Tenerife without a car: the excursions you can do.

Renting a car in Tenerife makes sense if you want to stop wherever you feel like it. But plenty of people come here to rest and have no wish to drive the hairpin bends up to the Teide or hunt for parking at more than 2,000 metres. For them there's good news: if you're staying in the south, most excursions come and pick you up.

The real snag is something else, and hardly anyone mentions it: many of these excursions run on just one day a week. Without a car, transport isn't the problem: the calendar is. Below you'll find which ones pick you up, which day each one runs, which ones you have to get to on your own, and a sample week that's already planned out.

The ones that pick you up at your accommodation

These come with pick-up and drop-off at your accommodation anywhere in the south of Tenerife, each on its own day of the week:

• Monday: Anaga and La Laguna. The green, misty side of Tenerife, with a walk of an hour and a half to two hours through the Las Mercedes laurel forest and the afternoon in La Laguna, whose old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. €59, children up to 11 €29.50.
• Tuesday: banana plantation and winery with tasting. A morning trip, from 8:00 to 13:00, with a tasting of five wines. €68, children up to 11 €58.
• Wednesday: aloe vera farm and banana plantation (November to April), or the Camino Real, the most demanding route we sell. €59 each.
• Thursday: Teide Light, Teide National Park on foot, with a walk around the Roques de García. €59, children up to 11 €29.50.
• Friday: farmers' market and prickly pear farm (November to April). €59, children aged 4 to 11 €49.

That's a whole week without touching a steering wheel.

Notice one thing: three of them (bananas, aloe and the market) finish before 13:00. Without a car that's gold, because it leaves your afternoon free for the beach or the pool without depending on anyone. The full-day ones (Anaga, Teide Light, Camino Real) are best spread out so you don't do them back to back.

If you speak French

There are three more excursions with pick-up anywhere in the south, guided only in French and lasting eight hours: on Tuesdays, Masca and Garachico, crossing Teide National Park; on Thursdays, the Teide with La Orotava and Icod de los Vinos; and on Fridays, Anaga and La Laguna. In winter they cost €59, and none includes lunch. If you don't understand French, stick to the ones above.

The ones that also pick you up, on other days

• Teide Cable Car: pick-up in your area, every day in the south and the north; in Playa Paraíso and Los Gigantes, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Bus, guide and ticket in a single booking, from €92. It's the most comfortable way up without a car: you skip parking at the top, which is exactly the hard part.
• Jeep Safari: pick-up at your hotel on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 08:20 from the south. Half a day on the Teide for €61, or a full day including Masca for €68. It's mainly worth it if you have no car: if you did, you could do without it.
• Buggy tour on the Teide: hotel pick-up included. You pay per buggy, from €200, so in a group it works out well. There are morning, afternoon and sunset departures.
• Stargazing on the Teide: on the options with a bus, pick-up at your accommodation. The night trip with sunset and dinner costs €89; telescope stargazing on its own, without transport, is €42, but without a car it's no use to you, because it takes place at the cable car base station, at 2,356 metres.
• Paragliding: free pick-up in Los Cristianos, Las Américas, Costa Adeje, Playa Paraíso or Callao Salvaje. From €110. It depends on the wind, so it's best early in your trip.
• La Gomera: pick-up depending on your hotel's area, or make your own way to the Fred Olsen terminal in Los Cristianos. Every day except Sunday. €110 with ferry, bus, guide and lunch included. It's the only way to see another island without changing hotels, and without a car it's even easier, because over there the bus takes you around too.

The parks: it depends on the day and the area

Siam Park is in Costa Adeje: if you're staying nearby, you can go on your own. From El Médano, Golf del Sur and Ten-Bel there's a bus on Mondays only, at 09:00.

Loro Parque is in the north and we sell it with a transfer from the south, but each area has its own days: El Médano and Costa del Silencio on Tuesdays, Golf del Sur on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from Playa Paraíso to Los Gigantes on Mondays and Wednesdays. We go through it properly in Siam Park or Loro Parque with kids?.

