Fire, water, and whitewash.
Timanfaya’s craters, the caves Manrique carved from the lava, sunset catamarans and the ferry to La Graciosa: what each trip is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven trips worth the drive.
First visit or fifth, these anchor the week: the crater road through Timanfaya, the blue lagoon under the lava at Jameos del Agua, and the catamaran that beats the coach to Papagayo.
Guided Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour
Ride bumpy volcanic tracks in northern Lanzarote to Peñas del Chache on a small-group buggy tour with windbreakers and views.
From $153 per person
Read the review →
★ 4.6Safe betFull-Day Island Highlights TourFrom $602,660 reviews
★ 4.6Books out fastTimanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise PassengersFrom $582,010 reviews
★ 4.5Island favouriteTimanfaya Park, Jameos Agua, & Cueva Verdes TourFrom $1011,876 reviews
★ 3.7Worth the early startDolphin-Watching Speedboat Tour with SwimFrom $411,807 reviews
★ 5.0Easy winTour to Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua, Cueva de los Verdes and viewpoint from the cliffFrom $1081,381 reviews
★ 4.2Crowd favourite2.5-Hour Sunset and Dolphins CruiseFrom $611,365 reviews
The ground is still warm.
Two centuries after the eruptions, Timanfaya still steams. Ride the crater road through a landscape with no green in it, watch water flash to steam over a borehole, and eat something grilled on the volcano’s own heat. The day the whole island is named for.
How do you want to meet the volcanoes?
Everyone comes for Timanfaya; how you cross it is the choice. Here are three ways onto the lava. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every trip behind it is already reviewed and priced.
From the coach
The crater road
5 hours · from $67 · 2,097 reviews
The classic way into Timanfaya: an air-conditioned run along the Ruta de los Volcanes, the geothermal demonstrations at the Islote de Hilario, and lunch at El Diablo over the natural heat. Every viewpoint, none of the sweat.
See the Timanfaya tours →
Behind the wheel
The dust route
2 - 3 hours · from $153 · 4,385 reviews
Take the tracks the coaches can’t: a buggy or quad convoy across the malpaís, goggles on, the La Geria vineyards and the Timanfaya fringe under your own tyres. Dusty, loud, and the most fun anyone has on the island.
See the buggy & quad runs →
On foot
The slow route
3.5 - 4 hours · from $50 · 861 reviews
Walk the calderas with a guide who reads the rock: the Caldera Blanca rim, the lava tubes, lichen that took a century to grow. Quiet, uncrowded, and the only way to feel how big the lava field really is.
See the guided hikes →
The island saves its best for dusk.
The trade winds drop, the cliffs turn copper, and the dolphins come up to feed. Sail west out of Puerto del Carmen with a glass in your hand and watch Lanzarote’s volcanoes go from black to gold to gone.
Vines in the black gravel.
Nothing should grow in La Geria, and yet the malvasía does, each vine dug into a pit of volcanic ash and walled against the wind. Tour the bodegas, taste the dry whites the lava makes, and see why this is the strangest vineyard in Europe.
Loud, dusty, unforgettable.
The malpaís was made for machines with fat tyres. Buggies, quads and open Rykers convoy out across the volcanic tracks: helmet on, dust up, La Geria and the Timanfaya fringe blurring past. Book the seat, not just the view.
Where the lava becomes architecture.
César Manrique refused to let Lanzarote be concreted over. He turned a collapsed lava tube into a concert hall at Jameos del Agua, hung a house inside volcanic bubbles, and set the rule the island still lives by: nothing taller than a palm. Go see what one artist saved.
North, south, fire and sea.
Small island, big range: no two days here need to match. Timanfaya for the fire. Papagayo for the turquoise coves. Famara for the surf under the cliffs. La Geria for the wine grown in ash.
Know what you’re after?
Twelve ways to spend a day on Lanzarote. Pick the one that sounds like you, and every trip behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Islands a boat ride away.
The best of Lanzarote is often off Lanzarote. Ferry to La Graciosa for empty beaches, cross to Fuerteventura’s dunes, or drop anchor off the Papagayo coves, all back before dinner.
Three days across the island.
You won’t see all of Lanzarote in one trip, but three days gets you the fire, the water and the art. This is the order we’d give a friend picking up the hire car tomorrow.
Day 1
The fire day
Timanfaya first, while the light is still low on the craters: the Ruta de los Volcanes, the geothermal show at Hilario, then down into La Geria to taste the wine the lava grows.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The Manrique day
North to the caves: the blue crab lagoon and concert hall at Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes lava tube, and the Mirador del Río cut into the cliff. One artist, one unforgettable island.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The water day
Down to the harbour and out to sea: the ferry to La Graciosa’s empty beaches, or a catamaran to the Papagayo coves for snorkelling and a swim off the back of the boat.
Plan day three →
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