0871 423-5051
Only £25 deposit per booking
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0871 423-5051
Only £25 deposit per booking
Tenerife Car Hire is easy as pie, although driving in Tenerife is more like driving in the UK - frenzied in the cities and urr a little crazy on the motorways! Tenerife Canarios residents like their cars, and a number of projects are afoot, particularly in the urban areas such as Santa Cruz and roadworks on the major motorways to accommodate the large increase in cars on the road in Tenerife over the last decade. Santa Cruz , the capital of Tenerife, is currently in upheaval with work afoot on the tramline network in the city! (as of 2006) For the best cheap car hire Tenerife deals click on the cheap car hire Tenerife link to the right for Holiday Autos abroard, or contact Iknow-Holidays direct on 0871 423 5056.
All the renovations on roads and new public transport ideas should mean that traffic in Tenerife should ease in the next 5 years, but in the meantime be aware that in peak rush hour periods of around 7am and 7pm when local residents are heading to work in Santa Cruz, Puerto de la Cruz and the southern resorts of Los Cristianos and Playa de las Americas, traffic is particularly heavy. Avoid these times if possible in the major urban areas. Even out of these time periods in the built up resorts of Tenerife expect a considerable amount of traffic, so allow more time for your journies. Lots of excursion tour buses, jeeps and car hires also hit the mountain roads, particularly during peak summer holiday times so don't expect to be discovering the Teno mountain range on your own, although heading east towards the Anaga Mountain area is much less conjested! Also, if you can find a parking space in Playa de Las Americas late in the day your luck's in!
As with all the Canary Islands and mainland Spain, driving in Tenerife is on the right hand side, with seat belt wearing including back seats legally required. Speed limits on the big TF1 motorway running down the east side of the island towards the southern Tenerife resorts and on the TF2 and TF5 are 120km/h. Watch for roadworks however, especially approaching Santa Cruz as speed limits drop usually to 50km or 80km. Be caught speeding and you could end up with a fine of upto 300 euros, usually required to be paid upfront as you're a non resident so stick within the speed limits! You can also face high penalties for blood alchohol limits above 0.08 percent. Other legal requirements include the wearing of helmets by motorcyclists and those on scooters.
As with the other big cheese Gran Canaria, Tenerife has some extremely mountainous areas - less in the interior around the Teide National Park - roads are excellent and easy driving here, but more around the Teno Mountains to the north west and the Anaga Mountains to the north east. All the mountain roads in Tenerife are in excellent condition, and many visitors tour the Teno mountains now in large numbers in their car hires (you'll often get stuck behind one of the many tour bus excursions that also navigate these mountain roads now coming up from the southern and western resorts). Driving these roads then isn't particularly challenging (as in La Palma), it's more you need to keep in mind that many routes take rather a long time. They might look short on the map, but in practice no sir!
A good example is the route over from Garachico on the C820 to Los Gigantes - a mere 30 miles yes, but with the mountain climbs and winds you're looking easily at a good two to three hours driving. For quick and easy connection from both the west side resorts of Puerto Santiago, Los Gigantes and Playa de la Arena, and indeed the southern resorts of Las American and Los Cristianos hop onto the big GC1 for a swift route upto Santa Cruz, La Laguna, and across on the T5 to Puerto de la Cruz.
Most exits are clearly marked of the main motorways - they are busy so take your time, and if possible avoid the peak rush hour periods of early morning around 7am-9am and early evening around 7pm when it's particularly conjested on routes into Santa Cruz and the main southern Tenerife resorts. With all this in mind, car hire on Tenerife is highly recommended to really get out and explore the diverse landscapes, the many superb museums and excellent walking and beaches across this dynamic Canary Island!
When you hire a car in Tenerife, if you're picking up in either of the two airports or your Tenerife resort, you'll need to make sure you bring along your driving license (both card and paper documents). The car hire firm will ask to see this. You'll also need a credit card - even if you've pre-paid they'll take a copy of it! They will also ask to see your passport, plus they'll usually want the address of where you're staying.
If you're picking your car hire up at Tenerife North or South airports, the car hire firm will give you usually a rather good map of the island, (on Tenerife the car hire maps are particularly good) plus point you in the right direction to collect your car. In Tenerife North Airport the rental cars are situated in the car hire parking bay one floor down from the main terminal. At Tenerife South the car hire parking bay is directly opposite the terminal exit. It's a big car hire bay at Tenerife south, with many of the car rental firms having not just desks in the terminal building but also little huts on the parking bay for key return. Check with your individual car hire firm for your particular process.
There's no two ways about it, parking in some of Tenerife's big southern resorts can be a bit of a nightmare, particularly in Playa de las Americas. The secret is to take your time here, and if you can't be bothered to drive around looking for a free available parking space there are paying car parks located right near the beaches. If you arrive late in the day you're only likely to find free space away from the beach, but you're not likely to face much more than a 30 minute walk down to the beach!. Blue lines mean a parking fee is need in usually nearby machines. Yellow and white lines mean no parking, and unmarked are usually fine.
If you're driving into Santa Cruz up from the southern resorts, a top tip is to take the first exit off the motorway, marked for the port. This straight road leads you pass numerous parkin areas near the new concert hall or further along near the heart of the city where there are some large underground car parks - there's always space in these. Take your time - you're not like to face too many traffic jams on the way into Santa Cruz (out of peak periods listed above). The problems seem to arise when you try to leave - particularly heading back down south! It's due to road works and construct connected with the new tramline being built here. Crank the air conditioning up and try and stay calm! Alternatively head further north to the nearby beautiful beach of Las Teresitas and relax for an hour or so until the traffic dies down, or head over the Anaga Mountains to the stunning historic centre of La Laguna!
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