Tenerife: Getting there & around

There are two airports on Tenerife, with flights to all the other islands, the Spanish mainland and a host other destinations, plus a few surprising ones such as Venezuela and Havana. Modern Tenerife Sur airport (Reina Sofía; 922 75 95 10) is about 20km (12mi) east of Playa de las Américas. All international chartered flights land here, as do nearly all scheduled international flights and those from the Spanish mainland. Practically all interisland flights, plus a few scheduled international and mainland services, use the older and smaller Tenerife Norte airport (Los Rodeos; 922 63 56 35).

There is a weekly ferry from Cádiz in mainland Spain and regular ferry, hydrofoil and jetfoil services from Tenerife to all other islands.

From Tenerife Sur, TITSA bus 487 departs more or less hourly from 08:10 for Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas. It's less than a half-hour ride to both destinations. Bus 341 departs at least hourly from 06:50 for Santa Cruz (1.5hr). There are four buses (340) daily to Puerto de la Cruz via Tenerife Norte airport.

From Tenerife Norte, frequent TITSA buses go to Santa Cruz. Bus 102 goes to Puerto de la Cruz via La Laguna, only 3km (1.8mi) from the airport. Bus 340 calls by the airport on its way between Puerto de la Cruz and Tenerife Sur airport (four daily).

TITSA (Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife SA; 922 53 13 00; www.titsa.com) runs a spider's web of services all over the island, as well as within Santa Cruz and other biggish towns.

You can take a taxi anywhere on the island - but it's an expensive way to get around. You are much better off hiring a car. Rental agencies are almost as plentiful on the island as English pubs, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a runabout, even if you want same-day rental. International chains are present in all major resort areas. You'll also find a generous sprinkling of small businesses offering older, usually cheaper vehicles.