Tenerife · Central Tenerife
Teide National Park
Spain’s highest mountain: one bus up, one down
Each morning one bus climbs into the caldera from Costa Adeje and another from Puerto de la Cruz, and each comes back down in the afternoon: that fixed pair is the whole plan. Between them lie the Roques de García, the Ucanca plain and the cable car; the summit is a permit, not a bus stop.
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
- Come for
- Volcanic geology, big landscapes and high-altitude walking
- Make time for
- A full day with transport fixed in advance
- By bus
- Reached by a published TITSA line
The journey is part of the day
Getting to Teide National Park
Use the Costa Adeje–Teide guide for line 342 or the Puerto de la Cruz–Teide guide for line 348. On the trip back down, both timetables give a time at the Teleférico, the cable car base station; going up they time only the coastal and valley stops, so match your intended walk to a stop named on the route before boarding. TITSA’s line 341 table lists trips inside the park between Roques de García, the Parador, the Teleférico, Montaña Blanca, Minas de San José, Portillo Alto, the visitor centre and Portillo Bajo, run by line 342 and 348 buses; it does not guarantee a connection. Bus access does not include a cable-car ticket or permission for the summit trail.
Checked – 2026 Sources: TITSA
Bus guides
- Costa Adeje to Teide Line 342, Line 341 in the park Direct
- Puerto to Teide Line 348, Line 341 in the park Direct
Lines from this site’s guides. Times are in this page’s timetable.
Before you settle in
Keep the way home in mind.
Treat the return as a fixed appointment. Note your return from this page's board, the stop name and direction before walking away from the road, then leave a generous margin for altitude, weather and uneven ground. Line 341's two trips each way inside the park are on this page's board; they are not a shuttle, so leave the one bus home a wide margin. Never assume a cable-car booking, summit permit or guided tour will wait for or connect with lines 342 or 348.
See the next busesA little introduction
Get to know Teide National Park.
Teide National Park is far more than a summit outing. Across Las Cañadas, lava formations, pale pumice slopes and the walls of the caldera create a landscape that changes with every viewpoint. Roques de García provides one of the park’s most recognisable formations, while the Ucanca Valley opens a broader reading of the volcanic basin. Public bus access exists from both the south and the north, but it demands discipline: choose the exact stop, understand how far your walk reaches from it, and record the return before setting off. The high, exposed setting makes spare time more valuable than an overfilled itinerary.
Why go
-
A landscape that changes at every bend
Las Cañadas is a caldera of lava flows, pale pumice slopes and rock walls; the Roques de García and the Ucanca valley are its two set pieces, reachable from the road the buses use.
-
The cable car reaches 3,555 metres
The Teleférico’s upper station sits at 3,555 m with three trails; a cable car ticket lets you walk two of them, and only the summit path needs the national-park permit.
-
The buses time the stops you need on the way down
Lines 342 and 348 both print times at the Parador, the Teleférico and El Portillo for the return trip, so the afternoon bus home is a known quantity.
Checked – 2026 Sources: WebTenerife, TITSA, Teleférico del Pico del Teide
Make a day of it
What to do in Teide National Park
- Sight Don’t miss
Las Cañadas caldera
Use the broad caldera as the organising landscape for the day. Its layered lava, rock forms and distant ridges reveal the scale of the park even if you never approach the upper slopes of Teide.
- Walk Don’t miss
Roques de García
These sculpted volcanic rocks sit near the Parador area and provide a concentrated introduction to erosion and geology. Keep any walk proportional to the time before your fixed return bus.
- Walk Don’t miss
Ucanca Valley and open volcanic walks
The Ucanca Valley gives a spacious perspective across the caldera floor. Conditions can feel very different from the coast, so treat sun, wind, altitude and exposed terrain as central planning factors.
- Activity Don’t miss
The cable car to 3,555 m
The Teide cable car rises to an upper station at 3,555 m. Its operator says the upper station has three hiking trails and a cable car ticket lets you walk two of them freely; the trail to the summit is the one that needs a separate national-park permit.
Show all 8 Show fewer
- Activity Don’t miss
Stargazing as a separate plan
The park is celebrated for dark skies, but the daytime public buses do not create a guaranteed night return. Arrange dedicated transport and check access conditions before making stargazing part of the visit.
- Walk
Roques de García from the Parador
The Parador stop is the one for the Roques de García: the sculpted rocks stand beside it, and the circuit around them is the classic short walk in the park, with the Ucanca plain opening below.
- Sight
El Portillo and the visitor centre
Line 348 from the north arrives at El Portillo first; line 341’s in-park list names the visitor centre, Portillo Alto and Portillo Bajo among the stops the 342 and 348 buses serve inside the park.
- Activity
Stargazing is its own trip
The park is known for its dark skies, but the daytime buses do not come back after dark: a night visit needs its own transport.
Checked – 2026 Sources: WebTenerife, Teleférico del Pico del Teide, TITSA
A day here
How a day in Teide National Park feels
A plan built on the buses this guide already names. The departure times are in the board on this page; choose your bus back before you set out.
-
Morning
Up on the one morning bus
From the south, line 342 leaves Costa Adeje Station and Los Cristianos for the park; from the north, line 348 leaves Puerto de la Cruz station via La Orotava. Each runs once in the morning. Get off at the Parador for the Roques or ride on to the Teleférico.
-
Middle of the day
Walk, or ride the cable car
Give the Roques de García circuit the middle of the day, or take the cable car from the base station and walk one of the two free upper trails. Carry water, sun protection and a warm layer: the national-parks network describes strong day–night contrasts and frequent intense wind.
