Tenerife Volcano Tours: Teide, the Cable Car and the Summit Permit
41 experiences on one island. The cable car stops 163 metres below the top, and the permit for those metres is capped at 300 people a day.
Tenerife is the only place in Europe where a cable car takes you to 3,555 metres in under ten minutes, and it is also the place where the largest number of people every year discover, at 3,555 metres, that this is not the top. The summit of Teide is 3,715. The 163 metres of height in between are walked, they take about forty minutes, and they need a permit that the cable car company does not include, does not sell and cannot obtain for you. That single fact reorganises the whole island's catalogue, and almost every English-language page about Tenerife still gets part of it wrong.
Below this page sit four groups of trip that behave like separate destinations: the climb, the night sky, the engines and the private car. They overlap less than you would expect, and one of them outsells the mountain itself by a margin that surprises everybody. What follows is the part that decides your day: how high each product actually goes, what the ticket does not cover, and which of the five identical coach circuits on sale you are about to buy.
Choose a destination in Tenerife
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Stargazing & Astronomy
Stargazing in Teide National Park, one of the world's certified dark-sky reserves, and the Izaña observatory.
11 experiences -
Quad & Buggy
Quad, buggy and off-road runs across Tenerife's lava fields and up towards the Teide caldera.
8 experiences -
Private Tours
Private Teide tours with your own guide and vehicle, on your own schedule.
6 experiences -
Teide Hikes & Summit
Walking Teide and the cable car to 3,555 m. The last 163 m to the summit need a permit, booked separately and months ahead.
6 experiences
Volcano Travel Experiences in Tenerife
Teide in Thirty Minutes, and the 800-Year Drago at Icod
The stop inside Teide National Park is about thirty minutes, enough for Las Cañadas and the Roques de García, and the drago at Icod is put at over 800 years.
Teide, Masca and Garachico in a Private Mercedes V-Class
A Mercedes V-Class and an official Canary Islands guide of twenty years, on a route you can rearrange. Teide, the Roques de García, Masca, Garachico, Icod.
Teide Stargazing with Dinner, and a Laser Tour of the Sky
Dinner up the mountain, sunset above the clouds, then planets and deep-sky objects through the telescope. Leave a phone number for the meeting instructions.
Teide Star Safari: Dinner at 7 Cañadas, 2,130 m, Starlight Guides
The dinner is three Canarian courses at Restaurante 7 Cañadas, 2,130 metres up, and the guides who run the telescopes afterwards are Starlight-certified.
Teide Summit at 3,718 m by the Telesforo Bravo Permit Path
The Telesforo Bravo path to 3,718 metres needs a park permit, which the operator applies for, so the booking is not confirmed at once. Non-refundable.
Teide Sunset and Stargazing at 2,000 m, with Smartphone Astrophotography
Telescopes at around 2,000 metres, a laser pointer for the constellations, and the guide helps you photograph the sky through the eyepiece with your phone.
Teide Sunset by Quad, Above the Cloud Line
The quads climb until the cloud is below the road and the sunset happens above it. One limit to check before booking: 160 kg maximum per quad, not per rider.
Teide, the 16-Metre Drago and the Roque de Garachico
Eight to nine hours out of southern Tenerife, with the Drago Milenario at over 16 metres tall and the Roque de Garachico standing 300 metres offshore.
Teide, the Drago of Icod, the Lava Pools of Garachico and Masca
The route takes in the Drago of Icod at over 1,200 years old, the lava pools left at Garachico and the pirate refuge of Masca inside the Los Gigantes cliffs.
Teide, Then Bodegas Monje: Three Wines and a Terrace
Teide first, then Bodegas Monje at El Sauzal, where the vines are worked by hand at 600 metres. Lunch on the terrace with three Canarian wines. Private.
Teide, the Pirate Valley at Masca and Ycoden Daute Isora
The circuit runs in the other direction from Puerto de la Cruz: Teide first, then Masca and its pirate legend, and free time for lunch in Ycoden Daute Isora.
Teide via Vilaflor, with Lunch at Garachico and Masca Last
The break at Vilaflor comes before the park, lunch is at Garachico rather than Icod, and Masca and its ravines close the day. Orotava Valley on the way down.
Teide with Five Hours in the Park: Roques de García
Eight hours in total, five of them inside the park, with the Roques de García and the Árbol de Piedra. Pick-ups from Puerto de la Cruz or Santa Cruz.
Tenerife with a Geologist, Four Seats in an SUV, Photos After
An official guide who is also a geologist, an SUV with four seats and no more, and the photos sent on afterwards. The route is decided once you are in the car.
The Baby Volcano and a Lava Cave in Teide Park, Pick-Up Included
An easy walk to the Baby Volcano with 360-degree views, a lava cave and old flows on the way, free minibus pick-up and 20 to 30 photographs afterwards.
The Queen's Shoe and 12 Million Cubic Metres of Lava, Small Group
A small group instead of a coach, with the Queen's Shoe rock, the Pino Gordo pine, and Pico Viejo, which put out 12 million cubic metres of lava in 92 days.
Two Telescopes at Minas de San José: Watching and Photographing
One telescope to look through and a second shooting astrophotography that is emailed to you, in a small group at Minas de San José, above 2,000 metres.
Ratings collected by Tiqets, Viator, Tripadvisor and Civitatis