Tenerife
One island, two climates: beaches in the south, the Teide volcano in the middle and a green north
- When to go
- October 14° · 4 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 5–7days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 24 km Tenerife North · 32 km Tenerife South
- Right now
Tenerife takes five to seven days to see properly, and the real choice is between the beach resorts of the south, the Teide volcano in the middle and the greener north, three different trips on one island. Pick the base for the trip you want most, because driving across the island every day eats the hours you came for.
The south is the drier and sunnier side, and it is where most of the hotels and beach resorts stand, close to Tenerife South airport. The north is cloudier and wetter, with roughly 350 to 550 mm of rain a year against 100 to 200 mm in the south, and it runs 2 to 3 °C cooler in summer and 4 to 5 °C in winter. That gap is why a week splits so naturally between the coasts and the mountain in the middle. Five days covers all three comfortably, and a seventh day lets you slow down on a beach.
Teide is the one booking that decides everything else. The cable car stops at La Rambleta, 3,555 m up, and the summit of the volcano stands another 163 m above it, on a trail that has needed its own permit, €15, since January 2026. The cable car ticket does not include it. Without the permit you get about an hour around the top station, which is enough for the view and too little for the summit. Wind can stop the cable car without notice, so give the volcano a day with spare time on both sides.
A hire car makes the island easy, but two outings are shaped by rules rather than roads. Masca can only be entered with a booked descent time, and the last stretch is made on bus 355 from Santiago del Teide, because private vehicles are not allowed in. The ferry to La Gomera leaves from Los Cristianos and takes about 50 min. Teide, by contrast, needs no car at all, since buses 348 and 342 reach the cable car, with timetables at titsa.com.
The rest of the planning has a guide each. The three-day itinerary puts the island in order, and the page on where to stay compares six bases from Costa Adeje to La Laguna. The beach guide covers five stretches of sand from golden to black, while the month-by-month page explains how the weather changes the choice. The page on mistakes is worth reading before you pay for anything.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Timed-entry tickets and guided tours in one place.
Both sites fill in your nearest airport for you; change it in one click.
Guides for Tenerife
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Tenerife in 3 days
→Three days, three sides of the island: south, volcano and north
Day trips from Tenerife
→One island and another: by ferry to La Gomera, on foot through Masca and Anaga
Where to stay in Tenerife
→The south for the beach, the north for the island as it is, and a handful of bases in between
The Tenerife the guidebooks skip: Garachico, the Drago tree and Izaña
→A harbour buried by lava, a dragon tree in Icod and an observatory at kilometre 37
What to eat in Tenerife
→Salted potatoes, pepper sauces and taverns that open only for lunch
The best time to visit Tenerife
→The calendar of one island: southern sun, northern cloud and a carnival in February
Getting around Tenerife
→From airport to door: two airports, many buses and one narrow mountain road
Mistakes everyone makes in Tenerife
→Permits, wind and a north that is not the south
Beaches in Tenerife
→Golden sand from Africa, black volcanic sand and the wind that carries kitesurfers
What to see in Tenerife
Teide National Park
The park has been on the UNESCO list since 2007, and the rock towers of Roques de García near the Parador make a good stop on the road down. Higher up, the summit is 3,718 m above sea level, the highest point in Spain. Wind and temperature decide whether the cable car runs, and departures can run late.
Masca gorge
The walk down the gorge starts at the visitor centre in Masca, which you reach on bus 355 from Santiago del Teide. Proper walking boots are compulsory, since trainers and sandals are turned away, and a helmet is lent at the start. The way back from the foot of the gorge is by boat, and children under eight cannot enter.
Anaga mountains
Most of Anaga and its roads are open to everyone, with restrictions only on the El Pijaral trail, known as the Enchanted Forest, and on Monte Aguirre. The visitor centre at Cruz del Carmen is the usual start, and bus 076 runs from La Laguna past it to Taganana. The sand at Benijo has been closed since July 2024 after rockfalls, while the viewpoint stays open.
Las Teresitas
About 1.5 km of golden sand shipped in from Africa lies in a bay closed off by a concrete barrier, which keeps the water calm enough for swimming and snorkelling. The beach sits at San Andrés on the Santa Cruz side, backed by the Anaga mountains.
Los Gigantes
A natural black beach lies at the foot of the cliffs, with a marina close by. This is the quiet corner of the south, about 40 minutes from Costa Adeje, so it suits people who want calm and are content to drive for everything else.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna
La Laguna has been on the UNESCO list since 1999, and the town is also the gateway to the guachinches, the vine-growers' taverns found only on Tenerife. Most of them lie around La Laguna and the Orotava valley, and they serve lunch rather than dinner. Bring cash, and expect a menu that is often only in Spanish.
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Tenerife
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Ready for Tenerife?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Tenerife — day trips or weekends.
Spain
→A country where dinner is at ten and the city wakes up as everywhere else turns the lights off
Portugal
→A country that spent centuries looking at the ocean instead of the Europe behind it
France
→From Paris the fast TGV reaches Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg in about two hours, so France is chosen by direction, not by city
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