The Best Day Trips from South Tenerife (and How to Do Them Without a Car)

Home The Best Day Trips from South
la gomera
Guides and Areas
27 August 2026

This guide contains affiliate links to GetYourGuide. If you book a tour through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and we only link tours we would recommend to a friend.

Most people who come to south Tenerife never leave the resort strip, and they go home thinking the island is a sunbed with a sea view. That’s a shame, because the best of Tenerife starts about forty minutes inland. A volcano taller than anything in mainland Spain, a mountain village at the end of a road that clings to a cliff, a whole other island an hour away by ferry, and laurel forests that look prehistoric because they nearly are.

This is an honest run through the day trips actually worth taking from the south, what each one is, whether it’s worth your day, and the bit the tour-booking sites skip: how to do it if you haven’t hired a car, which most visitors haven’t. For some of these a guided tour genuinely is the sensible option. For others you’re better off on a bus with a coffee, and I’ll tell you which is which.

Contents

First: car, tour or bus?

How you get around decides which of these trips make sense, so start here.

A hire car gives you the most freedom and is cheap on Tenerife compared with most of Europe, and if you’re comfortable on winding mountain roads it’s the best way to do Teide, the northwest and the quiet villages at your own pace. A guided tour is worth paying for when the logistics are a genuine hassle, which is the case for Masca, La Gomera and anything involving a ferry or a permit, because the tour handles the timing, the transport and the access rules while you look out of the window. And the public buses, run by TITSA, are cheap, reliable and better than people expect, and they make the cities and some of the coast perfectly doable without a car at all. Our guide to getting around south Tenerife without a car covers the network in detail.

The short rule: cities and the coast by bus, remote nature and islands by tour, everything by car if you’ve hired one.

Mount Teide

The one everybody should do. Teide is the highest point in Spain at 3,715 metres, an active volcano sitting inside a vast crater, in a landscape so unlike the rest of the island that space agencies have used it to test Mars rover equipment. By day you ride the cable car towards the summit and walk the volcanic viewpoints. By night it sits under one of the darkest skies in the world, which makes it one of the best stargazing spots anywhere.

It’s about an hour’s drive from the southern resorts. You can self-drive and take the cable car, join a coach tour, or ride up on a quad, and if you can only do it once, go for a sunset trip so you catch the light and the sea of clouds. We’ve covered all of this in depth, including the cable car, the summit permit and the quad tours, in our full guide to Mount Teide by day and night, and the stargazing guide covers the night side.

Masca and Los Gigantes

Masca is a tiny village strung along a ridge in the Teno mountains, reached by one of the most dramatic roads on the island, all hairpins and drops. It’s often called the most beautiful village in Tenerife, and the viewpoints on the way are worth the drive on their own. Just down the coast, Los Gigantes is a resort beneath sheer cliffs that rise up to 600 metres straight out of the sea, best seen from the water.

Two important things to get straight, because people confuse them. Visiting Masca village and its viewpoints is free and needs no permit, though parking is limited to two hours. Walking the famous Masca gorge, the canyon that descends from the village to the sea, is a different thing entirely and is now tightly controlled. You need a permit booked in advance through the official site, there’s a small fee, proper hiking boots are mandatory or you’ll be turned away, a helmet is issued at the start, slots are limited and sell out, and since late 2025 you have to arrive on a shuttle bus from Santiago del Teide rather than by car. It’s a serious walk, not a stroll. If you want to do the gorge without wrestling with the logistics, a guided Masca and Los Gigantes tour handles the permits, transport and timing for you, and usually pairs the area with the cliffs and the natural pools.

If you just want the scenery rather than the hike, the village, the viewpoints and a boat trip along the Los Gigantes cliffs are the easy, rewarding version.

La Gomera

The little island on the horizon is closer than it looks, and it’s a proper adventure. The ferry from Los Cristianos takes under an hour and lands at San Sebastián, from where the island opens up into the Garajonay National Park, a UNESCO-protected ancient laurel forest that once covered much of Europe, all mist, moss and gnarled trees. It feels a world away from the resorts, greener, quieter and barely touched by mass tourism.

This is one to do as a guided tour rather than alone, unless you’re confident and have a full day to spare, because coordinating the ferry with getting around a mountainous island by public transport eats the day. A La Gomera day trip from the south includes the ferry, a coach and a guide, takes in the national park, the viewpoints and San Sebastián, and often a demonstration of the island’s whistled language, Silbo Gomero. We’ve written it up in full in our La Gomera day trip guide.

Whale and dolphin watching

This is the one people are surprised by, because it’s not a maybe. The stretch of Atlantic between Tenerife and La Gomera is home to resident populations of pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins all year round, so sightings on a boat trip are very likely rather than a matter of luck. Boats run from Los Gigantes, Puerto Colón and Los Cristianos, and the trips out of Los Gigantes have the bonus of the towering cliffs as a backdrop, often with a swim stop.

The one thing that matters is choosing a responsible operator that keeps its distance and doesn’t chase the animals, since the area is protected. A whale and dolphin watching trip from Los Gigantes with lunch and a swim is an easy half-day, and our whale watching guide explains how to pick a tour that treats the wildlife properly.

