Tenerife on €26/Day: €13/Day Rental Car & 8 Days of Hiking

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

A rental car split four ways cost €3.38/day per person. All the hiking was free. Here’s the full breakdown of what we spent in 8 days:

ITEM	COST (4P)	NOTES
Stay	€442.56	4-person apartment in El Pris, 8 nights at ~€55/night via Booking.com
Car Rental	€108.00	€13.50/day. The €3/Day Hack 8 days with REcordgo via DiscoverCars
Fuel	€84.00	€10.50/day
Food	€212.00	€6.63/day per person Shopped at Lidl and cooked in the kitchen
Sights	€0.00	All hiking was free.
TOTAL	€846.56	8 days at €26.46/day per person

How €26.46/day per person compares to my other trips: Budget Travel Cost per Day.

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Getting There

We flew from Warsaw to Tenerife South Airport (TFS) for €54/person with Wizz Air, and came back for €56/person with Ryanair. We booked around a month in advance.

If you’re flying with open dates and a small bag, check Ryanair and Wizz Air via Skyscanner search. At the time of writing, tickets under €25 are available for flights from Tenerife to Morocco, mainland Spain, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and Poland.

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Car Rental at Tenerife South Airport

• Cost: We paid €108 for 8 days (€13.50/day) with REcordgo via DiscoverCars (my review). Split four ways, that’s €3.38/day per person.
• Current Prices: Small cars at Tenerife South Airport from €22.84/week (€3.26/day) at the time of writing via DiscoverCars. Check full European Car Rental Price Comparison for cheapest rental car destinations around Europe.
• Vehicle: SEAT Arona. Great car. Enough power for steep inclines with four passengers. Avoid the absolute cheapest classes – they will struggle on Tenerife’s hills.
• Excess: To only pay the advertised rate, decline the desk insurance. Cover it with an independent policy like Cover4Rentals instead. Full process: €3/Day Rental Car Guide.
• Tolls: No toll roads in Tenerife.
• Fuel: €84 for our trip. Cheaper than mainland Spain (and most of Europe) because of lower taxes. Prices were as low as €1.00/L in February 2026. Use Google Maps or Gasall app to check real-time local fuel prices.
• Parking: Generally free. Trailheads don’t charge, but they get very busy – arrive early. Google Maps shows free parking in cities.

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Accommodation in Tenerife

• Apartment: 8 nights in El Pris via Booking.com. €442.56 for four (€55.32/night, €13.83 per person per night). One-bedroom apartment for four adults, with a kitchen. Very basic place, but enough for us.

• Off-Season: Early February cut our apartment cost nearly in half compared to high-season rates.
• Booking.com: Widest selection, most competition and lowest prices. Sort by lowest price and filter to 7.0+ to clear out the junk listings.
• New Listings: Fresh properties often run launch discounts to build reviews. That’s how we got a decent apartment for €55.32/night, split four ways.
• One Base: Tenerife is small enough to drive end to end in around two hours. We stayed in one reasonably central spot all 8 nights – no repacking, and cheaper.

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Food

€212 for four people over 8 days. €6.63/day per person.

We shopped at Lidl and cooked at the apartment. We went 2–3 times and tried to shop in bulk.

Lidl has been the cheapest supermarket option for us across Europe, so we didn’t check other chains on the island. The main ones are Lidl, Mercadona, Aldi and Hiperdino (the Canary Islands’ own chain, which runs large hypermarkets and smaller Superdino stores), with Carrefour and Alcampo in Santa Cruz. Mercadona is slightly more expensive than Lidl in our experience elsewhere in Spain, but sometimes it’s the only option. More food tricks: Budget Travel Tips.

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Route

Arrival Day – El Pris

We flew from Warsaw to Tenerife South Airport, picked up the rental car, shopped at Lidl and drove to our apartment in El Pris. It was a bit of a mission to understand the instructions to get in, but once inside we found we were on the top floor with a lovely view of the ocean.

