Tenerife: getting there
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An insider's guide to getting to Tenerife, including flights to the canary islands and airport transfers, as well as recommendations for car hire and public transport. By Telegraph Travel's Tenerife expert.
Getting there
Monarch Airlines (0333 003 0700; monarch.co.uk) operates non-stop flights to Tenerife South from major airports throughout the year. British Airways (0844 493 0787; britishairways.com) flies from Gatwick five times a week; easyJet (0843 104 5000; easyJet.com), Ryanair (0871 246 0000; ryanair.com), Jet2 (0871 226 1737; jet2.com), Thomas Cook (0871 230 2406; flythomascook.com) and Thomson Airways (0871 231 4787; flights.thomson.co.uk) all operate frequent budget flights from many British airports. Iberia Express (+34) 91 389 43 75; iberiaexpress.com) are introducing flights from London Heathrow to Tenerife North airport three times a week from late March 2015.
All budget airlines fly into Tenerife South airport. Transfers to the south/south-west coast take 15-30 minutes and to Los Gigantes 40 minutes. Transfers to Puerto de la Cruz take 50 minutes to an hour (343 bus hourly). The 111 bus to Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas leaves every half-hour. Transfers from Tenerife North airport to Puerto de la Cruz (343 bus every 30 minutes) take 25 minutes and to Santa Cruz (102 bus every 30 minutes) take 10 minutes.
A taxi (officialtaxitenerife.com) from Tenerife South airport to Los Cristianos costs €34 (£25); Playa de Las Americas €37 (£28); Costa Adeje €37 (£28); Los Gigantes €63 (£47); Puerto de la Cruz €110 (£82). Taxi from Tenerife North airport costs €45 (£34) to Puerto de la Cruz, €16 (£12) to La Laguna and €29 (£22) to Santa Cruz.
Getting around
Public transport
There is an excellent bus service on Tenerife operated by Titsa (titsa.com). Services are punctual and give good coverage across much of the island, and vehicles are clean and reliable. Services in some areas are sparse, for example into Teide National Park and along the west coast.
Car hire
Having your own car is best for exploring. A coastal motorway circumnavigates two thirds of the island while inland, roads are mainly rural and winding with little traffic.
Car hire is good value and most vehicles are less than two years old. All the top agencies operate on the island: Hertz (0034 922 759 319; hertz.co.uk), Avis (0034 922 392 056; avis.com), Europcar (0034 922 759 323; europcar.com), Autoreisen (0034 922 260 200;autoreisen.es) with charges of around €100 (£75) to €150 (£125) for an economy size car for a week. The local agency is Cicar (0034 922 759 329; cicar.com).
Taxis
Metered and regulated, taxis are a good option for short journeys.
Best operators
Accommodation and flight packages for all major resorts are available through Thomson (thomson.co.uk), Thomas Cook (thomascook.com) and Easyjet (holidays.easyjet.com), while all-inclusive stays can be booked through First Choice (firstchoice.co.uk); luxury holidays through Sovereign (sovereign.com) and Prestige Holidays (prestigeholidays.co.uk); and budget deals through Sunshine (sunshine.co.uk), Low Cost Holidays (lowcostholidays.com), On The Beach (onthebeach.co.uk) and Monarch (monarch.co.uk). Specialist walking holidays can be through Inntravel (inntravel.co.uk).
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Expert guide to Tenerife
Overview Overview
Hotels Hotels
Attractions Attractions
Restaurants Restaurants
Nightlife Nightlife
Itineraries Itineraries
