The practical part
The essentials
Choose by airport first
Flying into Tenerife South: Costa Adeje, Los Cristianos or Santa Cruz are a direct bus away (40 or 10). Flying into Tenerife North: La Laguna, Santa Cruz (20) or Puerto de la Cruz (30). Crossing the island on arrival is possible (line 343 links the airports) but it is the hardest journey of the holiday to make first.
Then by the day trips you want
Teide: 342 from Costa Adeje, 348 from Puerto de la Cruz. Anaga: 946 from Santa Cruz. Beaches: Las Teresitas from Santa Cruz, El Médano from Los Cristianos, the pools from La Laguna. The west coast: 477 and 473 from Costa Adeje. Garachico and Icod: 363 from Puerto de la Cruz.
Then by the kind of stay
WebTenerife's accommodation pages sort the island into hotels, rural houses, apartments, pensions and holiday homes, and single out the Parador de Turismo in Las Cañadas and the Refugio de Altavista on Teide. A rural house is the one category this site cannot vouch for by bus: check its stop on the line's own page before you book.
Checked WebTenerife: Accommodation in Tenerife: hotels, rural houses, apartments, pensions, holiday homes
Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos
The resort base: line 40 from the south airport, the night line 711, Teide on 342, Los Gigantes on 477, El Médano on 470 and the ferry to La Gomera from Los Cristianos harbour. The most lines to the most places a visitor asks for, at the cost of being an hour from the north by bus.
Checked TITSA lines 40, 711, 342, 477, 470 Fred. Olsen Express: Fast ferry Tenerife (Los Cristianos)–La Gomera
Santa Cruz and La Laguna
The city base: both airports by direct bus (10 and 20), La Laguna's old town by line 15 or the tram, Anaga by 946, Las Teresitas by 910, Candelaria by 120 and 122, and the north by 100 and 103. Fewer beaches at the door, more buses to everywhere.
Puerto de la Cruz
The northern base: line 30 from Tenerife North, 100 and 103 to the capital, 348 to Teide, 345 to La Orotava, 363 along the Isla Baja to Icod, Garachico and Buenavista, and 381 to Loro Parque. The green side of the island, with the sea of clouds WebTenerife describes above it.
Checked TITSA lines 30, 100, 348, 345, 363, 381 WebTenerife: Tenerife's climate: north–south contrast, trade winds, sea of clouds
Staying on the mountain
WebTenerife lists the Parador de Turismo in Las Cañadas and the Refugio de Altavista; the Parador is the end of line 348 and a stop on 342, so a night at altitude is reachable by bus with one departure each way. The refuge is a walk above the cable car, outside what any bus reaches.
Checked WebTenerife: Accommodation in Tenerife: hotels, rural houses, apartments, pensions, holiday homes TITSA lines 348, 342
Asked and answered
Questions people ask
Which part of Tenerife is best without a car?
For a beach holiday with day trips, Costa Adeje or Los Cristianos on line 40 from the south airport; for towns, markets and the green north, La Laguna or Puerto de la Cruz on lines 20 and 30 from the north airport; for the most lines in one place, Santa Cruz.
Can I stay in a rural house and still use the bus?
Sometimes. WebTenerife lists rural houses across the island, but a rural stop may have a few buses a day or none on Sundays; check the house's nearest line on this site's boards, or on the operator's page when this site has no board for it, before you book, and prefer a village on a line this site covers.
Checked WebTenerife: Accommodation in Tenerife: hotels, rural houses, apartments, pensions, holiday homes TITSA: Tenerife airport bus hub
Is Puerto de la Cruz or Costa Adeje better for Teide by bus?
Both have one bus up and one down: 348 from Puerto de la Cruz, 342 from Costa Adeje. Choose the base for the rest of the holiday; Teide works from either, and the guide for each line prints the departures.
The other half of the plan
And the way back.
Whichever base, book the first night close to the airport bus's stop and read the board for your arrival day before you fly, so the holiday starts with a bus you have already chosen.
