Across Tenerife, Kraig Adams's way

Getting there and around

My way in, 2024. I arrived at about 8 a.m. and went straight to a cafe for coffee and wifi, bought an eSIM, and took about €300 out of the airport ATM. Then I took a bus that I think was $9, a 45-minute ride to Santa Cruz. I had a carry-on duffel with extra clothes I wasn't going to hike with, so I went to a hotel in Santa Cruz, the Iberostar Heritage Grand Mencey, and booked one night there for a week later, at the end of the trip; as long as I had a reservation, they didn't mind storing the bag for me. They called me a taxi, about $35, to a camping store in La Laguna, Tenerife Outdoor, for stove fuel and some food, and then I went up to the trailhead at Cruz del Carmen.

Flying in. Tenerife has two airports. Tenerife South (TFS) gets most international flights; TITSA's bus 10 runs to Santa Cruz in about 55 minutes, about every 40 minutes, for about €9.35, as reported. My $9, 45-minute bus fits that. Tenerife North (TFN), next to La Laguna, gets mostly flights from mainland Spain and the other islands; bus 20 runs to La Laguna and Santa Cruz in about 20 minutes for about €2.65.

Buses (TITSA). Pay by bank card or cash on board. A Ten+ card (€2) gives cheaper fares, and a 24-hour pass is €10, 7 days €50. Free buses in 2026 are for registered residents, not visitors. TITSA's winter 2026 timetables, as published in October 2026:

La Esperanza, where the GR 131 leaves the plateau for the forest, is served by a small local company from La Laguna; check its times there.

Taxis. Metered, with a regulated tariff. Santa Cruz to La Laguna is about €16; La Laguna or Santa Cruz to Cruz del Carmen has no published fare: about €20 to €30 at the meter rates (an estimate). At the end, I shared a taxi with some German hikers I'd met while wild camping, back toward Santa Cruz.

Stove fuel. You can't fly with gas canisters. Tenerife Outdoor in La Laguna (Avenida de la República Argentina 79), where I bought mine, is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m.; call ahead (922 252 631) to check they have your canister. Decathlon has stores in La Laguna and Santa Cruz.

Your luggage. What worked for me: book your last night's hotel ahead and ask it to hold your bag until then.

What it costs

What I paid, as I said it in the film (US dollars, December 2024): the bus from the airport, $9; a taxi to the camping store, $35; the hostel, $100 a night; the La Laguna hotel, $100; the Parador, $200; the cable car, $30, booked and cancelled. A private Teide summit trip was $140, but had no space.

For your budget (October 2026, as reported unless official):

As a rough estimate from those prices (food prices not checked): a budget day (hostel or camping, shop food) is about €50 to €80; a mid-range day (guesthouse, eating out) about €110 to €170; a night at the Parador with dinner about €200 to €250. So a week on the island walking the crossing comes to roughly €500 to €1,200 for one person, flights not included.

Where to base yourself

My crossing was a line, sleeping somewhere new every night. If you'd rather keep one or two bases and day hike, TITSA's buses link these places, though the high country gets only one bus a day each way (see Getting there and around).

Anaga: Almáciga, Taganana or Benijo. Little villages on the north coast under steep green mountains, with black sand beaches and a few restaurants. I stayed two nights at the Casanaga hostel in Almáciga. Bus 946 runs from Santa Cruz to Taganana and Almáciga; Benijo is about 1.5 km on foot from Almáciga.

La Laguna (San Cristóbal de La Laguna). The old university town on the plateau between Anaga and the forest, with a walkable old centre, lots of restaurants and cafes, hotels, and buses to Cruz del Carmen and the airports. It's about 1,800 ft up and cooler and wetter than the coast.

Puerto de la Cruz or La Orotava. On the north coast and above it, with buses up the Orotava valley to Aguamansa and, once a day, to El Portillo and the Parador.

Las Cañadas: the Parador. The only hotel inside Teide National Park, about 7,050 ft up, near the cable car. Book ahead. The Refugio de Altavista, high on Teide, is a hut for one night before the summit.

