Driving and Car Rental in Tenerife

“Travelling with children ®” shares with you useful tips and information about places to visit with children in the Canary Islands. If you are traveling in Tenerife, you can find attractions in the “Travelling with children ®” Tenerife attractions map.

Are you on holiday or wintering in Tenerife? Renting a car? It is important to know the basic rules of driving, impending fines and safe driving. We will advise you where to look for car rental and what to pay attention to when renting a car.

Car Parking

Parking is free in many places, even in tourist areas.

Do not park near yellow or white continuous lanes – you face a fine of 100 euros. And if you leave your car in pedestrian zones (on the sidewalk, footpath), the fine can reach 200 euros.

There are places that are marked in blue – this means that they are paid, look around and look for a parking meter – and read carefully whether you really need to pay at your particular time.

CARGA/DESCARGA places – difficult to understand for non-language speakers, and there are a lot of nuances. If there is also a yellow band and/or a yellow zigzag etc. in that marked place. – it is better not to leave the car in such a place at all, even if according to the hours that time is just right.

If the place with such a sign is a normal parking place, only with a limitation in hours, you can leave the car, but you must understand very clearly not only the hours, but also other written notes on the sign – is the place intended only for unloading, what time and days are valid restrictions, because if it says that you can park ONLY on holidays and non-working days, then Saturday is a working day in Spain and this exception ONLY applies to Sunday as a non-working day or public holiday.

Underground and surface pitches with the inscription LIBRE/FREE do not mean that they are free of charge, but mean that they are currently available.

Fines and Other Sanctions

Due to violations, you can be stopped not only by officers with POLICIA inscription, but also by GUARDA CIVIL TRAFICO. Don’t be surprised – don’t try to negotiate or otherwise try to get away. Sometimes a simple apology is enough if the violation is minor, but usually for serious violations they punish without going into long speeches.

There is a very good offer for paying fines – if you pay on the spot or within the specified time, you only pay 50%. Fines. This applies not only to parking violations, but also to speeding and other road traffic violations.

Comfortable: the police often also have payment card readers, so you can pay on the spot.

Your car dissapeared? you still might not find your car here – the towing system still works here. Therefore, park very responsibly! Otherwise, you will have to pay not only a fine, but also a car “storage” fee.

Other prohibitions:

• You should not drive with your hand out the window, although you will certainly often see Spaniards driving like that and even the police themselves. But you can be punished for it.
• Do not drive with flip-flops or half-naked (unsafe, distracts others…).
• It is not allowed to drive and talk on the phone – even for holding the phone in your hand you can be punished. Do not drive and use headphones and talk on the phone in such a “hands-free” way. You can talk on the phone only with the car (bluetooth) hands-free system. You can be fined for mobile phone violations and the fines here are very high: from 200 eur to 600 eur.
• Theoretically, you can neither drink water, coffee, etc., nor eat while driving.
• Seats are mandatory for children up to 135 cm tall or 12 years old if the height is smaller. Unfortunately, a rare taxi driver will offer you seats. Such seats are not mandatory on buses too.
• Speed ​​is measured both by stationary and mobile meters (and recently even from the air – with the help of drones). To our knowledge there is no margin of error of 10 km…
• The first meter will meet you after arriving at the southern airport and leaving the highway towards the southern resorts. And they usually take pictures in the back of cars.

Important and Interesting Driving Features

Ring driving is a separate topic. First, be very careful, because friendly Spaniards often stop in the middle of the ring to let other cars in. In addition, look at the signs, because there are such rings that have side road signs, which means that those entering the ring will have to enter as those entering from the main road. Another very important thing – you can exit the roundabout only from the outer lane – so if you could not change to the outer lane, drive in a circle until you change to the outer lane in advance and then you can leave. If you violate this rule, you face a fine of 500 euros.

Traffic jams occur quite often here – morning, evening, due to changed weather conditions, e.g. rain or simply for unknown reasons.

Tip: are you going to the airport? Check for traffic jams, as there are very few or no detours here in the mountainous areas. Therefore, if Google navigation shows that there is a traffic jam, leave earlier.

Tips for Renting a Car

The main question we hear is whether you really need to rent a car, maybe it is enough to rent an apartment in a good location and you don’t need a car. Our answer is an unequivocal YES, YOU NEED TO RENT A CAR. Tenerife is an island where you need not only to vacation, but also to visit the most beautiful national parks,observation decks,beaches, take a walk across hiking trails, visit interesting unique places, and visit at least two of the largest amusement parks – Siam Water Park and Loro Park.

