Tenerife in 3 Days: A Realistic Itinerary from the South

The plan in one paragraph

This itinerary assumes you sleep in the south, in Costa Adeje, Playa de las Américas or Los Cristianos, and have a hire car for at least two of the three days. Drive times are from Costa Adeje and assume no traffic; the TF-1 and TF-5 motorways are slow at rush hour. Book the Teide cable car before you fly.

Day 1: Teide and Vilaflor

Leave by 8:00 and take the TF-21 up through Vilaflor de Chasna (about 40 minutes), Spain's highest municipal capital at around 1,400 m and worth a coffee stop. The drive from the coast to the cable car base takes roughly 1 h 15 min. Fit the Roques de García loop (about 1 h 30 min, easy) before or after your cable car slot; at La Rambleta walk the short viewpoint trails. Only hikers with a national park permit booked on Tenerife ON may continue to the crater, and since January 2026 non-residents pay for it. Lunch: a picnic, the Parador restaurant or the cable car cafeteria. In the afternoon stop at the Minas de San José pumice fields on the TF-21, then either return via Vilaflor for dinner or wait for sunset at the Mirador de Chío on the TF-38 and come down the west side. Back at the coast around 19:30–20:00.

Without a car, TITSA line 342 leaves the Costa Adeje bus station in the morning and returns from the Parador mid-afternoon, one departure a day, which gives about three hours in the park; the alternative is a bus tour.

Day 2: Anaga, La Laguna and Santa Cruz

Take the TF-1 to Santa Cruz (about an hour) and start at the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, the covered market, for breakfast and a look at the fish hall. From the city the TF-12 climbs to Cruz del Carmen in about 30 minutes, with the Anaga visitor centre and the Sendero de los Sentidos, a short loop through laurel forest that takes between twenty minutes and just over an hour depending on the variant. Continue over the ridge and down the hairpins to Taganana and the coast at Almáciga for a fish lunch with a view of the Roques de Anaga, about 30 minutes from Cruz del Carmen; Benijo beach itself has been closed to access since 2024, so plan on Almáciga. Return the same way and drop down to La Laguna for the afternoon: the World Heritage old town is flat, pedestrian and best walked in 90 minutes. Eat early in the tapas bars near the university, then an hour back south by motorway.

Without a car, line 110 or 111 reaches the Santa Cruz interchange in about an hour, tram line 1 links it to La Laguna in 35–40 minutes, and line 946 runs from Santa Cruz to Taganana and Almáciga with reduced frequency in winter. On a foggy day in Anaga, swap the ridge for more time in the two cities.

Day 3: Masca, Los Gigantes and Garachico

Head west on the TF-1 and TF-82 to Santiago del Teide (about 45 minutes) and turn onto the TF-436, the narrow mountain road to Masca; the drive from the coast to the viewpoints above the hamlet takes about an hour. Do not plan to walk the gorge today: it requires an advance booking on the official site, an authorised shuttle and boat, and the whole day. Return to Santiago del Teide and drop to Los Gigantes for the cliffs from the Mirador de Archipenque; a two-hour whale-watching trip from the harbour fits well before lunch. In the afternoon drive north on the TF-82 and TF-42 to Garachico, about 40 minutes: lunch in the old town, the El Caletón lava pools if the sea is calm, and the plaza. The way back to the south is via Santiago del Teide or around the north on the TF-5 and TF-1, about 1 h 30 min either way.

The beach alternative: La Tejita and El Médano in the morning for wind and a walk to Montaña Roja, Playa del Duque or Las Vistas in the afternoon for sunbeds and calm water.

Where to eat

• A guachinche, the family-run wine houses of the north, fits Day 2 around La Laguna and Tacoronte or Day 3 around Icod and Garachico. Short menus, own wine, cash.
• The Santa Cruz market for breakfast and fish; Taganana and Almáciga for grilled fish; Vilaflor and Garachico for lunch in the plaza.

What to skip

• Do not combine Teide and Masca on the same day; the roads are slow and both deserve a full morning.
• Loro Parque and Siam Park each take a full day; add them only if they are the reason you came.
• Puerto de la Cruz and La Orotava are worth a visit, but not instead of Anaga or Garachico.
• Avoid the Masca road and the park roads at night; they are unlit and winding.