Day 1 – Anaga Rural Park

We spent the day in Anaga Rural Park, a super lush and green area in the far northeast of Tenerife. We did a hike to Roque de Taborno, then walked to Mirador Aguaide and explored the area around it. Parking was limited, but not too hard to find early in the morning. We also stopped at Mirador Cruz del Carmen, but the fog was so thick that we couldn’t see anything.

Day 2 – West Coast, Chinyero, Teide

We decided to explore the northwest of the island. Our first stop was Icod de los Vinos, where we saw the ancient dragon tree from the outside.

Then we reached a really beautiful west part of the island with dramatic green cliffs. The first major stop was Mirador Altos de Baracán. After that we passed by Masca, a picturesque mountain village. With the amount of people around, it was impossible to park even in the low season, so we just drove by slowly and took it in from the car. The road is narrow and winding, and the traffic is slow moving, but if you’re a confident driver, it’s not a problem.

The Masca Gorge (Barranco de Masca) is a popular hike, but it requires a timed permit costing around €40 per adult (€28 for the ticket plus a €10 shuttle from Santiago del Teide). We didn’t do it.

Next we drove on and stopped at Mirador de Archipenque for coastal views of the Los Gigantes cliffs, which rise up to around 450 m. We tried to park in Puerto de Santiago and reach the beach, but the amount of traffic and people was overwhelming, so we drove away.

Our way back to the apartment was through the central plateau of Teide. The views are out of this world. It’s a volcanic plateau, full of black rock. We hiked the Sendero del Chinyero loop for a couple of hours.

On the way back we stopped at a few of the many lookouts, the main one being La Ruleta Vista Point, with its characteristic rock formations and a short hike you can do there.

Day 3 – Anaga, Taganana, Chamorga, Candelaria

We went back to Anaga, this time driving through Santa Cruz de Tenerife and stopping for a rest at a packed Playa de Las Teresitas. From there we carried on along scenic routes all the way east to Chamorga. The roads are super narrow.

On the way back we went to Taganana, a very scenic village (the green cliffs reminded me a lot of Hawaii), and did a hike of a couple of hours along the coast.

Heading back to the apartment, we stopped again at Mirador Cruz del Carmen. Two days before, the fog had hidden everything, but now the view was much better.

In the evening we went to Candelaria for the traditional procession of candles at the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria, the patron saint of the Canary Islands. It took place on the eve of her feast day (February 1). It’s free to watch, and hundreds of locals were there. Great experience.

Day 4 – Güímar, Los Cristianos, El Médano

We booked a whale watching excursion in Los Cristianos, so we dedicated the day to exploring the south. On the way we stopped at the Pyramids of Güímar and had a look from the outside. Tickets start at €12.50 per person. It’s a very popular spot, but to be honest it didn’t look impressive, so we decided to skip it.

To our surprise, the whale watching cruise we booked didn’t go that day because of the weather, and the operator failed to inform us about it. We were quite disappointed, but got our money back without issues. We spent the rest of the day at Playa de El Médano.

Day 5 – Teide Permit, Mount Guajara, Santa Cruz

For this day I booked a permit to hike the Teide summit. It was still free when I was booking, but new fees were just coming into effect. We prepared crampons for the hike, as the requirements said, but unfortunately the park ranger didn’t let us do it because we didn’t have trekking poles. That was disappointing, as it wasn’t mentioned in the rules.

Instead we headed a little bit south and did the Mount Guajara hike. It’s around 10–11 km, the summit is around 2,700 m, and the views over Teide and the whole volcanic plateau are amazing. It took us around 3–4 hours and we didn’t see many people around. No permit needed.

After the hike we spent the evening in the island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. There are a couple of churches worth visiting, but it’s definitely not one of the most charming Spanish cities.

Day 6 – Los Revolcaderos, La Laguna

We had a bit of a slower day. In the morning we did the Los Revolcaderos hike for a few hours.