Vilaflor. A small mountain village at about 4,600 ft on the south side, with guesthouses, a few restaurants, and a bus down to Los Cristianos on the coast.

The rules: camping, Teide and the parks

Checked on Tenerife ON, the Teide National Park's pages and the Refugio de Altavista's own site on October 3, 2026.

Trails: no permit. The GR 131 and the Anaga trails I walked need no permit or booking. In Anaga only two trails do: El Pijaral (La Ensillada to Cabezo de Tejo) and La Asomada to Cruz de Afur (Monte Aguirre). Those permits are free, booked on Tenerife ON up to 14 days ahead, for up to 5 people, and carried with your ID. My route didn't go into either. A fee and a shuttle for the Cruz del Carmen trails are announced for late 2026 (see Is it open?).

Camping: zones only. Camping in Tenerife's protected natural spaces and public forests, which is most of the land the GR 131 crosses, is allowed only with an authorization, and the national park says plainly that free camping isn't allowed. The Cabildo lists a €400 fine for camping in a restricted zone. The legal way is a Cabildo camping zone (zona de acampada), booked on Tenerife ON. No fee is shown. Every person needs a booking, at most 7 nights per person (then a 7-day gap), stays run noon to noon, and you show the booking with your ID if asked. Gas bottles up to 3 kg only, no barbecues, and the fountain water isn't drinkable. New places open on Mondays at 7 a.m. Canary time for about the next two weeks, as reported. Near the route:

Teide National Park. No camping. Sleeping out without a tent is allowed only in four areas above 2,500 m (Teide, Montaña Blanca, Degollada de Pico Viejo and Alto de Guajara), one night each, booked on Tenerife ON. No fires, no drones, no collecting rocks or plants, stay on the authorized paths, and no smoking or vaping anywhere in the park. The summit trail needs a permit: see Teide.

Drones. Recreational drones are banned in Teide National Park. Elsewhere on the island, check the rules for the protected area you're in before you fly.

Hunting and culls. Tenerife's hunting season in 2026 runs from August 2 to November 8, on Thursdays and Sundays only, and there's no hunting in the national park. Mouflon culls close sectors of the high country on set days (Tenerife ON publishes the calendar). The gunfire I heard on Day 3 was in December, outside the season; OpenStreetMap shows a shooting range about 1 km off the GR 131 near Las Calderetas.

Where I slept, food and water

Where I slept

Prices for a December weeknight in 2026 (Booking.com, as reported): Anaga beds about €19 to €75 (Casanaga from about €47); La Laguna about €39 to €125 (La Asomada del Gato from about €87); the Parador about €146; Vilaflor about €39 to €130 (Ziggy's, now Ziggy's Mountain Retreat, about €79). The Refugio de Altavista on Teide is €71.

Food and water

What I ate. Coffee and an apple at a village cafe in Anaga; breakfast at the hotels; fruit, juice and coffee at the Cruz de Tea restaurant in Aguamansa; a salami sandwich, coffee and a donut at El Portillo; a burger and a beer at the Parador; grilled meat and fries at Casa Pana in Vilaflor. I cooked on my stove on a hillside above the sea in Anaga, and by the end of Day 3 I was running out of food.

Opening days. The restaurant at Cruz del Carmen was closed on the Wednesday I came through. Carry a day's food.

Water. I filled my bottle at village fountains and taps in Anaga and at a fountain in the forest, and filtered water from a puddle on the trail once. Between La Esperanza and El Portillo there's no reliable drinking water on the trail; the taps at the picnic areas and camping zones are often marked not drinkable. Fill up in La Esperanza and Aguamansa and carry 2 to 3 liters (a suggestion). Treat or filter anything not marked drinkable.