-
Afternoon
The fixed bus down
Be at the Parador, the Teleférico or El Portillo before the afternoon departure printed in the board; the next bus is tomorrow. Line 348 does not pick up between Aguamansa and Puerto de la Cruz station unless it is stopping to set down.
Checked Sources: TITSA, WebTenerife, Teleférico del Pico del Teide +1
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about Teide National Park
How do I get to Teide by bus?
From the south, TITSA line 342 from Costa Adeje Station via Los Cristianos and Vilaflor; from the north, line 348 from Puerto de la Cruz station via La Orotava. Each runs one trip up in the morning and one down in the afternoon, every day; the times are on the two guides and in the board on this page. Both reach the Parador, the cable car base and El Portillo.
Does the bus go to the top of Teide?
No. The buses stop on the road through the caldera, at about 2,000 m. The cable car takes you to 3,555 m on its own ticket, and the last stretch to the summit needs a free national-park permit, issued through Tenerife ON according to the national parks booking office. Book both before you rely on them.
Is there a bus between the Teide cable car and the Parador?
Line 341 is TITSA’s table for trips inside the park, between Roques de García, the Parador, the Teleférico, Montaña Blanca, the Minas de San José, Portillo Alto, the visitor centre and Portillo Bajo, with two trips a day each way between the Parador and Portillo Bajo, about 20 minutes; the board on this page prints them under the 342 and 348. TITSA's notes name the 342 and 348 as the buses that make 341 trips, without saying which, so it is not a shuttle: a connection is something you plan on the boards with a margin, never a promise.
Checked Sources: TITSA, Teleférico del Pico del Teide, Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales
Good to know
Small details. Better days.
-
Separate three kinds of access
The bus, the cable car and the summit path are three different bookings. Lines 342 and 348 time the Teleférico stop on their return trips; the cable car sells its own ticket; and the summit trail needs a national-park permit that the national parks booking office says is issued through Tenerife ON. Build the day only around what you have actually confirmed.
-
Prepare for altitude and exposure
Spain’s national parks network describes a dry climate with strong day–night contrasts, often intense winds and some snow days in winter. Carry water, sun protection and warm layers even when the coast is hot, and choose a shorter walk if wind, visibility or how you feel at altitude makes the original plan uncomfortable.
Checked Sources: TITSA, Teleférico del Pico del Teide, Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales +2
Photos and film
Teide National Park in pictures
-
Watch before you go
Walk On My Feet Plays through YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. -
The Ucanca plain opens below the Parador stop, where lines 342 and 348 set down in the morning; the walk around the Roques de García starts there too. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons -
Lines 342 and 348 time the Teleférico stop on the way back down only; the cable car sells its own ticket and the summit path needs a separate permit. Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons
Make room for something memorable
Book something around Teide National Park
Affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. Selected activity links open GetYourGuide; destination photos are illustrative. Check the date, current price, meeting point and what is included before booking.
-
Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Teide National Park
Teide and Las Cañadas half-day tour
A guided trip through Teide National Park, Vilaflor and the volcanic landscape of Las Cañadas.
Why consider it Useful for visitors who want landscape interpretation and organised transport rather than building a day around a limited public-bus return.
View experience: Teide and Las Cañadas half-day tour on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)Meeting point & getting there: Teide and Las Cañadas half-day tour
The product offers selected south-Tenerife pickup options. Confirm the exact place when booking; it is not a substitute timetable for lines 342 or 348.
-
Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Teide and La Orotava
Teide and La Orotava shore excursion
A small-group route through Teide landscapes and La Orotava, sold on GetYourGuide as a shore excursion.
Why consider it It links volcanic scenery with a historic northern town; check the meeting point on the product page against your ship’s all-aboard time before booking.
View experience: Teide and La Orotava shore excursion on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)Meeting point & getting there: Teide and La Orotava shore excursion
Check the meeting point and any pickup on the product page before booking; this site could not read them.
-
Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 Teide National Park
Mount Teide tour with cable car ticket
A Teide National Park tour with a cable car ticket and transfer; the cable car’s operator gives its upper station as 3,555 m.
Why consider it It bundles the two things the bus does not: a cable car ticket and transport that does not depend on one return departure from the park.
View experience: Mount Teide tour with cable car ticket on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)Meeting point & getting there: Mount Teide tour with cable car ticket
Check the pickup options, and what happens if the cable car does not run, on the product page before booking. The cable car’s operator says the summit trail needs a separate permit.
Current experiences on GetYourGuide
Tours and activities on Tenerife as GetYourGuide lists them today, with current prices and reviews.
There’s more around the corner
Where next?
-
Marc Ryckaert / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0 -
Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 Orotava Valley, north Tenerife
La Orotava
Traditional architecture, garden views and atmospheric uphill streets
-
Pimlico27 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Guide checked · How we check · Suggest a correction
Sources for this page
The sources this page cites, each with the date we checked it. Two dates mean the facts that cite it were checked on different days.
TITSA
- Line 342 timetable Checked – 2026
- Line 348 timetable Checked – 2026
- Line 341: trips within Teide National Park Checked – 2026
WebTenerife
- Teide National Park Checked – 2026
- Route through Teide National Park Checked – 2026
Teleférico del Pico del Teide
- Teide cable car Checked – Oct 2026
MITECO
- Teide National Park (Spanish National Parks Network) Checked – Oct 2026
Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales
- Teide summit access permit Checked – Oct 2026
Plan Teide National Park in the app. Take the bus.
Tenerife Bus plans your journey on the island’s published bus lines, with every stop on the way.
Scan to install on Android - Day tripsVillages, beaches and sights, with the way back planned before you leave.
- Stops in orderEvery stop on the line, so you get off at the right one.