Tenerife · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Tenerife is two islands in one — cheap surf towns in the north, resorts in the south, a volcano between.
Puerto de la Cruz
Backpackers head north to Puerto de la Cruz and student-filled La Laguna for cheap beds and surf. The southern resorts are pricier and quieter off season.
What a day costs
Dorm €18–30, a menú del día €10–14, island bus fares a few euros. Around €40–70 a day, roughly $45–80 — cheaper than the mainland.
Getting around cheap
TITSA's green buses cover the island and a rechargeable ten-euro card roughly halves the fares; the same card works on the Santa Cruz tram.
Free by day
Teide National Park charges nothing to enter or to walk below the summit, La Laguna's colonial streets are free, and Playa Jardín's black sand is public.
La Laguna's old town
The university quarter's bars are where travellers and students mix, cheaply; in the south, the surf hostels around Las Américas do the same job.