Canary Islands Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Driving in the Canary Islands
As in Spain, driving abroad in the Canary Islands is on the right. You can rent a car using the photo licence of most countries. Speed limits range from 120kmh on motorways to 90kmh on other roads and 50kmh in urban areas. Main roads on the islands are prefixed by letters denoting the island they’re located on – FV- Fuerteventura, GC- Gran Canaria, LZ- Lanzarote, TF -Tenerife. Some of the main routes are-
Autovía FV-2 Puerto del Rosario — Fuerteventura Airport, Barranco del Vachuelo — Marabu
Autopista GC-1 – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – Maspalomas — Puerto de Mogán
Autopista GC-2 – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria— Bañaderos, Santa María de Guía — Gáldar
Autopista GC-3 – Las Mesas to GC-1
Autovía GC-4- San Francisco de Paula (GC-3) — Monte Lentiscal
LZ-3 – Arrecife Ring Road
TF-1 – Autopista del Sur- Santa Cruz de Tenerife— Candelaria — Tenerife South Airport — Adeje
TF-5- Autopista del Norte – Santa Cruz de Tenerife— San Cristóbal de la Laguna — Tenerife North Airport — Puerto de la Cruz
Roads are generally in good condition, even smaller roads. Most of the Islands have the main towns at the coast and quieter villages in the interior where roads may be steep and winding. Expect rush hour traffic in main towns but congestion isn’t as bad as in most mainland Spanish cities. On Tenerife, Mount Teide is the highest mountain is Spain at 3700m. Its usually very cold in the areas around the peak, even in Summer, with snow and ice common until typically March/April on average. In winter expect a few feet of snow and ice, and strong winds so check conditions on villages on the approach if you suspect bad conditions. Driving style in the Canary Islands is typical of small town Spain and is more laid back than driving in big Cities on the mainland. Drivers usually abide by road rules though you may find speeds faster on dual carriageways if you’re used to driving in Northern Europe or USA.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
Canary Islands Car Rental
Sixt, Hertz ,Europcar, Alamo, National,and all the other big international firms have branches on Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Plus all car rental broker sites can arrange rental on the Islands.
We currently have no local car rental partners in the Canary Islands. If you are a local car rental company who would like to feature on DriverAbroad.com please check details on our Partnering page or contact us on ADriverAbroad@Outlook.com
Canary Islands Self driving rules
There may be restrictions on taking cars on ferries between Islands and to mainland Spain so you should check the terms when making your reservation
