If you want to actually see the Canary Islands — not just the strip of hotels between the airport and the beach — you need a car. The public transport networks on most islands are limited, the interesting places are scattered across hillsides and mountain roads, and the distances that look short on a map can take a surprising amount of time on winding volcanic terrain. A car gives you freedom: to stop at a mirrador at 7am, to find the empty beach you read about, to drive up into the mountains for lunch and be back on the coast by sunset. This guide covers everything you need to know before you book.
Quick Facts
- Do I need a car? Yes on most islands. Gran Canaria (Las Palmas area) and parts of Tenerife South are the exception.
- Typical daily rate: €20–60/day depending on season and class
- Essential insurance: SCDW — always buy it, explained below
- Minimum age: 21 (some companies require 23 for larger vehicles)
- Driving side: Right-hand side (same as mainland Spain)
Which Islands Actually Need a Car?
Not all Canary Islands are equal when it comes to needing your own wheels. Here is an honest breakdown:
Tenerife: You can survive in the south resort zone (Playa de las Américas, Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje) without a car — everything is walkable or served by regular buses (guaguas). But the moment you want to go to Teide, explore the Anaga Peninsula, visit Garachico, or see La Laguna properly, you need a car. For a proper week on the island, hire one. It is worth every euro.
Gran Canaria: Las Palmas is a proper city with good buses and walkable neighbourhoods. But the Roque Nublo area, the dunes of Maspalomas, the villages of the interior, and the west coast are all car country. Most visitors to Gran Canaria benefit significantly from having wheels for at least a few days.
Lanzarote: A car is more or less essential. The island's top attractions — the Jameos del Agua, Timanfaya National Park, the Jameos del Agua, El Golfo — are spread across the island with infrequent bus connections. You will spend your holiday in Playa Blanca or Puerto del Carmen if you do not have a car, which is a waste of one of the most otherworldly landscapes in Europe.
Fuerteventura: You need a car. The good beaches are all a drive from the resorts, the villages in the interior are worth seeing, and the public transport is thin. The island rewards exploration by road more than almost any other — the drive north to the Corralejo dunes or south to Morro Jable is genuinely beautiful.
La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro: Essential. These islands are small but mountainous, with narrow roads and minimal public transport outside the main towns. Without a car you are limited to whatever you can walk to from your accommodation, which means missing most of what makes these islands special.
What Does Rental Cost?
Prices vary significantly by season, island, and booking timing. Here are realistic current benchmarks for a compact car (Seat Ibiza class or equivalent):
| Season | Daily Rate (compact) | Weekly Rate (compact) |
|---|---|---|
| Low season (Nov–Mar, ex Christmas) | €20–30 | €110–160 |
| Shoulder season (Apr–May, Sep–Oct) | €30–45 | €170–240 |
| Peak season (Jun–Aug, Christmas) | €45–70 | €280–420 |
These rates exclude insurance add-ons, which are where most car hire companies make their money. Read the insurance section below before you book — it will save you either a nasty surprise or an unnecessary charge.
Understanding Insurance: SCDW Explained
This is the single most important section in this guide. Car hire in the Canary Islands — and Spain generally — has a reputation for confusing insurance structures, and for good reason. Here is what you are actually dealing with:
Basic rental price typically includes third-party liability (TPL), which covers damage you cause to other vehicles or property. This is the legal minimum. What it does not cover is damage to the rental car itself — the tyres, wheels, windscreen, undercarriage, and the bodywork.
CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) reduces your liability for damage to the rental car to a fixed excess — typically €500 to €2,000. If you have an accident or the car gets scratched in a car park, you pay the excess. CDW is often included in the headline rental price, but check carefully.
SCDW (Super CDW or Full Coverage) reduces your excess to zero. You pay nothing for any damage to the car, regardless of fault. This is what we recommend every single time, without exception. The daily cost is typically €8–18 on top of your base rate, and the peace of mind it buys — especially on mountain roads with passing places — is genuinely worth it. One small scrape on a hire car can cost €800. Do the maths.
Important: Many UK credit cards claim to include car hire insurance. Read the terms very carefully before relying on this. Most only cover CDW (the excess), not the full SCDW zero-excess coverage, and they almost always exclude certain vehicle categories, countries of issue, and time limits. We have seen travellers argue for hours at rental desks over credit card coverage that turned out not to apply. Buy the SCDW from the rental company and move on with your holiday.