What I carried

From my film (I have no full gear list for this trip):

Hiking

• Pack: everything for a week on the trail, heavy, since I wasn't going back to the hotel; a carry-on duffel of extra clothes left at the hotel in Santa Cruz
• Sleeping: a small tent, for the one night I didn't have a bed
• Water: a bottle and a filter
• Clothes: a hoodie, a sun shirt, shorts, and layers for the cold up high
• Light: a headlamp, which I needed at the end of Day 4

Filmmaking

• Camera: a camera and tripod, my iPhone for the vlog, and a drone. My full gear kit is on kraigadams.com

Other

• Cooking: a small stove, with fuel bought in La Laguna
• Phone: an eSIM bought on arrival, and Strava and AllTrails recording the days

What this crossing needs:

• Warm layers, a hat and gloves for Las Cañadas in winter, a rain jacket for Anaga, sun protection for the south
• Water capacity for the forest (2 to 3 liters) and a filter or tablets
• A headlamp: December days are about 10 hours long
• The GPX files and offline maps on your phone
• Your camping zone and Teide permits, saved on your phone, and your ID
• Cash for small village bars, and a bank card for buses

Is it open? (October 2026)

Checked on the Cabildo de Tenerife's trail site, Tenerife ON, the Teide National Park's incidents page and AEMET on October 3, 2026.

Open, with one stretch closed. Tenerife ON shows no closures on the Anaga trails I used (PR-TF 1, 2, 8 and 10). The GR 131 is open, but its page carries notices of closed stretches (after the 2023 forest fire, and for rockfalls) and of intermittent closures during conservation work. Its map marks the closed stretch just before La Caldera, around Mamio above Aguamansa, and the national Caminos Naturales site says the last kilometer of the stage from La Esperanza to La Caldera is closed. That's where I camped at the end of Day 3 and walked down the next morning. Check Tenerife ON before you go: I found no signed detour.

Fire. The August 2023 wildfire burned much of the Corona Forestal. The Cabildo's list of trails still closed because of it (November 7, 2025, updated daily) includes several around La Caldera and Aguamansa; all the national park's trails are open. Since September 26, 2026, the island has been on preventive fire measures only, with no active alert. At higher fire risk the Cabildo closes the camping zones and recreation areas, as it did in July 2026.

Teide National Park. No active alerts on October 3, 2026. On set days the park culls mouflon (wild sheep) and closes the trails in that sector: the Siete Cañadas sector, which includes the GR 131 from El Portillo to the Parador, is closed on December 14 and 15, 2026, for example. Snow and ice close the summit trails at times in winter.

Coming changes. On September 30, 2026, the Cabildo told Anaga residents that before the end of 2026, visitors will pay a fee and ride a shuttle bus from La Laguna to walk the four trails that start at Cruz del Carmen, with barriers and paid parking there; prices weren't set yet, as reported. Teide may get access control at its entrances by the end of 2026 and shuttle buses in 2027, also as reported. Road works at Benijo and Almáciga, with traffic limits for about two months each, were due to start in mid-October 2026, as reported.

December, like me. I walked December 9 to 14, 2024. Anaga was rainy and overcast at the start; I waited a day for the weather and it was "even more overcast" the next day. Higher up it was colder, and on my last morning, at the Parador, it was too windy for the cable car. The days are short: about 10 hours and 20 minutes from sunrise around 7:50 a.m. to sunset around 6:10 p.m. in mid-December. I finished Day 4 well after dark, by headlamp.

The best months. By AEMET's averages (1981 to 2010), the crossing is best from March to May, when the rain falls off and the days get longer, and from October to early November. From December to February, Anaga and La Laguna get the most rain and the least sun, and nights in Las Cañadas are near freezing. Summer is dry and sunny up high, but hot on the south side and the season with the highest fire risk; Anaga is often under cloud even then.

Weather. AEMET's averages for three of its stations (1981 to 2010):

At Izaña, December averages 8 frost days and 1.6 days of snow; January and February a few more. Snow and ice on Teide can close its trails and the park roads.