Loro Parque

Loro Parque, near Puerto de la Cruz in the north, is one of Europe’s largest and most-awarded animal parks, and it’s a firm favourite with families. It holds a huge range of species, from penguins and gorillas to a serious parrot conservation programme, the grounds are immaculate, and children tend to love it. You can buy a ticket that includes the coach transfer from the south, which makes it a straightforward full day out without a car.

It comes with an honest caveat that most guides leave out. Loro Parque keeps orcas and dolphins that perform in shows, and captive cetaceans are increasingly controversial. The park reports four orca deaths between 2021 and 2024, and there is an ongoing, contested plan to move two more orcas there from a closed French marine park, which animal welfare groups strongly oppose. The park frames what it does as conservation and rescue, and points to animals it has taken in that could not survive in the wild. Critics see the shows and breeding as entertainment that shouldn’t continue. A growing number of visitors now skip it for that reason, while others feel the wider conservation work justifies a visit. It’s a personal decision, and worth making with the full picture rather than just the billboard. If you do decide to go, you can book a Loro Parque entry ticket, or a combined Loro Parque and Siam Park ticket if you want to pair it with the big water park, which usually costs less than buying the two separately. If seeing marine life is the draw, the wild whale and dolphin watching above is the alternative some people prefer.

Santa Cruz and La Laguna

The easiest and cheapest day trip of the lot, and the one to do entirely by public transport. Santa Cruz, the island capital, is a real working Spanish city with good shopping, the striking wave-shaped Auditorio, a palm-filled plaza, museums and a proper market. A tram from the centre runs up to La Laguna, the old capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site, whose grid of colourful colonial streets and university buzz feel like a different island from the resorts.

Direct buses run from the southern resorts to Santa Cruz in around an hour, and once there the tram links the two cities cheaply, so you need no car and no tour. It’s the trip for anyone who wants culture, coffee and real Canarian city life rather than another natural wonder, and it costs almost nothing beyond the fares.

Icod, Garachico and Anaga

The northwest rewards a car and a slower pace. Icod de los Vinos is home to the Drago Milenario, a vast dragon tree said to be over 800 years old and unlike anything you’ve seen, and nearby you can descend into the Cueva del Viento, one of the largest lava tubes in the world. A few minutes on, Garachico is a pretty seaside town rebuilt after a volcanic eruption buried its old harbour, leaving behind El Caletón, a set of natural rock pools you can swim in when the sea is calm.

For walkers, the Anaga Rural Park in the far northeast is the wild card: a range of ancient laurel forest, deep ravines and remote hamlets, with some of the best hiking on the island and views out to sea from misty ridges. It needs a car or a tour and a head for winding roads, but it’s the trip for anyone who wants Tenerife at its most untamed. All of this pairs well with a stop on the coast, and our beaches guide and El Médano guide cover the southern end for the days you’d rather stay close to base.

Practical tips

  • Book the ferry and permit trips ahead. La Gomera crossings and the Masca gorge both sell out, and the gorge won’t let you in without a booking and proper boots.
  • Do the cities by bus and the remote nature by tour if you haven’t hired a car. It’s cheaper and less stressful than trying to force everything onto public transport.
  • Take warm layers for Teide and Anaga. Both are high and cold compared with the coast, whatever the beach is doing.
  • Start early. The best trips are full days, and the coach tours pick up early, so it’s not a lie-in kind of day.
  • Check the weather by region, not just your resort. The north and the mountains often have completely different conditions from the south.
  • For Masca, be clear whether you want the village and viewpoints, which are free and easy, or the gorge hike, which needs a permit, boots and planning.
  • Carry your passport or ID for the ferry to La Gomera.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best day trip from south Tenerife?
Mount Teide, for the scale and the stargazing, is the one nearly everyone should do. After that it depends on what you want: La Gomera for an island adventure, whale watching for wildlife, Santa Cruz and La Laguna for culture, and Masca for dramatic scenery.

Can I do day trips without hiring a car?
Yes. Santa Cruz and La Laguna are easy by bus and tram, Loro Parque and La Gomera have tours with transfers included, and whale watching leaves from the coast. A car mainly helps for Teide, the northwest villages and Anaga.

Do I need a permit for Masca?
Only for the gorge hike, which needs an advance booking, a small fee, hiking boots and a shuttle bus, and sells out. The village itself and its viewpoints are free and need no permit.

Is whale watching worth it, and are sightings guaranteed?
It’s one of the more reliable wildlife trips anywhere, thanks to resident pilot whales and dolphins off this coast, so sightings are very likely though never fully guaranteed. Choose an operator that keeps a respectful distance.

Is Loro Parque ethical?
That’s a personal call. It’s a large, well-kept park with real conservation work, but it keeps performing orcas and dolphins, which many people now object to, and it has faced ongoing criticism and orca deaths. Some visitors go and enjoy it, others avoid it on principle. Decide with the full picture.

How far is La Gomera from Tenerife?
The ferry from Los Cristianos takes under an hour to San Sebastián de La Gomera. Guided day trips include the crossing, so you don’t need to organise it yourself.

Prices, ferry times, permit rules and opening hours change, and tours and crossings can be cancelled in poor weather, so always check directly with the operator or the official booking site before setting out. Access rules for Masca and Teide in particular are updated regularly.