How To Spend One Week In Tenerife – Budget Friendly

Let’s talk about why you have to visit this volcanic island! Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and aTenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and although it is situated close to West Africa, it is a part of Spain. The whole island is formed from a volcano called Mt. Teide which is Spain’s tallest peak! A week in Tenerife is a minimum to explore it all!

Table of contents

• When to visit Tenerife
• How to get to Tenerife
• Where to stay in Tenerife (Budget friendly)
• How to get around Tenerife
• What to visit in Tenerife
  • Mt. Teide
  • Beaches
  • Siam Park
  • Monkey Park
  • Surfing
  • Party time
  • Museum of Science and the Cosmos
• Tenerife North vs. South
• Prices in Tenerife
• Tenerife advice

When to visit Tenerife, Canary Islands

How to get to Tenerife, Canary Islands

Since Canary Islands are pretty secluded from the rest of Europe, you are looking at a few hour flight. Of course it depends on where you are flying from. Since my friend and I are from Croatia, we decided to fly from Treviso, Italy. Treviso has a direct Ryanair flight to Tenerife that is around 4 hours long and it lands in Tenerife South Airport. 

Most of the flights from Europe will take around 4 hours to get to Tenerife. If you are also flying from Treviso, you can check the cheapest flights here.

Where to stay in Tenerife on a budget

If you don’t already know, I am still a student so expensive accommodation is not my priority. With this being said, I will give you the names of places where we stayed in that were budget friendly. I will give you three different options so you can choose which one suits your needs the best.

Tenerife Hotels

The first one was a 3-star hotel in Puerto de la Cruz called Apartments La Carabela. We rented a studio so a small kitchen was included. This saved us some money on eating out most of the time. The location is great because it is only a 10min walk from the seafront. The price was around 30 euro per night for both of us which is amazing, we stayed here for 4 nights. I highly recommend this place especially if you are traveling on a budget. If you would like to use your money on adventures rather than on accommodation this is the kind of a place for you.

Tenerife Apartments

Our second accommodation was an apartment in Los Cristianos, on the Av. de Chayofita. Since they canceled our first apartment in Los Cristianos because of some electrical issues, they gave us a bonus to spend on another accommodation which was great. The apartment was around 10-15min walk to Playa de Los Cristianos and Playa de las Vistas. I couldn’t find the exact one that we stayed in so I will put a link to budget friendly ones. 

Last but not least was our unexpected stay in a shared apartment due to a Ryan Air strike. The strike made us prolong our stay for another 3 days but of course we didn’t mind. Since we were already in the que for boarding when we found out about the strike, we didn’t have much time to find another accommodation. Because of the hurry we didn’t even realise what we booked. Later we found out that we booked a room in an apartment where a family was living (I guess). The apartment was called Room Complex – Cristmar and it cost around 30 euro per night for both of us. The price was great and the location was amazing because it was less then a 10 min to Playa de los Cristianos. I couldn’t find the exact one but I found one in the same building, check it out here!

One more type of cheap accommodation are hostels. Since I haven’t been to one I don’t have a suggestion, but you can check the best-rated options here. This is one more way of enjoying not only Tenerife but any of the Canary Islands on a budget!”

How to get around in Tenerife

The best way to explore Tenerife is by renting a car and doing a road trip. This way you will be able to reach every secluded beach, visit Teide, explore not only the nature but also different towns on the island. Renting a car will give you the freedom to do whatever you want. Renting a car will cost around 20 euro per day (check current prices here). This is a great price for getting around Tenerife on a budget, especially if you are traveling with friends or family!

Things to visit in Tenerife, Canary Islands

Since I spent 10 days in Tenerife, I will give you a list with best things to do for a week in Tenerife. I would say that the minimum time you should spend is 4 days in Tenerife. This list will help you plan your one week Tenerife itinerary and make it diverse.

Mt. Teide National Park

My first advice for what to visit in Tenerife is by far National Park Teide. Mt Teide is the volcano that Tenerife is built around and Spain’s highest peak. My only regret is that the cable car that takes you up on the top didn’t do any more rides for the day. But nevertheless we explored the rest of it and it was amazing!

Teide feels like being on Mars, everything is orange and dusty and feels like you’re not on this planet. When we were there the clouds were surrounding the volcano so we were literally above the clouds when we reached the top! If you come in the afternoon and wait long enough you will be able to see the stars more clearly!

Bus to Teide National Park

The bus ride to Mount Teide depends on where you are starting from. From Puerto de la Cruz to Teide is 1h and 40min, from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Teide is 1h and 45min and from Los Cristianos to Teide is around 2h. This is an amazing activity while traveling around Tenerife on a budget.

Bus tickets to Mt Teide can be bought on the bus when you board, at a kiosk or in shops that have a sticker showing that they sell tickets. If you want to buy passes for several trips, they are only sold in kiosks or designated shops.

A return ticket for each of the bus routes cost about 11 EUR.

Best beaches in Tenerife

Beaches are the next best thing! I mean going to Tenerife, or any of the Canary Islands, is all about the tan right? Ps. I have never been more tanned in my life after Tenerife! You even get to choose which colour of the sand you want, I mean c’mon! My favourite is black of course, it’s just so unique and different.

