For most people, the best buy is a sunset and stargazing tour costing €35 to €65 on the booking platforms: sunset above the clouds, a good hour on the telescopes and back around midnight. If you're genuinely into astronomy, the daytime visit to the Teide Observatory for €21 is the best value for money, and 8- to 16-year-olds go free. The expensive option, Sunset & Stars at €159, is only worth it if you want to watch the sunset from 3,555 m via the cable car.
Before you book, check the moon: under a full moon the Milky Way disappears, and no guide can fix that.
Our picks
1
Best value for the rating
Sunset and stars in the national park from €35, with thousands of reviews and 3–5 hours depending on the option.
GetYourGuide3 - 5 hours
Tenerife: Sunset and Stargazing at Teide National Park
4.7 (3,665 reviews)
from €35Check availability
2
To see more through the telescope
Three hours built around a large telescope, with one of the highest ratings in the catalogue.
GetYourGuide3 hours
Teide National Park: Guided Large Telescope Stargazing Tour
4.9 (380 reviews)
from €65Check availability
3
Dinner, sunset and stars
A long 9-hour outing with dinner included, the same format and price as Volcano Teide's Teide By Night (€89); the provider is named on the listing.
GetYourGuide9 hours
Teide: Guided Sunset & Stargazing Tour by Night with Dinner
4.7 (1,541 reviews)
from €89Check availability
4
Sunset at 3,555 m
Volcano Teide's Sunset & Stars: cable car at sunset, picnic dinner and telescopes.
Tiqets08:00
Mount Teide: Sunset Tour, Cable Car + Picnic
5.0 (4 reviews)
from €159Check availability
Why the stars are so clear on Teide
There are two separate certifications, and it's worth not mixing them up. Teide National Park is a Starlight Tourist Destination and the Tenerife summits (Cumbres de Tenerife) are a Starlight Reserve. Both were granted by the Starlight Foundation in October 2013 (and presented in January 2014), and Teide was the first World Heritage Site to become a Starlight destination. Both are renewed every four years and are still current.
It's more than a badge: Law 31/1988 (Ley 31/1988) and Royal Decree 243/1992 (Real Decreto 243/1992) regulate lighting to protect the sky above the observatories of the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC). And you observe from about 2,400 m, usually above the coastal cloud.
Tenerife stargazing tours: formats and prices
The main operator is Volcano Teide, the cable car company, which sells several formats. "Teide By Night" isn't a company: it's the name of one of its tours, which many agencies resell. These are its direct prices:
| Tour | Price | Duration | What's included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stargazing at the cable car base station | €35 (€77 with transfer) | 1 h | 9.25" Celestron telescopes and a 30 cm Dobsonian |
| Teide By Night: dinner and stars | €89 | 9 h | coach, sunset, three-course dinner with a drink, telescopes |
| Astronomic Tour | €96 (€110 with dinner) | 8 h | observatory in the afternoon and telescopes at night; Wednesdays and Saturdays |
| Sunset & Stars | €159 | 8 h | cable car at sunset, picnic dinner, telescopes |
| Cable car at sunset (no stars) | €72 | 2 h | up and down, 90 people maximum |
The best-known independent alternative is Night Skies Tenerife: €65 by coach (€85 with dinner), €55 if you drive yourself (€72.50 with dinner) and €47.50 for the 90-minute stargazing session alone, with pick-ups in the south and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
| Platform | Product | Rating | Price | Where to book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuide | Tenerife. Stargazing in the Teide National Park | 4.9 (521) | €35 | See on GetYourGuide |
| Tiqets | Stargazing at Mount Teide | 4.8 (5) | €35 | See on Tiqets |
| Headout | Mount Teide Stargazing Tour | — | €35 | See on Headout |
Adult prices checked on 2 October 2026. They can change with the date; each platform confirms the final price.
The short telescope session costs €35 on GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout, the same price as Volcano Teide's stargazing if you make your own way there. When the price is the same, let the cancellation terms decide: Volcano Teide offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before on almost everything, and each platform shows its policy on the listing.