Weather and safety

Emergencies. Call 112, anywhere in Spain. Leave your plan with someone: much of the GR 131 is far from villages.

Getting sick. I started feeling sick on Day 3 and kept walking two more days with lung trouble and a cough. It was walking pneumonia. Almost every day of this route passes a village, a bus or a road within a few hours: use them.

Cold, wind and snow. Las Cañadas is about 7,000 ft up. In December, Izaña, at about the same height, averages 48 °F by day and 36 °F at night, with frost 8 days a month (AEMET). Strong wind closed the cable car on my last morning. Snow and ice close Teide's trails and sometimes the park roads. Check AEMET's mountain forecast for Teide and its warnings (Meteoalerta) for wind, calima (Saharan dust) and snow.

Short days. In December you get about 10 hours and 20 minutes of light. I finished Day 4 in the dark by headlamp. Carry one, and plan shorter days than mine.

Water. There's no reliable drinking water on the trail between La Esperanza and El Portillo. Fill up in La Esperanza and Aguamansa.

Fire. Summer and calima bring high fire risk. The Cabildo closes trails, recreation areas and camping zones at higher risk levels. No fires at any time.

Anaga. Steep, and in winter often wet under cloud: I had rain and overcast skies there. Take care on the steep descents to the coast. Storms close trails: Storm Therese closed several on the north side of the island in spring 2026.

Culls and shooting. Mouflon cull days close trail sectors in the high country; check the calendar on Tenerife ON. There's a shooting range about 1 km off the GR 131 near Las Calderetas.

Volcano. Tenerife's volcanic alert level was green in late August 2026, as reported.

Can I walk across Tenerife? Yes. The GR 131, a long-distance trail the island calls the Anaga-Chasna, crosses Tenerife from the Anaga mountains in the northeast to Arona in the south, over the spine of the island and through Las Cañadas below Teide. I walked most of it, with a detour at the start: two days in Anaga, then La Laguna to La Esperanza on roads, then the GR 131 to Vilaflor, where I stopped.

How many days do I need? I walked about 80 miles in five days, with a zero day in Anaga waiting for the weather. Days 2, 3 and 4 were 17.5, 21.5 and 22.7 miles, each with 4,500 to 5,000 ft of climbing. Day 3 was "not an easy day... really tough," and back to back with Day 4 I was exhausted. Split into shorter days, the same ground takes seven or eight, plus a day for Teide. See A plan for your crossing.

How hard is it? The trails are waymarked, but the climbing adds up: from La Laguna, about 1,800 ft, the GR 131 climbs through the forest to about 5,850 ft, drops to Aguamansa at about 3,250 ft, and climbs again to El Portillo at about 6,730 ft, the edge of Teide National Park. Anaga's trails are steep, and often wet in winter.

Do I need a permit? Not for the trails I walked. You need a booked permit (no fee shown) to camp in one of the Cabildo's camping zones, and since January 19, 2026, a paid permit (€15 for visitors) for the last part of the trail to Teide's summit. See The rules.

Can I wild camp? No. Camping outside the Cabildo's camping zones isn't allowed, and you can be fined. I wild camped the night of Day 3 in the forest above Aguamansa; the official La Caldera camping zone is about 2.7 miles further on the trail I walked the next morning.

Can I climb Teide? Yes, with planning. I'd booked the cable car up for the morning of Day 5, but it was cancelled because of strong winds, and when I'd tried to book a guided tour and permit for the very top, there was no availability. The summit trail permit costs €15 for visitors since January 2026, or you can sleep at the Refugio de Altavista hut, whose booking includes an early-morning summit permit. See Teide.

Is there water on the trail? Not reliably on the long climb from La Esperanza to El Portillo: the taps at the picnic areas are often marked not drinkable. I filled up at fountains and taps in the villages and at the bars and restaurants on the way.

Can I do it on the bus instead? Yes. TITSA's buses reach Cruz del Carmen, Almáciga, La Laguna, Aguamansa, El Portillo, the Parador and Vilaflor; the high stops get one bus a day each way. You can base yourself in La Laguna and Puerto de la Cruz and walk the best sections as day hikes. See Getting there and around.

