A 19th-century hacienda converted into a banana museum. Said like that, you hesitate. But Casa del Plátano in Icod de los Vinos is one of Tenerife's little surprises. It's Europe's only museum entirely dedicated to the plátano canario — this smaller, sweeter, and more fragrant banana than its Latin American cousin found in every continental supermarket. The visit lasts 45 minutes, costs €5, and you leave with a fresh banana picked from the plantation and knowledge you didn't expect to gain.
The first space is museum-like: in the rooms of the former hacienda, panels (Spanish and English), period photographs, and agricultural machinery tell how the banana arrived from Asia in the 15th century, how it shaped the island's economy for decades, and why the plátano canario earned protected status (IGP Plátano de Canarias) against imported bananas. The second space is living: a small open-air plantation with several varieties of banana plants at different stages. You touch the giant leaves, see the bunches hanging, you understand why a banana plant takes 18 months to produce a single bunch — and then dies to be reborn from its shoots.
At the exit, the shop offers a complimentary tasting: banana liqueur (sweet, 20°, treacherous on an empty stomach), jam, plátano chips, and a homemade banana cake. The two women who run the museum are passionate and take time to explain each product. You often leave with a bag — the banana-rum jam is the best edible souvenir from Tenerife, and the artisanal banana soaps make original gifts. If you speak a little Spanish, the visit becomes three times more interesting.