Three things the listings don't make much of:
- Only Sunset & Stars and the sunset cable car go up to 3,555 m. The rest watch the sunset from the floor of the park and observe at the height of the base station (2,356 m).
- Bad-weather refunds are partial. On Sunset & Stars, if the cable car isn't running, you watch the sunset from Chío or Roques de García and get €72 back; if the stargazing is cancelled, €35. Its cancellation terms are also stricter: free up to 48 hours before, 50% after that and 100% within 24 hours.
- There are fewer departures from the north. Teide By Night picks up in the south every day, but in the north only on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Who runs each tour: see our review of the stargazing operators.
Visiting the Teide Observatory (Izaña)
The Teide Observatory belongs to the IAC, stands at 2,390 m at Izaña and is reached from km 1 of the TF-514. Public visits are run by Volcano Teide on the IAC's behalf (official page), and the platforms resell them.
- Price: €21 for adults; free for ages 8 to 16; under-8s not admitted.
- Duration: 1.5 hours, by day. You see the solar telescopes and go inside a night-time one, usually the Carlos Sánchez or the IAC-80.
- Languages: English and Spanish daily, German Monday to Friday, French on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
- Logistics: you need your own car, because you drive 2 km inside the site. Arrive 30 minutes early with photo ID.
- Cancellation: free up to 24 hours before.
| Platform | Product | Rating | Price | Where to book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuide | Tenerife: Mount Teide Observatory Guided Tour | 4.6 (910) | €21 | See on GetYourGuide |
| Tiqets | Mount Teide Observatory: Guided Visit | 4.3 (111) | €21 | See on Tiqets |
| Headout | Mount Teide Observatory Guided Tour | — | €21 | See on Headout |
| Official site | Volcano Teide, Teide Observatory visit | — | €21 | Official website ↗ |
Adult prices checked on 2 October 2026. They can change with the date; each platform confirms the final price.
It costs €21 on Volcano Teide's website and on all three platforms. With children aged 8 to 16, book on the official website, where they go free; on a platform, check first whether the same free entry applies.
If you want to observe at night inside the observatory grounds, the Astronomic Tour (€96) combines the afternoon visit with telescopes after sunset. And if you're there in June, the IAC holds free open days, in Spanish and lasting about three hours: this year they were on 20 and 21 June, with registration from 1 to 5 June on the IAC website.
When to go: moon, sunset and the best months
The moon comes first. Tenerife's own tourist board recommends avoiding the full moon, and it's the factor that changes most what you see: choose nights close to the new moon.
Tonight—— illuminated
Next new moons
The best nights for stargazing are the five days either side of the new moon.
Tours leave mid-afternoon to catch the sunset, so the pick-up time shifts with the calendar. Sunset & Stars, for example, picks up between 14:15 and 16:30 depending on the time of year.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 08:00 | 18:33 | 10 h 33 min |
| February | 07:45 | 18:58 | 11 h 13 min |
| March | 07:17 | 19:15 | 11 h 58 min |
| April | 07:42 | 20:32 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 07:17 | 20:49 | 13 h 32 min |
| June | 07:10 | 21:05 | 13 h 55 min |
| July | 07:20 | 21:05 | 13 h 45 min |
| August | 07:37 | 20:46 | 13 h 09 min |
| September | 07:52 | 20:12 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 08:07 | 19:38 | 11 h 31 min |
| November | 07:28 | 18:14 | 10 h 46 min |
| December | 07:51 | 18:13 | 10 h 23 min |
Canary Islands local time (the same as the UK, one hour behind mainland Spain), calculated for the south coast in the middle of each month.