Is there a phone signal? With an eSIM I bought on arrival, I booked my La Laguna hotel from the edge of the city on Day 2, and the rest of the trip from there. Expect gaps in Anaga's deep valleys and in the forest. The emergency number is 112.

What about the other islands? I wanted to go to another island but didn't have time. This guide is Tenerife only. See Other islands.

Finish to the coast: Vilaflor to Arona

I didn't walk it. The GR 131's last stage is 17.7 km (11 miles), about 7 hours 20 minutes, 597 m (1,960 ft) up and 1,394 m (4,570 ft) down, from the Plaza de San Pedro in Vilaflor, about 4,680 ft (1,426 m), to Arona, about 2,060 ft (628 m). It climbs past the Ermita de San Roque into dry pine forest, then drops through the Ifonche protected landscape, past Roque Imoque and Roque del Conde, to Arona. Bus 482 links Arona with Los Cristianos on the coast and with Vilaflor.

The whole GR 131

The official GR 131 on Tenerife runs 85.55 km (53 miles) from El Rosario and La Esperanza to Arona, with about 17,350 ft (5,290 m) of climbing and 18,260 ft (5,566 m) of descent, rated very difficult, in five stages: La Esperanza to La Caldera (about 30 km), La Caldera to El Portillo (about 14 km), El Portillo to the Degollada de Guajara, the Degollada de Guajara to Vilaflor, and Vilaflor to Arona. The Anaga trails north of La Laguna aren't part of it; my two days there were separate marked trails. No booking is needed for the GR itself.

Anaga as day hikes

From a base in La Laguna or on the north coast: PR-TF 8, the Afur to Taganana loop through Playa de Tamadite (14.3 km, about 5,260 ft up and down, Tenerife ON); PR-TF 10 from Cruz del Carmen to Punta del Hidalgo through Chinamada (9.9 km); PR-TF 1, Las Mercedes to Cruz del Carmen (2.4 km); and PR-TF 6.2 along the coast from Roque de las Bodegas past Almáciga and Benijo to El Draguillo (4.4 km, as reported). El Pijaral needs a free permit. Check whether the new fee and shuttle for the Cruz del Carmen trails have started.

Bases and buses instead of a crossing

Sleep in La Laguna for Anaga, in Puerto de la Cruz or La Orotava for the Orotava valley and El Portillo (bus 348), and at the Parador or in Vilaflor for Las Cañadas and Teide (bus 342), and walk the best days as day hikes: my Day 1 in Anaga, El Portillo to the Parador across Las Cañadas, and the Parador to Vilaflor.

Other islands

I wanted to go to another island too, but I didn't have time, so I haven't hiked any of them. The essentials, as checked in October 2026 (from official pages, partly through search summaries):

• La Gomera: about 50 minutes by Fred. Olsen ferry from Los Cristianos. Camping and overnight stays aren't allowed in Garajonay National Park. The GR 131 crosses the island.
• Gran Canaria: about 80 minutes by Fred. Olsen from Santa Cruz to Agaete, with a free bus on to Las Palmas. The Roque Nublo path is free but needs a booked place at busy hours.
• La Palma: the Caldera de Taburiente National Park has one camping zone, which needs a booked permit, and the La Cumbrecita car park needs a booking in the morning.

A plan for your crossing

My Days 2 to 4 were 17.5 to 22.7 miles each, and by the end of Day 4 I was exhausted. Here's the same ground split into shorter days, sleeping in beds and camping zones, with the distances from my GPS. It's a suggestion built from my track and the official stages, not a trip I walked; miles are from my GPS, rounded, except Day 9 (the official 17.7 km). Book the camping zones, the Teide permit and the Parador ahead, and check the once-a-day 348 bus.

