The Best Hostels to Book in Tenerife

Stay here, in the north of the Island, and you’re 20 minutes’ walk from Cueva del Viento and Drago Milenario – a 1,000-year-old dragon tree. This simple hostel has mixed-gender dorms with pine bunk beds, and bright-white bedrooms with hints of deep blue and soft green. Outdoorsy folks stay for the organised hikes up Mount Teide volcano, followed by a soak in the rooftop hot tub and plunge pool. It’s on a terracotta-tiled sun terrace with loungers for bronzing as you take in the hillside views. Whip up snacks in the kitchen, or have a barbecue outside – then shoot some pool and launder your hiking gear, ready for another day’s adventure.

El Duque Beach, on the Costa Adeje, is famed for its memorable sunsets. This laid-back villa turned youth hostel is a 500-metre walk away from the beach – and the welcome is as warm as the terracotta tiles and the colourful dorms and rooms throughout. Laze away the days in the bijou garden pool amid orange blooms and palm trees. For livelier aquatic pursuits there’s Siam Park, 5km away – hire a bike and cycle there. Singles mingle on Wednesday BBQ nights, which include vegan treats. There’s also an all-you-can-eat breakfast with the works: boiled eggs, cheese, ham, sweet pancakes, coffee, tea and fresh juice.

Barely a kilometre from the centre of buzzy Playa de Las Americas is this bright and breezy, adults-only B&B – making a statement with colourful murals splashed across whitewashed walls and dorms. Ask to stay in one with views of towering Mount Teide. The kitchen is shared – get tips from fellow guests over a cuppa, and get stuck into the breakfast of muffins, muesli and fruit. Climb up to the rooftop space to watch the sunset over a cool beer with your holiday chums. That should set you up for dinner nearby at the Hemingway cafe: vegan burgers, perhaps, or chicken curry.

The San Cristobal de La Laguna location is super-handy for the airport – Tenerife North is 2km away – and the pleasures of a stay at this cosy B&B are cultural rather than coastal. For starters, you’re five minutes’ walk from Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion Roman Catholic Church. Then check out both the Museum of the History of Tenerife and the Cathedral of La Laguna, an easy stroll away. Accommodation is in dorms, twins, doubles and studio rooms, finished with exposed brick walls or snazzy tiles. There’s a rustic courtyard dotted with fruit trees for cool drinks under thatched umbrellas. Up on the roof is a sliver of terrace for lounging. Hungry? Try nearby Bodegon Tocuyo and Tapas-Bar Mayma for local small plates.

In coastal Garachico, on the northern coast of Tenerife, make for the main square and the Santa Ana church – where you’ll find this modernised hostel. It has dorms of sleek, black-metal bunk beds and pristine private bathrooms, handy USB sockets and a shiny-subway-tiled kitchen dining space. You’ll spend your days using the timber-decked sun trap – with natty fake grass – but do explore the pretty area, and try a dip in the nearby Atlantic. For dinner, affordable joints do traditional Canarian speciality papas arrugadas and mojo rojo: waxy potatoes salted so they wrinkle, with a rich orange-red dipping sauce.

The sociable, plant-filled sun terrace is probably the main draw here, or perhaps the well-lined library of travel books and novels to bury your nose in. We also love the simply styled, whitewashed rooms with shutters for deep sleep, and the proximity to shops as well as places sizzling up local specialities. The bustling street in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is a treat after a day at Las Teresitas Beach, 15 minutes’ drive away. Or take an evening paseo in the scenic Parque García Sanabria, four minutes’ walk away, before a drink or snack back at the ranch. You rise and shine to buffet breakfasts laden with fruit and pastries.

This cheerful, custard-bright rural hostel occupies a corner villa in La Mareta, in Santa Cruz de la Tenerife – a couple of kilometres from both Tejita Beach, and the irresistible, laid-back seafood restaurants of Los Abrigos fishing village. The young clientele is at very much at home here, in mixed and female-only colourful dorms with sturdy wooden bunk beds below wooden beams. In the walled garden there’s a gym and a small pool for pre-dinner cool-offs – there’s also a rustic guest kitchen, snack store and a comfortable lounge leading to a terrace for socialising late into the night.

Want to be beside the seaside? This beauty abuts the beach in Puerto de la Cruz, famed for its volcanic-sand beaches and its huge zoo, Loro Parque zoo. Knock on the trad-wood front door and step beyond the whitewashed facade for a warm welcome. Simply styled dorms have access to a tiled, plant-filled rooftop terrace for communal dining and loungers for maximum tanning. You get fine views across the rooftops as you breakfast on an impressive buffet of local bananas, sun-ripened tomatoes, free-range eggs, cake, baguettes, ham and cheese.