Mistakes everyone makes in Tenerife
Permits, wind and a north that is not the south
- Permit
- Reaching the trail without one
- Masca
- No entry without a booking
- Cable car
- Wind stops it without notice
Most Tenerife mistakes are made at the planning desk, and they share one feature: the rule changed recently and the old guidebook did not. The Teide summit now needs a paid permit, Masca needs a slot and a bus, and the cable car obeys the wind. A further mistake is slower and sits in the choice of hotel. Each one below carries its cost and a way around it.
The Teide summit on the day, without a permit
Guides written before 2026 call the summit permit free, and that stopped on 19 January 2026. The permit now costs €15 for visitors from outside the Canaries, and it is a separate document from the cable car ticket. It is personal, it is linked to your ID, and arriving at the trail without one gets you turned back, with a fine of up to €600 in the reports. Permits are released Mondays at 7:00 Canary time, up to 28 days ahead, which means the planning has to happen weeks before the flight.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Masca without a booking and without the bus
Masca looks like a walk and works like a theatre ticket. The reservation exists only on the official site, the entry starts at from €40.66, and it is checked against your ID at the trailhead. Without the booking nobody walks in, and without bus 355 nobody drives up, because private vehicles are not allowed. Children under eight are turned away.
The cable car in wind
The cable car stops when the wind rises, and it does so without a warning that reaches you in advance. Departures can also run late, which turns a morning with a fixed permit slot into an exercise in patience. The cure is a second plan for the day that does not need the summit, such as an hour around the top station, the rock formations by the road or the observatory visit at Izaña.
Bus 355 instead of the car
Taking the rental car to the Masca trailhead is a mistake with no appeal, since the road is closed to private vehicles and the access bus is compulsory. The bus leaves from Santiago del Teide, takes about 20 minutes and should be reached an hour before your slot. Treat the car as transport to Santiago del Teide and nothing further.
A northern base for a beach holiday
The north is greener, and it is also cloudier and wetter, with roughly 350–550 mm of rain a year against roughly 100–200 mm in the south. It is 2–3 °C cooler in summer and 4–5 °C cooler in winter, on average. Puerto de la Cruz has a black-sand beach and gardens, but whoever came for the sun should sleep in the south and drive north for the day.
Prices that are not the same
Some numbers on the internet are right for another year or another traveller. The old free permit is the first case, the Masca price without the boat is the second, and the ferry fare to La Gomera, which differs from one booking site to the next, is the third. Resident and non-resident rates are different for Teide, and the figures on this site are the ones for visitors from outside the Canaries.
- Book the summit permit on a Monday, at 7:00 Canary time, four weeks ahead.
- Book the Masca slot on the official site and add bus 355 to the plan.
- Carry the passport or ID card that matches the booking.
- Keep one morning free for a day when the wind says no.
Where to next
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.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What if I get to the summit trail without a permit?
Access is refused, and the reports mention a fine of up to €600. The permit is personal and tied to ID, so it cannot be passed to another person.
Can the permit be refunded?
No, except when the trail closes because of the weather or when the cable car does not run. Choose the date with the forecast in mind.
Does the cable car run in wind?
Not always. It can stop without notice when the wind rises, and departures can run late, so keep a backup plan for the day.
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