Teide: what I planned and how to do it

What I planned. The night of Day 2 I booked the cable car up the volcano for the morning after my night at the Parador, about $30. I tried to get an expensive guided tour and permit to the very top, but there was no availability; on screen I noted a $140 private option. On the morning of Day 5 the cable car was cancelled because of strong winds, so I never went up.

The cable car (Teleférico del Teide). From a base station at 7,730 ft (2,356 m) by the road through Las Cañadas, a few minutes by bus from the Parador, to La Rambleta at 11,663 ft (3,555 m), in under 8 minutes. In 2026 a return is €42 for visitors (€23.50 one way). It opens at 9 a.m.; from October 25 to December 31 the last ride up is at 4 p.m. and the last down at 4:50 p.m. It stops in strong wind. The ticket doesn't include the summit.

The summit permit (trail 10, Telesforo Bravo). The permit covers only the last 0.66 km, about 600 ft up, from La Rambleta to the crater rim at 12,188 ft (3,715 m). Book it on Tenerife ON, the Cabildo's site (you register first). New places open each Monday at 7 a.m. Canary time for the next 56 days (the January 2026 announcement said 28). One booking per person every 15 days, no changes, and you carry it with your passport or ID, which must match. Since January 19, 2026, slots between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. cost €15 for visitors, €6 for residents of the other Canary Islands, and nothing for Tenerife residents and under-14s. Confirmed bookings can't be changed or cancelled, and they're refunded only if the trail closes or the cable car doesn't run (the Cabildo, January 2026); check Tenerife ON's booking conditions for any cancellation window. Walking it without a booking can be fined.

What you must wear. Checked on the trail: boots or closed trekking shoes with grip, long trousers (worn or carried) and a warm layer. With ice or snow, crampons and an ice axe and a signed declaration of alpine experience. No leaving the path or going into the crater.

Walking up. Trail 7, Montaña Blanca to La Rambleta, also needs a booking: €6 on weekdays and €10 at weekends and holidays for visitors, in slots from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Refugio de Altavista. A hut at 10,696 ft (3,260 m) on the way up, closed from 2019 and reopened on July 20, 2026, so it wasn't an option for me. €71 a night for visitors, one night only, 49 places in shared bunk rooms; bring a sleeping bag; no meals. Closed the nights of December 24 and 31. A night's booking includes the summit permit for 6 to 9 a.m. the next morning: sunrise on the top without the cable car.

Altitude and winter. The summit trail starts at about 11,650 ft. Tenerife ON warns that the low oxygen can cause extreme fatigue, dizziness and malaise, and says the route isn't for people with heart, breathing or mobility problems. In winter, snow and ice close the summit trails at times (in January 2025, trails 7, 10 and 11), and winds at Altavista can pass 200 km/h (125 mph).

Before you go, check these

These change every year. Everything else in this guide stays the same.

Is it open?

• The GR 131 page on Tenerife ON: the closed stretch before La Caldera and its detour, and any new closures
• Tenerife ON's fire closures and the island's fire-risk level; Anaga closures after storms
• The Teide National Park's incidents page and the mouflon cull calendar for your dates
• Whether the Anaga fee and shuttle for the Cruz del Carmen trails have started, and the road works at Almáciga and Benijo
• AEMET's Teide forecast and warnings

Bookings

• Camping zones on Tenerife ON, for each person, with ID
• The Teide summit permit (Mondays at 7 a.m., up to 56 days ahead), or a night at the Refugio de Altavista
• The Parador, the only hotel in the national park
• The cable car, if you're using it

Getting around

• TITSA timetables for buses 342 and 348 (once a day), 946 to Anaga, 076 and 275 to Cruz del Carmen, and 482 from Vilaflor
• The local bus from La Laguna to La Esperanza
• Stove fuel in La Laguna or Santa Cruz

Your stuff

• Warm layers, a hat and gloves for Las Cañadas, a rain jacket for Anaga, sun protection
• 2 to 3 liters of water capacity, a filter, a headlamp, offline maps, the GPX files, your permits and your ID