Accommodation
Tenerife offers visitors a wide choice of hotels and apartments to suit all tastes and budgets. The leading trade organisation on the island, which represents the majority of these establishments, is the Hotelier and Nonhotelier Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, which is thankfully abbreviated to ASHOTEL. As with any holiday, it is certainly worth while checking the location of your chosen accommodation before booking, which hopefully the resort map pages of this site should be helpful. If your chosen accommodation is towards the rear of a resort, it may also be worth checking if they provide a courtesy bus service into the town centre.

Airport Transfers
Most UK tour operators now consider the transfer from the airport to your resort accommodation to be an "optional extra", and will charge anything up to £20 per person for the service. There is always a multitude of taxis waiting outside of the arrivals hall of both the Reina Sofia and Los Rodeos airports, and although in theory at least these taxis do all operate on a fixed price basis, this "fixed price" can, and often does, vary slightly depending upon the number of suitcases, the time of day or night of the journey, and of course the number of passengers carried. It's also worthwhile mentioning that as a rule, taxis do not normally carry child seats, so very small children will have to sit on their parents knees for the journey. If this is a cause for concern, we strongly recommend that you make arrangements for a pre-booked taxi to be waiting for you, and clearly specify at the time of booking that a child seat is needed for the journey. Pre-booked taxis are often a little more expensive, although as with all things in life, you only get what you pay for.

Banks
Most banks are open from 9am to 2pm Monday to Friday. Always remember when exchanging any form of money to take along your passport, check the exchange rate before dealing, and collect a receipt before leaving the premises. For those who feel nervous about carrying large sums of money and their passport around together, most hotels will also gladly exchange money at perhaps a slightly lower rate. Most banks also have hole in the wall type cash machines where you can withdraw money using either your credit or debit card. Don't forget that the official currency of Spain is now the Euro.

Bars
There is a wide variety of bars throughout all resorts, most of which either offer live music, karaoke, Sky Sports, or videos of films not yet released in UK cinemas.

Buses
A very reliable bus service is operated by the Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife throughout all of island. Chemist
You can always spot a chemist shop by the green cross they all display. Outside of normal opening hours, a notice on the door will always give the address of the nearest duty chemist.

Disabled Access and Facilities
It's fair to say that not all hotels and apartments on the island are able to offer full disabled access to their facilities. Access Travel are a UK based organisation who specialise in holidays for those people using wheelchairs, and who include a number of suitable hotels and apartments on the island in their brochures. For independent travellers who are looking to hire a mobility scooter in the south of the island, we recommend the services of Jeremy Mills at Orange Badge Tenerife. Contact details are:
Orange Badge Tenerife
Edificio Arco Iris
Cristian Sur No 9
Avenida Penetracion
Los Cristianos
38650
Arona
Tenerife
Tel: +34 922 797 355
Web site: www.orangebadge.com
Email: info@orangebadge.com

Electricity
The voltage in Tenerife is 220 volt. Most British items will work with the correct adapter from the UK standard 3 pin to European 2 pin socket.

Euro
The Euro is the name of the common currency of the 12 countries forming the European Monetary Union. Since January 1999 Spain has been a member, and the UK has opted out at this time. Euro notes are issued in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 denominations and are identical in all member countries of the EMU. The designs symbolise European architectural heritage but not royal or national monuments. The coins are issued as 1, 2 and 5 cents and are copper in colour, 10, 20 and 50 cents yellow in colour and finally 1 and 2 Euros white and yellow in colour. Although all the coins have a common European face, each member state is allowed to stamp their own motif on the reverse face.

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
The European Health Insurance Card, which is often abbreviated to EHIC, replaced the old E111 Form on 31 December 2005, and entitles British citizens to reduced cost, or sometimes free, medical treatment that becomes necessary while you’re in a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.

The EHIC is normally valid for three to five years and covers any medical treatment that becomes necessary during your trip, because of either illness or an accident. The card gives access to state-provided medical treatment only, and you'll be treated on the same basis as an 'insured' person living in the country you're visiting. Remember, this might not cover all the things you'd expect to get free of charge from the NHS in the UK and you may have to make a contribution to the cost of your care.

Although the EHIC also covers any treatment you need for a chronic disease or pre-existing illness, it won't however cover you if getting medical treatment is the main purpose of your trip.

If prior to 31 December 2005 you ticked the relevant box on the E111 application form, an EHIC would have been automatically sent to you during January 2006, however, for new applications they are also available from the Department of Health web site, by calling the EHIC Applications Line on 0845 606 2030, or alternatively by completing an EHIC application pack from any local Post Office branch.

Food
Restaurants in Tenerife cater for a wide range of tastes. In the larger resorts you can get anything from a traditional English breakfast to a Chinese take away. Traditional local cuisine makes full use of the islands home grown produce, pork, fish and vegetable dishes are very popular, flavoured with garlic, tomato and herbs.

Getting Married in Tenerife
Getting married in Tenerife can be extremely complicated. In very simple terms, if one of the partners has lived legally in either Tenerife or Spain for at least two years, then the civil marriage can be carried out at the local town hall, followed by a religious ceremony in church or other approved location if required. However, if neither of the partners fulfil the above residence requirements, then the civil marriage will have to take place in their country of residency, followed by a religious ceremony in church. In practical terms for UK citizens, this usually means a civil marriage taking place in the local registry office in the UK, which can then be followed by the religious ceremony on Tenerife.

Golf
Tenerife is famed for its excellent golf courses, offering visitors a choice of five championship level courses that are open to the general public, all of which pose a variety of different challenges, and have some spectacular sea views. Probably the best known is of these is the course at Golf del Sur, as it has hosted rounds of the European PGA Tour, although certainly worth a mention are the stunning Costa Adeje and Las Americas courses and the new Buenavista Golf Course situated on the north west coast. The other highly recommended course is the 9 hole - par three Golf Los Palos. This beautiful and challenging short course is ideal for beginners or for those wishing to perfect the short game. Clubs, trolleys etc can be hired at most courses, and whilst shorts are permitted, beachwear is generally frowned upon.

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