Santa Cruz de Tenerife Tips and Interesting Places Part 1

Maybe you’re reading this article because you’ve decided that you are going to have a vacation/holiday (depending on where you live in the world) in Santa Cruz Tenerife. If so, here are a few tips prior to your visit. Even if you’re not planning to visit Santa Cruz de Tenerife soon, hopefully this article is informative enough to inspire you to travel here someday.

Airport Shuttle

One of the best methods for transport directly from the TFN airport, which is the northern airport on the island, the closest airport to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, is by riding on the number 20 Guagua (“Guagua”, is a name that the locals have for the green buses that transport you around the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife). This bus has only a few stops along the way to Intercambiador, which is the large bus terminal in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Visit The Intercambiador

As I mentioned briefly above, Intercambiador is located in the center of the city of Santa Cruz and is a multi-floor bus terminal that also features a Santa Cruz de Tenerife Metro stop. To truly visualize what exactly this terminal is like, I’d recommend thinking of a location that is a mix between a smaller airport, Grand Central Station in NYC, and King’s Cross in London. This transport terminal has smaller food carts and information booths. These information booths are really the main idea that I want to address when giving this tip in my list of travel tips for here.

On the top floor of this bus terminal, you will find buses that aren’t just dispatched for city travel, these buses travel across the entire island and can take you from the north of the island to the south of the island and back to the north. However, these bus rides can be longer than an hour, so be prepared for a longer ride. Even though an hour or so on a bus isn’t really too long, that’s just a quick bit of information that I thought I’d give.

Another place you will find on the top floor, is an interior sort of office that you can walk into to receive your bus pass for transport around the city and add money to your bus pass as well depending on how much you need - prices during this process depend on how much you pay at this office. For example, if you ask for 40 euros to be put on your bus pass, you’ll be charged the 40 euros on your credit or debit card/pay that much in cash, and then you’ll have the money scanned onto your bus card (There are also self-service machines at a few metro stops where you can add money onto your card using the machine, but I’ve always just gone into the office at Intercambiador to ask/pay for more money to be added onto my bus card. (Average bus rides around the city cost 0.75 euros, but rides across the island can be a bit more expensive). The interior sort of office at the Intercambiador also functions as an information booth if you need any assistance.

If you would like to use euros for your bus rides, instead of picking up a bus card, that is possible. However, it is definitely nice to have the bus pass. It is important to note that this bus pass can also work for entrance to the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Metro trains as well.

Taxis are also all around the city, but I haven’t needed to use them yet, so I can’t talk too much about how the payment and pricing works for them (I mainly just walk around the city. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is super walkable, which is great!).

Helpful Phrases/Words

It’s helpful to at least know a bit of Spanish before traveling to Tenerife, as Spanish is the official language. Below are a few helpful phrases and words to use in conversation with locals.

“No pasa nada” - No problem (I mentioned this in my previous article).

“A que tengas un buen día” - Have a good day

“Disculpe” - Excuse me

Stores/Shops, Restaurants, and Making Connections

Throughout the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, you will find multiple indoor shopping centers/shopping malls, restaurants with varying cuisine, outdoor markets, and bars/clubs with locals and expats to socialize with (In addition to plenty of locals, Santa Cruz de Tenerife is comprised of individuals from all over the globe - Venezuela, USA, Australia, China, etc., just like several other large cities across the globe). This is honestly amazing because you get to meet people of all sorts of different backgrounds and learn about their culture. This has helped me because it has allowed me to make connections with store owners, people who have been living in Tenerife sometimes for twenty years or more and receive advice from them on local traditions and events that occur each year (I’ve only been living in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for a little over 5 months, so this has been super amazing and I’m so grateful for it).

On the same topic of stores, it is important to note that certain businesses may close in the afternoon around 2pm and not open up again until around 5pm or later, or sometimes not opening again until the morning of the next day. This is partially due to the siesta/lunch time, but there may be other reasons as well, depending on the circumstances and type of store.

Dates/Scheduling

Dates are extremely important to look up when traveling because there are many festivals and holidays, which could create a really fun and memorable vacation for you. Also, for those who don’t know, keep in mind when making plans or reservations the way that dates are written. This is because it is different here than in the USA (Day-Month-Year format in Spain).

I hope you enjoyed this article :) I can’t wait to share more of my travels with you :)

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Santa Cruz de Tenerife Iconic Areas

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A Reflection on the Past 5 Months