if you tak th TF1 road to it will take around 30/45 minutes at a steady knot of speed, and they drive on the left side of the road, but once you have done a days driving it becomes really easy, you could always take the long route across the island that is well worth it, in fact its a must, then you will really see what tenerife is all about and much more, driving through the clouds up into the national park, if you have kiddies take some travel pills as the roads can become very bendy to say the least

Littlelegs

They drive on the right hand side

I would also say that 30 to 45 minutes is a tad optimistic. I would allow at least an hour using the TF1, TF2 & TF5.

sorry about the left and right, never was any good at putting my shoes on the right way round lol,

but i must say again get up in to the mountians

As a kid I went up in to the mountains. Mum and dad rented the car. I've never seen anything like it...a pure blanket of clouds not to be missed

is it easy to pick up on driving on the other side of the road. im going to be based in palm mar and unless we get some buses soon a car will be a must, but a bit worried about giving it a go.

no less than an hour from Puerto to PLA on a good day with little traffic. And lets face it, there is going to be traffic on that route at some point!!!

Not as bad now we have 3 lanes on the TF1 for a small part of the way, but nowhere near finished

Petra, I hired a car for the first time last year and it wasn't too bad getting used to driving on the other side. I would recommend collecting or getting it delivered when there is not too much traffic and taking it for a spin then (unlike me who took it out around noon when there is loads of traffic and deciding to get a bit out of the way got caught up in some kind of communist demonstration).
I also found that often letting the taxi drivers have right of way is a good idea and also keep a lookout for stop signs because they are everywhere. Have also heard of people getting there cars towed because of parking illegally so watch that also. I would really recommend you hire a car as it made our holidfay last year.
On a different note would like to hear some suggestions of places to visit as we are going in July and will be hiring a car again. Last year some places we visited were Loro Park, Santa Cruz, Arona, Los Giantes etc

If you haven't already been and you're confident with your driving, I would say it is an absolute 'must' to get up in the mountains. I would recommend the beautiful village of Masca in the Teno Hills in the west and the Las Canadas National Park. The Anaga Mountains in the far north are stunning and differ greatly from the rest of the island.