visit fits alongside the town's other gardens.
What Sitio Litre is and why it is worth an hour
Sitio Litre is the oldest surviving garden on Tenerife, laid out beside a mansion built in 1730 and owned continuously by British families from 1774. Its scale is domestic rather than botanical-institute grand: an English-style garden around a private house, with an orchid collection the garden itself describes as possibly the best in the Canary Islands. That combination of a manageable size and a genuinely unusual history is what makes it worth an hour rather than a whole afternoon.
Treat Sitio Litre as a contrast stop. Puerto de la Cruz has larger green spaces of its own, so slotting the garden into a morning or late afternoon gives the break a quieter, more historical episode without committing to a full excursion.
Where Sitio Litre is and how to reach it
Sitio Litre is in Puerto de la Cruz, on Tenerife's north coast. The garden's own contact line is +34 922 38 24 17, useful if you want to confirm access before setting out.
Puerto de la Cruz is reached by bus or car from the island's main towns and the north airports, and the garden is a pedestrian-scale stop. Plan the visit for the cooler ends of the day, since the north coast can be warm at midday. The Puerto de la Cruz Attractions: 5 Visitor Guides hub sets out the town's other monuments if you want to build a route.
Plaza del Charco is the town's social centre and a clear reference point in the lower town. Pair a Sitio Litre visit with a wander through the plaza and the surrounding streets.
What you see in the garden: orchids, trees and the old English layout
The garden was planned by the Little family and later extended by the Smith family, which gives it the layered, slightly informal feel of an old English garden rather than a modern display. Its centrepiece collection is orchids, and the shade of mature trees keeps the paths cool in the warmer months.
What lifts the walk above a pleasant flowerbed is the artwork: copies of Marianne North's Tenerife paintings are placed around the grounds, so you can compare the 1875 views with the garden as it stands. That is a small detail with real payoff — the garden's own history page points out that, 130 years on, the garden is practically the same.
The house and its history: a 1730 mansion, wine cellars and British owners
The mansion was built in 1730, apparently as the headquarters and wine cellars of a Dutch wine-exporting company. In 1774 Archibald Little, a British merchant, bought the property; his family held it until 1854, and the English name Little's Place survives in the Spanish Sitio Litre. The house stayed in British hands through the Smith family until 1996.
Only the gardens are open, so do not expect to tour the interiors: the house is still a private residence. The orchid collection is what the owners opened the grounds to share, and the garden retains its historic layout rather than being reworked into an exhibition space.
Famous guests: Humboldt, Marianne North, Richard Burton and Agatha Christie
Alexander von Humboldt was the guest of honour at a party held at Sitio Litre on 23 June 1799, hosted by Archibald Little. William Wilde, father of Oscar, was a house guest, and the botanical painter Marianne North lived in the house for two months in 1875 — her Tenerife works were painted here, and copies of them are displayed around the garden.
Sir Richard Francis Burton passed through Tenerife on two occasions between 1860 and 1863 and joined the garden parties in the grounds. Agatha Christie stayed in Puerto de la Cruz in 1927 and drew enough from the gardens to set a novel there. Taken together, the guests explain why a modest garden carries a reputation out of proportion to its size.
The orchid café and a quiet pause
A small orchid café serves brunch and breakfast on site, so a visit can stretch into a longer pause if you want one. Check the café page before you travel if you are deciding whether to eat there.
Opening times and tickets for Sitio Litre
Sitio Litre's entry arrangements and any concessions are set by the garden, not quoted here. Check the garden's own tickets and location pages before you travel, since a small private garden's arrangements can shift with the season.
Give yourself a full hour for the grounds; if you want to sit in the café, budget longer. The north coast can be wetter than the south, and a garden with mature tree cover is a sensible wet-weather fallback.
Other gardens and sights within walking distance
The Jardín de Aclimatación de La Orotava, the historic acclimatisation garden founded in the eighteenth century in Puerto de la Cruz, is the obvious companion visit — an older, more formal botanical collection with an emphasis on tropical and subtropical species. Note the difference in scale: that garden is a public institution with a defining collection, Sitio Litre is a private historic garden with a personality.
Above the town, the Parque Taoro gardens offer a different sort of pause, with landscaped paths and views towards the sea. On the coastal side, the Castillo de San Felipe gives you a small fort within easy reach of the seafront.
The Mirador de La Paz is the town's lookout and closes a loop of garden, plaza and viewpoint nicely. Three stops — Sitio Litre, one of the larger gardens, and a viewpoint — make a coherent half-day without turning the trip into a checklist.
Which garden should you pick first?
Start with Sitio Litre if you want the story and the shade, and move on to the larger Jardín de Aclimatación de La Orotava if you want a fuller botanical collection. Check the garden's own site for the current entry arrangements and plan the visit for a cooler part of the day.