Month by month, data from Spain's met office (AEMET) for Izaña show that summer has almost no rainy days and mild nights (an average low of 14 °C in July), while from November to March it rains four to six days a month and, from December to March, the low drops to 1–3 °C. You can stargaze in winter too, with more cold and more risk of rain; even so, in any month the moon matters most.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry nights | unlikely | unlikely | unlikely | likely | ideal | ideal | ideal | ideal | likely | unlikely | unlikely | unlikely |
| Milder nights | unlikely | unlikely | unlikely | likely | likely | ideal | ideal | ideal | ideal | likely | likely | unlikely |
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The meteor shower with a guaranteed date is the Perseids, around 12–13 August. Be aware that the road may be closed on nights with big events. During the last Perseids, which coincided with an eclipse, private cars were banned from the park from 17:00 to 05:00 and TITSA laid on special buses.
What to wear for stargazing at 2,400 m
You'll spend more than an hour standing still, at night, at about 2,400 m. Wear winter clothes even if it's hot down on the coast:
- Long trousers, long sleeves and a proper warm layer. They're compulsory on Sunset & Stars, and in January the average low at Izaña is around 1 °C.
- Closed shoes. On tours with the cable car, heels and open shoes are turned away.
- A hat and gloves in winter: it snows two or three days a month from December to March.
- A red-light torch, if you have one, and patience: your eyes take 15 to 30 minutes to adjust to the dark.
Stargazing on Teide on your own
You don't need a permit to look at the sky from the roadside viewpoints. Tenerife's tourist board recommends the Montaña de Guajara area, the surroundings of the Parador, the Llano de Ucanca viewpoint and Izaña. What you do need to know:
- The cable car car park closes at night: don't count on it for stargazing on your own.
- Camping is banned throughout the park, and so is sleeping in your car or campervan. Bivouacking without a tent is allowed only in four areas and with authorisation from Tenerife ON.
- No smoking anywhere in the park, not even at night or at the viewpoints.
For the rest of your day on the volcano, see our Mount Teide guide; for the weather month by month, when to go to Tenerife.
More stargazing and sunset tours
There are versions with a picnic, with dinner or in a small group. For couples, the dinner format is the most rewarding (Tenerife for couples); with children under 8, check the minimum age on each listing and see Tenerife with kids.
GetYourGuide3 - 5 hours
Tenerife: Sunset and Stargazing at Teide National Park
4.7 (3,665 reviews)
from €35Check availability
GetYourGuide3 - 6.5 hours
Tenerife: Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tour
4.2 (4,620 reviews)
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GetYourGuide3.5 - 8 hours
Teide National Park – Dinner, Sunset & Stargazing Experience
4.5 (2,518 reviews)
from €55Check availability
GetYourGuide9 hours
Teide: Guided Sunset & Stargazing Tour by Night with Dinner
4.7 (1,541 reviews)
from €89Check availability
GetYourGuide2 hours
Tenerife. Stargazing in the Teide National Park
4.9 (521 reviews)
from €35Check availability
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Mount Teide Observatory: Astronomy Tour with Stargazing
3.6 (5 reviews)
from €96Check availability
GetYourGuide3 hours
Teide National Park: Guided Large Telescope Stargazing Tour
4.9 (380 reviews)
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See all options on GetYourGuide →
FAQs
How much does a stargazing tour on Teide cost?
From about €35 for the telescope session or the sunset and stars tour. Formats with dinner start at about €55, Teide By Night costs €89 and Sunset & Stars, with the cable car at sunset, €159.
Can you visit the Teide Observatory?
Yes, by day, on the 1.5-hour guided visit that Volcano Teide runs for the IAC, for €21. Children aged 8 to 16 go free, under-8s aren't admitted and you need your own car.
Is Teide a Starlight Reserve?
Teide National Park is a Starlight Tourist Destination; the Starlight Reserve is the Tenerife summits (Cumbres de Tenerife). Both certifications were granted in 2013 and have been renewed every four years since.
Can children go stargazing on Teide?
The observatory and most of Volcano Teide's night tours don't take children under 8. Other operators have their own rules, so confirm the minimum age on the listing before you book.
Can you see the stars on Teide without a tour?
Yes, you don't need a permit at the roadside viewpoints. Camping and sleeping in your vehicle inside the park are banned, and the cable car car park closes at night.
