Hop-on hop-off bus and coach tours in Tenerife

If you're looking for a hop-on hop-off bus that takes you round the whole island, there isn't one. The only route runs in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has only been going for a short while, is operated by City Sightseeing and loops round the capital: Plaza de España, the Auditorio, the market, the Palmetum and the MUNA. For cruise passengers or a rainy day in the south it's a good plan. For "seeing Tenerife" it's no use.

To see the island by coach, what you book is a full-day excursion, usually the one called the Gran Tour: Teide, Icod, Garachico and Masca in about 9 hours. And if what you want is to get around cheaply on your own, TITSA's buses reach almost everywhere for a lot less money.

Our picks

1

The Santa Cruz sightseeing bus, no fuss

Same price as on the official website; the listing with the most reviews across the three platforms.

GetYourGuide

City Sightseeing: Santa Cruz de Tenerife Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

3.9 (180 reviews)

from €20Check availability

2

If you're spending two days in the capital

Go for the 48-hour ticket: it includes entry to the MUNA, the museum of nature and archaeology, which is a stop on the route.

Tiqets

Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 24 or 48-hr Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour

4.3 (9 reviews)

from €20Check availability

3

The most booked round-the-island coach tour

Teide, Masca, Icod and Garachico in 9 h; thousands of reviews and rated 4.6.

GetYourGuide9 hours

Tenerife: Teide National Park, Masca, Icod & Garachico Tour

4.6 (3,035 reviews)

from €58Check availability

4

Island tour departing from the north

Full tour with departures from both the south and the north, rated 4.8: useful if you're staying in Puerto de la Cruz.

GetYourGuide8.5 - 9.5 hours

Tenerife: Full island sightseeing tour, with departures from the south and north

4.8 (183 reviews)

from €75Check availability

The Santa Cruz hop-on hop-off bus: route, stops and times

The "Bus Turístico de Santa Cruz" runs every day from 09:30 to 18:15. It comes every 20–25 minutes and the whole loop takes 75 to 80 minutes if you don't get off. It has an audio guide in 11 languages and a children's channel in 5.

The city council lists 12 stops; some sellers count 13 because they add Plaza Weyler:

1. Plaza de España
2. Palmetum / Parque Marítimo
3. Auditorio Adán Martín
4. Intercambiador (bus station)
5. Avenida Tres de Mayo
6. Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López
7. Plaza Los Patos
8. Parque García Sanabria
9. Museo Militar Almeyda
10. Mercado Nuestra Señora de África
11. MUNA
12. Casa del Carnaval

Stop 1, Plaza de España, is a few minutes' walk from the cruise terminal, which is why most passengers have just stepped off a ship. If you're coming from the south, the stop you want is the Intercambiador: that's where the bus drops you.

Sightseeing bus price: €20 everywhere

The ticket for non-residents costs €20 per adult, €10 for ages 7 to 16 and is free up to age 6. There are 24-hour and 48-hour tickets; the 48-hour one includes entry to the MUNA. Tenerife residents pay €5 and €2.50.

All three platforms sell it at the same price as City Sightseeing, so the difference lies in the terms. GetYourGuide gives free cancellation up to 24 h ahead unless the listing says otherwise; on Tiqets the policy depends on the supplier and you need to read the cancellation section before paying; Headout only refunds you once the supplier has refunded it. If your plans might change, GetYourGuide is the most flexible option. The rating on its listing, 3.9, is middling for such a simple product: read the recent reviews before you pay.

If a platform shows you the price in dollars, switch the currency to euros before comparing.

No hop-on hop-off in the south: what there is instead

In Costa Adeje, Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos no hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus runs. What there is is a little road train, the Touristic Train Tenerife, which leaves from Avenida Rafael Puig Lluvina 14 in Costa Adeje:

• Two circular routes with 6 official stops.
• Departures every 30 minutes from 10:20 to 20:50, Monday to Saturday.
• €9 adult and €5 child per circuit; the double ticket costs €14 and €5.
• You can hop off and back on later the same day.

It's a ride for young children or for anyone who doesn't want to walk the promenade in the sun, not a way of getting about. More ideas like this in Tenerife with kids. To hop between towns along the south coast, bus 467 links Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje and La Caleta for €1.45–1.50.

Coach tours: what the Gran Tour Teide–Masca is like

The island's best-selling coach excursion is the Gran Tour. It leaves at around 08:00, picks up at hotel meeting points in Los Cristianos, Las Américas, Costa Adeje and often Callao Salvaje or Los Gigantes, and lasts about 9 hours: up Teide with a stop of about 30 minutes by the Roques de García, Icod de los Vinos and its dragon tree (Drago), Garachico, Masca and back via Santiago del Teide.

From Puerto de la Cruz the order is reversed after Teide, so you reach Masca before the coaches from the south. The price starts at €58 on the platforms; some agencies advertise it from €55 and add about €20 if you want lunch included.

What the brochure doesn't make clear

• It's a tour of villages with a photo of Teide, not a visit to Teide. Thirty minutes in the park isn't enough for the cable car, and none of these excursions includes it.
• Big coaches don't go up to Masca. Agencies use vehicles with 35 seats at most on that road, and on wildfire alert days only buses up to 7.5 m long with a reserved slot get through.
• Entry to the Parque del Drago is almost never included. Bring €5 in cash, or see the tree for free from the square next to the church of San Marcos.
• The pick-up time is confirmed after you book, not before.

Routes, timings and private alternatives, in more detail, in island tours in a day.

The Cabildo has also announced access control for Teide National Park and paid parking reservations for hire cars, which will make an organised excursion more practical than driving.

The cheap alternative: TITSA's buses

TITSA's green buses (guaguas, as Canarians call them) have no audio guide, but they cover almost everything a tourist coach does for a fraction of the price. You pay in cash or by contactless bank card, or with the Ten+ card (€2), which you top up and can share between several people travelling together. The tourist pass costs €10 for 24 hours and €50 for 7 days, and is personal.

The catch is the timetable: the 342 goes up just once a day and leaves the cable car at 15:40, and combining Teide and Masca by bus on the same day doesn't work. Current timetables and fares are on titsa.com, and our view of the service is in the TITSA review. If you're coming from the airport, see airport transfers first.

More coach and bus tours

GetYourGuide

City Sightseeing: Santa Cruz de Tenerife Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

3.9 (180 reviews)

from €20Check availability

Tiqets

Santa Cruz de Tenerife: 24 or 48-hr Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour

4.3 (9 reviews)

from €20Check availability

Headout1 min

City Sightseeing: Santa Cruz de Tenerife Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour

5.0 (2 reviews)

from €20Check availability

GetYourGuide9 hours

Tenerife: Teide National Park, Masca, Icod & Garachico Tour

4.6 (3,035 reviews)

from €58Check availability

GetYourGuide8 hours

Tenerife: Teide National Park Full-Day Tour with Pick-up

4.5 (1,922 reviews)

from €59Check availability

GetYourGuide8.5 hours

Tenerife: Teide, Icod, Garachico and Masca Full-Day Tour

4.2 (100 reviews)

from €58Check availability

See all options on GetYourGuide →

Tips to get it right

• Santa Cruz in the morning. The Nuestra Señora de África market closes at 14:00 every day, and Sunday is its liveliest morning.
• On the Gran Tour, bring warm clothes. Above 2,000 m on Teide it's cold even when it's hot on the coast.
• Carry cash for the dragon tree and for coffees in small villages.