In the evening we walked the historic streets of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This city is much nicer than Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Day 7 – Punta del Hidalgo, La Orotava

Again we followed the same pattern as the day before. In the morning we decided to hike from the coastal viewpoint at Mirador Punta del Hidalgo to Mirador Aguaide, as the day was beautiful and we really loved the Anaga area.

In the evening we headed to the colonial town of La Orotava where we spent a pleasant couple of hours before heading back to the apartment to pack.

Day 8 – Boca del Paso, Departure

On the last day before flying, we completed the Boca del Paso hiking trail, then drove to Tenerife South Airport, gave back the car (no issues) and flew back home.

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Season

We went at the beginning of February, in the quieter stretch between Christmas and Carnival. Winter (December–March) is the main season for northern Europeans escaping the cold, and July–August is the other peak.

• Weather: The daytime highs were very stable at around 20–22°C. It barely rained.
• North vs. South: Trade winds push cloud and rain onto the north, which is why Anaga is so green. On Day 1 fog hid the view at Mirador Cruz del Carmen. The south around El Médano is drier and sunnier.
• Teide: Snow is normal in winter, and heavy snow can close roads and trails. The summit trail needs a permit year-round, with fees since January 2026. Permits sell out weeks ahead. We had crampons and were still turned back (see Day 5).
• Boat Trips: Winter weather can cancel boats. Our whale watching cruise was cancelled on the day.
• Carnival: Santa Cruz Carnival ran January 16–February 22, 2026, with the main street events on February 13–22. We were there the week before. Accommodation around those dates books out weeks in advance.
• Quieter Months: March–May and September–November are the usual picks for hiking, with thinner crowds than winter and summer.

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Practical

Currency

Euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, but carry some cash for parking attendants and street vendors. If you’re coming from a non-euro country, use Revolut to avoid conversion fees. There’s a 1% weekend markup, but you can avoid it by exchanging currencies in the app beforehand.

SIM

Any EU SIM works under Roam Like at Home – no need to buy a local one. If you don’t have one, check eSIMDB, filter by the amount of data you need and your trip length, then sort by price.

Language

Spanish. English is widely spoken in hospitality and tourism, but not reliably outside of it. Learn at least a few phrases:

• por favor – please
• hola – hello
• buenos días – good morning/good day
• buenas tardes – good afternoon
• buenas noches – good evening/good night
• gracias – thank you

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Tips Summary

• Rental Car: Check DiscoverCars for cheap rates. Split four ways, €108 for 8 days came to €3.38 per person per day. Pick a class with enough power. The SEAT Arona handled steep roads with four adults.
• Excess Cover: Decline the desk insurance and cover the excess with Cover4Rentals. That keeps the rental at the advertised €13.50/day.
• Booking.com Filters: Sort by lowest price and filter to 7.0+. New listings often run launch discounts. That’s how we got a four-person apartment for €55.32/night (€13.83 per person).
• One Base: Tenerife is small enough to drive end to end in under two hours. One apartment for all 8 nights meant no repacking, and it was cheaper.
• Lidl and a Kitchen: We shopped in bulk 2–3 times and cooked at the apartment. Food for four came to €212 over 8 days (€6.63/day per person).
• AllTrails: I recommend it for finding suitable routes, with estimated times, distance, photos and hiker reviews.
• Teide Summit Permit: Required year-round, with fees since January 2026. Permits sell out weeks ahead, so book early.
• Teide Winter Gear: Bring trekking poles along with crampons. The ranger turned us away at the trail without them, even though the rules didn’t mention poles.
• Early Parking: Anaga parking is limited, but early mornings were not that hard. Masca and Puerto de Santiago were too crowded to park at all.
• Boat Trips: Book whale watching early in the stay so there are days left to rebook. Weather cancelled ours and the operator didn’t tell us.
• Candelaria: The candle procession on the night of February 1 is free to watch, with hundreds of locals.

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