·
Car Hire in Puerto de la Cruz and the Orotava Valley
Compare live rental deals for the Orotava valley's old resort town, thirty minutes from TFN and an hour from TFS.
Up to 50% cheaper than portals · Local support & full refund
Booking Notice / 4
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
Pickup Date · Nights
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
Dropoff Date · Nights
Nights
·Puerto de la Cruz
·North coast
·Zero deposit cars
·Free cancellation
·
Tenerife
→
Tenerife
An old Canarian town that happens to be a resort
Puerto de la Cruz was Tenerife's first resort, built up decades before the purpose-made strips around Costa Adeje and Los Cristianos existed, and it still shows: a working harbour, a lava-stone square, balconied houses, and streets laid out for people and ox carts rather than for parking a car. A rental here is less about reaching the beach, which is already close, and more about reaching everywhere else the resort itself cannot.
That everywhere else includes La Orotava on the hill directly behind the town, the Teide road that climbs from this side of the island first, and the dry south an hour away for a day that wants guaranteed sun. The trade winds that keep the south baked dry drop most of their moisture here instead, so this coast runs greener, cloudier and a few degrees cooler than the brochure photos of the island usually suggest.
Parking in the old centre is worth stating plainly rather than glossing over: the lanes around the harbour and the Plaza del Charco predate the car by a long way, plenty are one-way or cobbled or both, and a free street space in season is not a realistic plan. Use one of the car parks ringing the old town and walk in, the same way most locals do.
Three of today's lowest-priced cars
Pulled live from the same search as the full grid below.
Set your dates in the search below and the three lowest prices for those dates will show here.
The pick of the fleet
Tenerife cover car and the shortlist
· ·
What actually changes about a day here
Playa Jardin, without the car
The resort's own beach is black volcanic sand, landscaped by Cesar Manrique, with enough real swell that it suits a swimmer who wants a wave rather than a millpond. It sits an easy walk from most of the seafront hotels, so this is one local landmark a car does nothing for.
Lago Martianez on a cloudier afternoon
The other Manrique project along this seafront is a chain of salt-water lagoons and islets built into the rock, and it is the standing alternative when the sky turns grey rather than the beach. Also walkable, so again the rental sits idle while you use it.
La Orotava, the hill town behind the resort
One of the best-preserved old quarters in the Canaries sits a short climb up the valley: carved wooden balconies, a baroque church, steep lanes built for walking slowly. It is close enough that a car feels like overkill for the distance and exactly right for what it saves you in bus timetables.
Teide and Masca, from the far side
Tenerife splits the two climates roughly down the middle, and Puerto de la Cruz sits on the opposite side from the deep south. The summit road and the lanes out towards Masca both start their climb from this coast, and both are the kind of winding route an unhurried rental suits better than a coach transfer.
Puerto de la Cruz, as it actually looks
What's actually sitting in the fleet this week
Counted from the same live window the grid above draws on, so this is the supply behind this page, not a brochure average.
Unlimited mileage matters more up here than the number suggests: a single day that takes in La Orotava, the Teide road and a loop back along the coast puts real distance on the clock without ever leaving the north.
Puerto de la Cruz to the rest of the island
Approximate drive times from the old town, so you can see what a car actually buys you beyond the resort itself.
| Destination | Drive time | Why you'd go |
|---|---|---|
| La Orotava | about 10-15 minutes | the hill town the resort grew up below |
| Tenerife North (TFN) | about 30 minutes | the nearer of the island's two airports |
| Tenerife South (TFS) | about an hour | where most charter flights actually land |
| Santa Cruz | about 30-40 minutes | the working capital, a different island on a quiet weekday |
| Teide National Park | about 45-60 minutes | the summit road climbs from this side first |
| Costa Adeje / Los Cristianos | about an hour | the dry south, for a contrast day |
Times assume ordinary traffic. The TF-5 into Santa Cruz slows at weekday commuting hours, and the mountain roads are slower again in low cloud or after heavy rain, which this coast gets more of than the south does.
Questions about basing yourself here
Not for the resort itself. Playa Jardin, the Lago Martianez pools, the harbour and the old town square are all within walking distance of most seafront hotels. A car earns its keep the moment you want La Orotava, Teide, Masca, or the dry south in the same trip, none of which a bus timetable covers well.
Use one of the signed car parks on the edge of the old centre and walk in. The lanes around the Plaza del Charco and the harbour predate the car by a couple of centuries, a lot of them are one-way or cobbled or both, and circling for a street bay in high season wastes a morning you could spend somewhere better.
Yes, and it is worth planning around rather than hoping around. The trade winds drop most of their moisture on this side, so expect more cloud and more green than Costa Adeje gets, and pack a layer for the evenings. A short drive south usually finds the sun if a grey afternoon settles in.
Tenerife North sits about thirty minutes away and is the one worth checking first if your flight connects through mainland Spain. Most charter routes from northern Europe still land at Tenerife South, roughly an hour down the TF-5, and plenty of visitors collect at one airport and fly home from the other.
Easily. It is the next town up the valley, close enough that renting a car just for that drive would be overkill, and the old quarter rewards an hour or two of walking among the carved wooden balconies. Pair it with the Teide road on the same day and the car has already paid for itself.
Put your dates in and see the real list
The grid above is live. Give it your dates and the airport you land at, and the whole island's availability reorders around them.
Search available cars