Tenerife month by month: weather, holidays and the bus

The practical part

The essentials

Read the month's normals, not the forecast
Santa Cruz, 36 m above the sea, monthly mean temperature, sunshine hours and rainfall: January 18.2 ºC, 178 h, 32 mm; February 18.3, 186, 35; March 19.0, 221, 38; April 19.7, 237, 12; May 21.0, 282, 4; June 22.9, 306, 1; July 25.0, 337, 0; August 25.5, 319, 2; September 24.9, 253, 7; October 23.4, 222, 19; November 21.3, 178, 34; December 19.4, 168, 43. These are normals, not a forecast for your week.
Checked 12 Oct 2026 WebTenerife: Climate normals for Santa Cruz de Tenerife (mean temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall by month)
Know the holiday dates, because the buses do
The 2026 calendar for the Canary Islands: 1 and 6 January, 2 and 3 April, 1 May, 30 May (Día de Canarias), 15 August, 12 October, 2 November, 8 and 25 December, plus one island day each (Tenerife's is 2 February). On those dates TITSA's Sundays-and-holidays table applies and this site's boards switch to it.
Checked 12 Oct 2026 Gobierno de Canarias: Calendario de fiestas laborales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2026 (BOC 2025/088) TITSA: Line 40 timetable
Plan the mountain by season
Teide by bus is the same two lines all year, 342 and 348, one up and one down. What changes is what you need at the top: WebTenerife describes snow at the volcano's foot in winter and a coast at 25 ºC in summer, so the layer you carry in January is the sun hat you carry in July.
Checked 12 Oct 2026 TITSA lines 342, 348 WebTenerife: Tenerife's climate: north–south contrast, trade winds, sea of clouds

Winter: December to February

The coolest and wettest months by the normals, which still means a mean above 18 ºC and under 45 mm of rain. The north's sea of clouds and the south's sun are a bus ride apart, which is what the north–south contrast page is about; a winter day can be spent choosing the sunny side.

Checked 12 Oct 2026 WebTenerife: Climate normals for Santa Cruz de Tenerife (mean temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall by month)WebTenerife: Tenerife's climate: north–south contrast, trade winds, sea of clouds

Spring: March to May

Sunshine climbs from 221 to 282 hours a month and rain falls away to single figures by May. Easter (2 and 3 April 2026) and 1 May are holiday-table days for the buses; 30 May, Día de Canarias, is the island's own.

Checked 12 Oct 2026 WebTenerife: Climate normals for Santa Cruz de Tenerife (mean temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall by month) Gobierno de Canarias: Calendario de fiestas laborales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2026 (BOC 2025/088)

Summer: June to September

The driest and sunniest stretch, with July's 337 hours of sun and a 25 ºC mean. The beach lines earn their keep: 910 to Las Teresitas and 470 to El Médano run every day, and 15 August is a holiday-table day.

Checked 12 Oct 2026 WebTenerife: Climate normals for Santa Cruz de Tenerife (mean temperature, sunshine hours, rainfall by month) TITSA lines 910, 470 Gobierno de Canarias: Calendario de fiestas laborales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2026 (BOC 2025/088)

Autumn: October and November

Still 21 to 23 ºC with the first rain of the year, and two holiday-table days inside this site's current timetable window: 12 October and 2 November. The boards on this site carry both dates.

A rainy day: two museums without a car

The Cabildo's Museos de Tenerife run two museums a family can reach by bus or tram. The Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología (MUNA) is in the centre of Santa Cruz, a few minutes' walk from Plaza de España and the bus station by its own page, with tram line 1's Fundación stop close by: volcanoes, natural history and the island's archaeology, with free audio guides in six languages. The Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (MCC) is in La Laguna, on Avenida Los Menceyes, the hands-on science museum, and its planetarium is a separate venue inside it, with its own ticket and its own projection schedule. Both open every day, on shorter hours on Sundays and public holidays, let the last visitors in half an hour before closing, and close on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 and 6 January. At Carnival they differ: MUNA lists Carnival Tuesday as closed, while the MCC closes on both Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday. Their pages carry the hours and prices, which this site does not print.

Checked 13 Oct 2026 Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología (Santa Cruz): visiting hours, admission, getting there Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (La Laguna): visiting hours, admission and closures Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos: the planetarium and its projection schedule

Asked and answered

Questions people ask

What is the best month to visit Tenerife without a car?

Any; the buses run the same lines all year. By the normals, May to October give the most sun and the least rain at the coast; the winter months are mild and best spent on the sunny side the north–south contrast gives you.

Do the buses run on public holidays?

Yes, on the Sundays-and-holidays table, which is thinner than the weekday one. The Canary Islands' 2026 holidays are listed above; the boards on this site switch to the holiday table on those dates.

Checked 12 Oct 2026 Gobierno de Canarias: Calendario de fiestas laborales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2026 (BOC 2025/088) TITSA: Line 40 timetable

Are the museums open on a public holiday such as 2 November?

Yes. The Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos and the Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología both open every day and put Sundays and public holidays on their own, shorter hours, with the last entry half an hour before closing. Their free-entry afternoons are on Fridays and Saturdays only, so a Monday holiday is a normal paid visit. The planetarium in La Laguna runs on its own schedule and ticket: plan the day around a session from its page.

Checked 13 Oct 2026 Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (La Laguna): visiting hours, admission and closures Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueología (Santa Cruz): visiting hours, admission, getting there Museos de Tenerife (Cabildo de Tenerife): Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos: the planetarium and its projection schedule Gobierno de Canarias: Calendario de fiestas laborales de la Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias para el año 2026 (BOC 2025/088)

Do children get into the museums free?

Children under eight do, by both museums' pages. Students, pensioners, over-65s, members of large families and groups of more than eight pay a reduced rate, but a child of eight or more is not reduced for being a child: unless they qualify on one of those counts, they pay the adult rate, so ask at the desk with the right card. The planetarium is a ticket of its own.

Does it rain in Tenerife?

At Santa Cruz, by the official normals, about 43 mm in December and nothing to speak of in July; the north is greener than the south, and the sea of clouds sits on the northern slopes while the south is in sun.

The other half of the plan

And the way back.

On a holiday date, read the Sun & holidays tab of the board, not the weekday one, before you plan the way back; the first and last buses move.