My favourite beach was Playa de Benijo, situated in the north-east and a 45min drive from Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Playa de Benijo is very secluded and hard to reach so I wouldn’t advise to go with children and make sure to have proper footwear as well! This is a black sand beach with a strong current so don’t go in too deep!

Some other, more accessible beaches I liked were Playa de las Teresitas, Playa Amarilla which is famous for the colour its rocks, Playa de las Américas, Playa de los Cristianos and Playa del Médano where we tried surfing for the first time! Enjoying the beaches and swimming is a free activity which is essential to traveling in Tenerife on a budget! Get some beach rackets, a ball and some friends and get active!

Siam Park Tenerife

Siam Park was one on the best things we did on Tenerife. It is a water park in Costa Adeje and it is amazing! Siam Park in Tenerife is also the biggest water park in Europe!

We got there as soon as they opened and were there until the minute they closed. They have lockers where you can leave your things which means you are care free the whole day! We were running from one attraction to the other and still didn’t have enough time as we wanted.

Siam park is very nicely designed and the cute lifeguards are definitely a plus! If you like going to water parks I would definitely suggest taking a day for enjoying this one!

One of the most popular attractions is Siam Park is the Tower of Power 28m high. If you are not that big of an adrenaline junky, the lazy river in Siam Park is the perfect attraction for you. You sit in a tube and simply float down a river! There are many Siam Park rides and slides for all ages and different levels of adrenaline.

Monkey Park Tenerife

Tenerife Zoo Monkey Park is another place we visited and enjoyed very much! You get to feed hamsters while they walk around you, you can feed the birds, take a picture while holding a parrot, see a crocodile and feed the monkeys.

It is a great place to visit with children and it is very slow paced. Tickets for Monkey Park Tenerife are around 10 euro for adults and 5 euro for children. Find more low-cost activities here.

Surf Tenerife

If you are a sporty person I would highly recommend trying surfing in Tenerife. We found a great surf school in Tenerife and took 2h surf lessons. We had the best time ever and a pretty good workout too! The waves weren’t big which made the paddling even harder but it was so much fun to try and get up! 

We tried surfing on the beach Medano which is famous for wind sports. Fuerteventura is another island in the Canary Islands archipelago famous for surfing and diving.

Fiesta en Tenerife

Monkey beach club in Costa Adeje is a great place to go to for a sunset drink that turns into a proper beach party with a lot more drinks! Definitely a fun place visit!

Museum of Science and the Cosmos

Since we had some free time we went to the Museum of Science and the Cosmos in San Cristóbal de La Laguna and it was really interesting. We were the first ones to enter when it opened that day so there were no other people. It was a fun place to see and it would be very interesting for children if you are planning a family vacation!

Tenerife North vs. Tenerife South

The island has such a chill vibe and the south of Tenerife is pretty different to the north when considering the climate and vegetation. The north is rainier and greener while the south is dryer and more sandy. I preferred the south, probably because the weather was much sunnier than in the north.

Tenerife Prices

Since we wanted to travel on a budget, we made some meals at home. In my opinion the supermarket prices in Tenerife were much cheaper than in Croatia and I was pleasantly surprised about it! I can’t say that the cafes and restaurants are pricey. In the end of the day it is a tourist destination so the higher prices are as expected.

I always prefer spending money on adventures like surfing or going to an amusement park. Going out and meeting new people are things I’d rather do then going out to fancy restaurants and staying in expensive hotels. 

Food and drink prices in Tenerife

• Daily Menu in Tenerife South – min. 10 EUR
• Daily Menu in Tenerife North – min. 8 EUR
• Lunch or dinner for 2 people – 25 – 50 EUR in the cheaper and mid range restaurants
• Cocktails – 5 – 10 EUR
• Beer – 1.5 – 4 EUR

Though prices have increased in Europe as well as in Tenerife, the biggest cost is usually the plane ticket. If you manage to book the flights early, the price will be pretty good. Finding cheaper accommodation is not a big issue in Tenerife.

Black beach Tenerife

Tenerife, Canary Islands advice

1. Relax – there were so many crazy stories on this trip, broken car, cancelled accommodation, wrong booking, cancelled flight because of a strike… All of this were just fun times that ended up as something so much better! The advice is just to relax and have fun! Everything will turn out great and you will have many funny memories to tell which is what traveling is all about!
2. WEAR SUNSCREEN! Please people get the highest SPF that you can find and reapply it all the time! You don’t want to see how burnt we were after 10 days in the sun of Tenerife. Trust me the sun hits different over there, you are close to Africa after all!
3. Try a sport – I think you should definitely try out a sport like surfing or kitesurfing and not just lay on the beach the whole day, it is a fun experience and might turn into a new hobby, you never know!

7 MUST do and see things in Tenerife in a Week

• National Park Teide
• Black sand beaches
• Siam Park
• Monkey Park Tenerife
• Tenerife Surf
• Monkey Beach Club Tenerife
• Museum of Science and the Cosmos

Explore more!

I hope you liked this little trip to Tenerife on a budget! My wish is for all of you to experience this island and my goal is to visit the neighbouring Canary Islands as well. I wish you all many travels in this year, check out my other posts to get some more travel inspo and start planning your next adventure! Leave a comment bellow if you liked the post, if you have any questions or if you simply want to share your experience!

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