Tenerife Cycling Climbs

Climb Town Altitude (m) Length (km) Gradient (%) Difficulty Rating
El Teide Los Gigantes 2325 51.8 4.5 1221 *****
El Teide Playa de San Juan 2325 53 4.4 1221 *****
El Teide El Médano 2325 51.5 4.5 1302 ****
El Teide Puerto de la Cruz 2325 46.7 5 1356 ****
El Teide Santa Cruz 2325 63.7 3.6 1316 ***
Mirador de Masca Masca 1045 4.2 10.3 684 *****
Mirador de Chirche Guia de Isora 874 3.6 11.6 679 ***
Mirador de la Cumbre Arafo 1690 19 6.9 1014 ****
Erjos Garachico 1090 20.1 5.4 645 ***
Pico del Inglés La Laguna 965 9.2 4.5 252 ****
Pico del Inglés San Andrés 965 22.8 4.2 559 *****
Taganana Playa de las Bodegas 555 6.5 8.4 790 *****
Teno Alto El Palmar 861 3.9 8.6 542 ***
Teno Alto Teno 861 5.1 4.3 243 ****
Tierra de Trigo Sibora 1105 13.5 8.2 1544 ****





Mountains

Tenerife is a cycling paradise for riders that love to climb. The whole island is basically one large volcano and you will be hard pressed to find many flat roads.

At the centre of the island is the peak of El Teide, the highest mountain in all of Spain and home to many professional cyclists during the winter. Elsewhere on Tenerife there are excellent climbs to be found in the Añaga Natural Park and the Teno Natural Park, at either extreme of the island.



Teide Mountain

Mount Teide dominates the island






Scenery

Tenerife is a beautiful island witha lot of diversity. The Teide National Park in the centre is as spectacular as you would expect for a 3.700m high volcano. In the south of the island the landscape is predominantly dry and rocky, whereas towards the north it is more forested and wild.

You can check out some of our favourite routes in our short Guide to Cycling in Tenerife.



Roads

The road surfaces are of a consistently high quality in Tenerife and are a pleasure to ride on a road bike.

Most of the traffic is situated around the towns of La Laguna and Santa Cruz, as well as on the motorways in the south of the island. The climbs are generally pretty quiet; just take care in planning how you get to and from the start.



Getting There

Tenerife is easily accessible from most European countries. There are two airports, both of which have regular low cost flights to the continent, including daily flights to Madrid and Barcelona.

There are also two ferries from the Spanish mainland that go to Tenerife, one from Huelva and one from C´diz. However, these take between 30 and 40 hours one way and are considerably more expensive than most flights.

Weather

Tenerife has a sub-tropical climate, with little variation in temeprature throughout the year. This makes it arguably the best place in Europe to cycle during the winter, when daily temperatures are usually above 20°C.

Rain is also uncommon, particularly in the winter. Showers are more likely in the north of the island - but don't let this put you off cycling there as it is generally a dry climate. After all - Tenerife is only a few hundred kilometres from the Sahara Desert!









Cycling Holidays

Our Best of Tenerife cycling holiday tackles the best climbs and most scenic routes on the island.

It is a multi-centered tour which crosses almost the entire length and width of Tenerife, allowing you to really get to know the diverse parts of the island. You can find out more details about this and similar tours that we run in the links below.





Mount Teide
Spanish FlagSpain

Self-Guided Cycling Holiday
Length: 7 Days
Level: Difficulty Medium to Challenging
Price: from €1,390 EUR
Tramuntana Mountains - Mallorca
Spanish FlagSpain

Self-Guided Cycling Holiday
Length: 7 Days
Level: Difficulty Medium to Challenging
Price: from €1,420 EUR
Beniarres Reservoir & Benicaldell
Spanish FlagSpain

Self-Guided Cycling Holiday
Length: 7 Days
Level: Difficulty Medium to Challenging
Price: from €1,470 EUR