Car rental in Los Cristianos for the Teide cable car (1h15), the Anaga Rural Park (1h30) and the La Gomera ferry (book separately).
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Sample prices for a 7-day rental. Final price, deposit and terms are confirmed on Localrent.
No-deposit options
About a third of cars in Spain come with no deposit hold at pickup - look for the "No deposit" badge.
Full insurance
Zero-excess cover available on most cars - nothing taken from the deposit if something happens.
Airport & city pickup
Desks at the airport and in the city centre.
Free cancellation
Cancel free on most bookings, often up to 48 hours before pickup.
Most driving here is the flat TF-1 coast road plus one or two climbs inland. Pick by group size and how far you plan to go, not by looks.
Economy
Cheap to run and easy to park in town. Fine for two people staying near the seafront.
Automatic
Easier on the climb up to Teide. Automatics are limited in the Canaries, so book early.
7-seater & van
For families or two couples sharing, with room for beach kit and the airport run.
SUV & larger
More pulling power for the mountain roads and longer drives across the island.
Los Cristianos works fine on foot if you only want the beach, the promenade and the harbour. The value of a hire car here is reaching the rest of the south coast and the interior on your own schedule, because the bus network thins out the moment you leave the main resort strip.
The TF-1 motorway runs right past the town, so the whole southern coast and the road up to Teide are within an easy day's drive. Los Cristianos and Tenerife have no toll roads, and there are no congestion charges in the town or anywhere on the island. That makes car rental in Los Cristianos simpler than on the mainland - no zone to register, no road tolls to budget for.
Payment and deposit
When you book you pay only a small upfront amount - usually 15-20% of the hire cost. The rest is settled at the desk on pickup. The deposit in most cases is fully refundable, and about a third of cars in Spain are handed over with no deposit at all - those are marked in the results. If you only have a debit card, pick a no-deposit rate or a cash-deposit option: nothing gets frozen on your card.
The big one is Mount Teide. The cable car base is about 47 km from Los Cristianos, reached on the TF-21 up through Vilaflor into the national park. It is roughly a 1 hour 10 minute drive each way, so go early and take the hairpins slowly.
Closer to home, the resorts of Costa Adeje and Playa de las Americas sit a few minutes west along the coast. The Masca valley in the northwest is about 40 km away and the winding mountain road can take a couple of hours with stops. Santa Cruz, the capital, is about an hour up the TF-1 to the northeast. All of southern Tenerife is reachable from one pickup here.
From Tenerife South Airport you take the TF-1 west and reach Los Cristianos in roughly 15 minutes. The town centre gets busy with pedestrians in summer, so take it slowly around the promenade and the harbour. Look for blue lines painted at the kerb, which mark pay-to-park areas, and check whether your hotel or apartment includes a space, as many do.
Quick checks at pickup
Most car hire here starts at Tenerife South Airport (TFS), where the desks and the cheapest rates are. The airport is about 15 km from Los Cristianos and the supplier desks sit on Floor 0 or Floor 1 of the main terminal. If you would rather collect in town once you have settled in, several suppliers keep offices in Los Cristianos and around the harbour, and some will deliver to your hotel in the south. Either way, an no-deposit rate avoids a deposit hold.
The south stays warm and dry most of the year, so there is no bad season for driving. Spring and autumn give you the quietest roads and the easiest parking. July and August are the peak: prices climb, automatics and 7-seaters sell out first, and the town fills up, so book several weeks ahead. Winter is the cheapest stretch and a car still earns its keep for Teide and the inland villages.
About 15 km, roughly a 15-minute drive west on the TF-1. Most rentals start at the airport, where the desks are on Floor 0 or Floor 1 of the main terminal, but you can also collect in town.
No. Tenerife has no toll roads and no congestion or low-emission charges in Los Cristianos or anywhere on the island, so you can drive in and park without any extra paperwork.
A credit card is not always required - it is needed to hold the security deposit. At pickup the supplier freezes the deposit amount on the card: the money is not charged and is released when you return the car undamaged.
Without a credit card you still have options: choose a cash-payment rate (the «Cash» filter option) or a no-deposit rate, and nothing is held.
The deposit is an amount the rental company holds as a guarantee for the car. Road fines or damage can be deducted from it.
If the car comes back without problems, the deposit is released in full. It is a temporary hold on your card, not a charge.
It depends on the car class and the supplier - you can see the exact amount on each car's card.
You can set a maximum deposit in the filter and the catalogue shows only matching offers. The lower you set it, the fewer cars remain.
Yes. To see cars with no deposit, use the «No deposit» filter option. There are also cars with a small deposit or cash payment.
Note that "no deposit" means no hold at pickup, not no booking payment - a small upfront amount is still taken when you book. If nothing suits, contact our support team.
The deposit is the amount frozen on your card at pickup and released when you return the car undamaged.
The excess is the part of any damage you pay yourself even with insurance - anything above it is covered by the insurer.
In practice, damage is taken from the deposit up to the excess, so the deposit is often set to match it. A full, zero-excess policy removes both: you do not pay for damage and the hold is usually waived.
Cover comes in levels:
You see the available rates on each car's card when booking.
If you would rather not depend on the deposit and excess, choose the full rate.
Yes, some cars can be paid in cash - use the «Cash» filter option.
You pay a small upfront amount by debit or credit card when booking (usually 15-20% of the total), and the rest in cash at pickup.
Yes, paying for the car with cryptocurrency is possible - contact our support team to arrange it.
Taking the car by ferry from Los Cristianos to La Gomera, Gran Canaria or other islands must be agreed with the supplier in advance, and not all of them allow it.
It is often simpler to hire a separate car on the second island. If you plan a ferry, check the terms with our support team.
Yes. In the search, set a pick-up and a drop-off point - for example collect in Los Cristianos and return at Tenerife South Airport or in Puerto de la Cruz.
By default the car is returned to the same place you collected it.
Most are manual, as across Spain. Automatics cost more and sell out first, especially in summer, so book one early if you need it - it makes the climb up to Teide easier.
You need a passport, a driving licence and the rental voucher - the voucher can be shown on your phone or tablet.
It states the final price with your chosen options and insurance, so the amount due at the desk will not change.
To hire through our rental companies you need at least 2 years of driving experience.
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Need to add something? Write to us at info@carhire-es.com