Advice:

• Start looking for a car as early as possible, especially during the high season.
• Choose a car that meets your needs – think about where you will drive it more (in cities, in the mountains, short or long distances – it depends on the size and power of the car you are looking for). Will you be traveling alone or with your family, will you only have hand luggage, will you arrive with checked-in luggage (a larger or smaller car is required), or will you need additional accessories (e.g. child seats, navigation).
• You may want to transport, for example, a stroller, bicycles or other equipment necessary for active leisure – make sure to find out if there is an option for additional racks, etc.
• Check the prices with and without franchise – we usually choose without franchise (full insurance, full coverage), that is, a little more expensive, but less headache.
• Find out about the advantages and guarantees of renting – technical assistance, replacement car, pick-up and drop-off at a place convenient for you, mileage restrictions, etc.
• Prepare funds for collateral, if required. In most cases, no deposit is required and no credit card is required in Tenerife. Sometimes bank cards ask for a full fuel tank refund guarantee, but don’t freeze funds.
• If you doubt something or have additional questions, feel free to write or call the rental company. It’s always better to find out beforehand.

Recommendations for a Car Rental

The official Lithuanian Car Rental Company

We recommend contacting TMMS TENERIFE. Check and try our own.

SPECIAL 5% DISCOUNT WITH PASSWORD TRAVELS WITH CHILDREN!

Contacts: +34602487011 (WhatsApp Viber, or Signal) and tmms.tenerife@gmail.com

Advantages of this rental:

1. Cars: FIAT PANDA, FIAT TIPO and PEUGEOT 208. The fleet is growing, so more models will be available in the near future. True, all cars with manual transmission.
2. You can reserve a car in Lithuanian!
3. Full insurance
4. Service working for 24 hours a day
5. No deposits and freezes on your bank card
6. Delivery to your desired location (additional fees may apply depending on the location)
7. Child car seats (additional fees may apply)
8. Special prices for long-term rentals

IMPORTANT: SPECIAL 5% DISCOUNT WITH PASSWORD FOR TRAVEL WITH CHILDREN!

Car rental search engine. DISCOVER CARS

Do you want to check the prices of several car rental companies at the same time? The DISCOVER CARS system will select for you the best offers from various companies – budget, avis,  europcar and other companies.

We tried it ourselves – here’s what to pay attention to in DISCOVER CARS:

• Are there any restrictions regarding the working hours of the car office – this is especially relevant for those arriving on very late flights;
• Read carefully if the car is picked up at the airport itself, or if you need to look for a shuttle bus with the specified number, which will take you to the nearby (5-minute bus ride) huge car rental lot, where there are even several car rental companies;
• Insurance – read whether the insurance fully covers all events. You can purchase such insurance when picking up the car at the rental company itself, you can also use DISCOVER CARS with a cheaper full coverage offer – they offer insurance at an additional attractive price. What you need to know is that if you choose this insurance and if something happens, you will have to pay the rental company, and then DISCOVER CARS will refund you according to the available full coverage insurance.

Transfers from the airport

Not planning to rent a car? Do you want private, comfortable and guaranteed transportation?

Travel from the airport to your destination in the south of Tenerife in a comfortable 30-minute transfer. Up to 8 passengers can travel.

Book and you will be met in the arrivals hall.

As the number of connecting flights increases, so do the number of passengers arriving at Tenerife North Airport. We offer reliability and transfer to Tenerife South and at this airport. Book in advance.

You may find the following articles prepared by us useful:

• TOP30 sightseeing spots in Tenerife with children,

• Tenerife national parks with children,

• TOP10 most beautiful trails in Tenerife with children,

• Tenerife’s beaches are suitable for children.

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Travels with Children ®”. Copying and use without permission is strictly prohibited.

Don’t forget to follow us on social networks. You can find more about travel in Lithuania on the Facebook account “Travelling with children” and on the Instagram account “Travelling with children”.

If you’re curious about traveling around the world – explore the Facebook account “Travels with children around the world” and the Instagram account “Travels with children around the world”.

Looking for more places to visit with kids in Tenerife, travel tips and recommendations?! Join the group Traveling with children. TENERIFE. We also invite you to share your impressions of your travels in Tenerife here.

Want to share your trip or experience traveling with children? Email us.