The ones you have to get to on your own

Not everything comes to pick you up. For these you'll have to make your own way, by taxi, by guagua (the local bus) or with someone who has a car:

• Whale watching: boats leave from Los Gigantes marina, and the transfer isn't included (on some departures you can request it). If you're staying in or near Los Gigantes, you can walk.
• Kayaking, snorkelling and try dives: they leave from Los Cristianos, Puerto Colón or Las Galletas. If you're staying in Los Cristianos or Las Américas, they're right on your doorstep.
• Helicopter: it takes off from the Adeje heliport, next to Golf Costa Adeje. The transfer isn't included.
• Go-karting: the circuit is next to the southern motorway, in Arona, at exit 66.
• Private catamaran: it leaves from the harbour at Playa San Juan, in the south-west.
• Arona Show: at the Los Cristianos auditorium, on Wednesdays at 20:30.
• Kitesurfing, windsurfing, wingfoiling, surfing and eFoil: the centre is on the beachfront at El Médano. If you're staying there, you can walk.
• Outdoor escape room: a treasure hunt on your phone along seven routes (Costa Adeje, El Médano, Los Abrigos, two in Puerto de la Cruz, Santa Cruz and La Laguna). €19.50 for a group of up to six, with no set times: if there's a route in your town, it's the cheapest car-free plan we have.

The practical rule is simple: choose where you stay based on what you're going to do. If the sea is your thing, Los Cristianos puts kayaking, diving and the Arona Show within walking distance. If you're coming for watersports, El Médano. If you want the whales every morning, Los Gigantes.

A sample week, without a car

For someone staying in Los Cristianos, from November to April:

1. Monday: Anaga and La Laguna, full day.
2. Tuesday: banana plantation and winery in the morning, beach in the afternoon.
3. Wednesday: aloe vera farm in the morning and, in the evening, the Arona Show, on foot.
4. Thursday: Teide Light, full day.
5. Friday: farmers' market and prickly pear farm in the morning.
6. Saturday: La Gomera, full day.
7. Sunday: rest, or kayaking and snorkelling from the beach at Los Cristianos.

With the prices in our catalogue, the first six days come to €449 per adult (59 + 68 + 59 + 35 + 59 + 59 + 110, counting the €35 Arona Show on Wednesday), without a single transfer to arrange. If you would rather go up by cable car than walk on the Teide, swap the Thursday and pick a day when your area has pick-up.

How to put together your own week

The classic mistake without a car is trying to do everything on the same day, or finding out on Sunday that the excursion you wanted was on Thursday. What works:

• First, lock in the ones with a fixed day (Teide Light on Thursday, Anaga on Monday) and build around them.
• Leave an easy day between two long excursions. The full-day ones start early, and the morning ones work as a breather.
• Put the weather-dependent ones (paragliding, cable car) early in your trip, so you have room to move them if needed.
• Check the pick-up area before you book. "Anywhere in the south" almost always covers your hotel, but on some excursions the day changes depending on where you are.
• Bring water and something to eat. In Anaga and on the Camino Real you have to bring your own, and on the Teide Light lunch isn't included either.

Questions we get asked a lot

What time will I be picked up?

It depends on the bus route, so we confirm it when you book. On the morning trips (bananas, aloe and the market), pick-up is around 8:00.

Can I go up the Teide without a car?

Yes, in two ways: walking around the Roques de García on the Teide Light, on Thursdays, or by cable car on the excursion that includes bus, guide and ticket. To stand on the crater, the summit climb includes the National Park permit.

What if I'm staying in the north?

The cable car also picks up in the north every day, and Loro Parque is right there in Puerto de la Cruz. The rest pick up in the south, so if you're in the north, message us and we'll look into it.

Tell us where you're staying and which days you have, and we'll send you back the week already planned, with what picks you up in your area.