Tyres and windscreen: These are commonly excluded from even SCDW policies on local operators. Check the policy wording specifically. Some companies sell a separate tyre and windscreen waiver for €3–5/day. On an island like Lanzarote with rough volcanic rock on the roadside, this can be worth having.
Where to Book
There are three tiers of car hire operator in the Canary Islands:
International brands (Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Sixt): Predictable quality, consistent policies, accepted everywhere. Often significantly more expensive than local operators, especially in peak season. The main advantage is that the terms are clear and the vehicles are newer.
Local/regional operators (Cicar, Roig, Cabrera Medina, Orcar): These are the insiders' choice. Cicar in particular has an excellent reputation across multiple islands — good cars, fair prices, transparent policies, and staff who know the islands. Roig on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote is another strong option. You can often save 30–40% vs international brands while getting equivalent or better service.
Broker sites (Rentalcars.com, DiscoverCars, Kayak): Useful for comparing prices quickly across both international and local operators. Read the small print on included insurance before booking — broker-rate cars sometimes have different insurance terms than booking directly.
Our standard advice: compare on a broker site to see the market, then book directly with a local operator like Cicar if the price is close. You will typically get a better deal and less hassle at the desk.
Rent a car through Beyond Canary Islands
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See Car Hire OptionsPractical Driving Tips for the Canary Islands
Mountain roads: The interior of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, and Gran Canaria features narrow, winding mountain roads with steep drop-offs and no crash barriers. This is not a reason to avoid them — they lead to the best places — but take them at a respectful pace, especially if you are not used to this type of driving. Pull into passing places and let locals through; they know the roads and are going somewhere.
Hairpin bends: The road from La Orotava up to the Teide National Park, and the road down into the Masca gorge on Tenerife, are infamous. The Masca road in particular is very narrow, very steep, and has a lot of tourist rental cars on it. Go slowly, use your horn on blind corners (a genuine convention here, not rudeness), and never assume the road is clear around a bend.
Petrol stations: Fill up before heading into mountain areas. The interior of La Palma, for example, has very few petrol stations, and the ones that do exist keep limited hours. Fill up in the main town before any long inland drive.
Parking in resort areas: In peak season, parking in places like Puerto de la Cruz, Maspalomas, and Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura) can be genuinely difficult. Park slightly out of the centre and walk. Underground car parks (aparcamientos) are your friend and are usually signposted clearly.
Speed limits: Standard Spanish limits apply. Motorways: 120 km/h. Dual carriageways: 100 km/h. Single-carriageway roads: 90 km/h. Towns and villages: 30 or 50 km/h (watch for signs). Speed cameras are common, particularly on the approach roads to major towns, and Spanish traffic authorities do enforce them on foreign-registered hire cars via the rental company.
Driving with children: Child seats are mandatory for children under 135cm tall. Most rental companies offer them as an add-on for €5–10/day — book in advance during peak season as supply runs short.
Do I Need a 4x4?
Genuinely, no — for most itineraries. The vast majority of roads in the Canary Islands, including mountain roads, are paved. A standard compact car handles them fine. The exception is if you plan to drive specific off-road tracks — the beaches along the northwest coast of Fuerteventura near Cofete, for example, are only accessible via several kilometres of rough dirt track, and a 4x4 is strongly recommended.
Check whether your hire car's insurance covers unpaved roads — many policies explicitly exclude damage incurred off tarmac. If you are planning any serious off-road driving, make sure your policy covers it.
Picking Up and Returning the Car
Always photograph the car thoroughly before driving away — every scratch, dent, chip, and scrape — and make sure any pre-existing damage is noted on the rental agreement. Do this even if the rental company does not prompt you. Take a short video walkround for absolute certainty. This protects you at return if any damage is disputed.
Return the car with the same fuel level it had when you picked it up. "Full to full" is the standard policy — return it full. If you return it part-empty, rental companies charge a significant refuelling surcharge, often well above the pump price.
Can I Take a Rental Car Between Islands?
No — and this is an important point. Rental agreements in the Canary Islands are almost universally island-specific. You cannot take a car hired in Tenerife onto a ferry to La Gomera. If you are island-hopping, you need to return the car, fly or ferry, and hire a new car on the next island. This is normal practice and all the rental companies are set up for it. Cicar operates across multiple islands, which makes it easier to maintain one booking relationship.
We recommend booking through Booking.com — best price guarantee and free cancellation on most hotels across all the Canary Islands.
