If you read nothing else
- The evening tour starts from US$155 and runs 5 hours with a live guide in English, Spanish, German and French.[1]
- El Diablo Restaurant cooks over subsoil heat that exceeds 600 °C just 15 meters below the surface, with no fire and no electricity.[2]
- Pickup is included, and the listing shows 37 pickup location options and 37 drop-off locations.[1]
- Your guide takes the group through an express security check instead of the main entrance queue.[1]
- Reserve now and pay later, and cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1]
| Evening dinner tour | Full-day park and caves | Half-day express | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From | from US$155[1] | from US$102[3] | from US$66[4] |
| Duration | 5 hours[1] | 9 hours[3] | 3 hours[4] |
| Guide languages | English, Spanish, German, French[1] | English, French, German, Spanish[3] | English, French, Spanish[4] |
| Rating | 4.44 from 261 reviews[1] | 4.47 from 2,662 reviews[3] | 4.55 from 85 reviews[4] |
| Queue | Express security check[1] | Skip the ticket line[3] | Express security check[4] |
Thanks to this energy source, meat and vegetables are cooked without fire or electricity, directly on a grill placed over an open cavity in the rock
Is the Timanfaya evening volcano dinner tour worth it?
Booking essentials
Why Timanfaya feels different after dark
Timanfaya National Park holds the fire mountains of southern Lanzarote, a spread of black and rust coloured ash, cinder cones and slow ridges of solidified lava that run down towards the coast. In the middle of the day the colours are fierce, the coach roofs shine white, and heat comes up off the ground in waves. Come back in the evening and the same slopes turn soft and grey, the wind drops, and the low sun picks out the edges of old flows. The landscape reads like a place still being made, which is roughly what it is.
The park became a national park by a decree of August 9, 1974, published in the Official State Gazette on September 17, 1974.[6] It is a protected place rather than a theme park. The ground is hot in places, the marked route is followed by coach, and most of the interior is seen from the road. Up close the rock is light and porous, full of trapped bubbles from the eruptions that built it, and the ash underfoot is soft enough to hold a footprint. An evening visit keeps all of that and adds quiet, cooler air.
What the evening tour with volcano dinner includes
The Timanfaya National Park: Evening Tour with Volcano Dinner is listed as a 5 hour tour with a live guide in English, Spanish, German and French.[1] It starts from US$155 and is rated 4.44 from 261 reviews, with a guide score of 4.6, transportation 4.6 and value for money 4.[1] Timanfaya National Park appears as a stop on the route, and the evening is built around the park rather than a quick look from the gate.
Pickup is included, and the listing shows 37 pickup location options and 37 drop-off locations across the island.[1] Your guide takes the group through an express security check, which means the entrance queue is skipped.[1] You can reserve now and pay later, and cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund if plans change.[1] Bring a layer for the open coach and the cooler evening air.
Lava fields and low evening light on the road through Timanfaya National Park
El Diablo Restaurant Timanfaya National Park
Dinner at Timanfaya National Park is the reason this departure runs in the evening, and the kitchen at El Diablo Restaurant does something an ordinary grill cannot. Its volcanic oven uses natural heat from the subsoil, where temperatures exceed 600 °C just 15 meters below the surface.[2] Meat and vegetables are cooked without fire and without electricity, directly on a grill placed over an open cavity in the rock.[2] The stone structure near the dining area is part of that cooking setup.
There is something odd and rather wonderful about a meal cooked by a mountain. No flame is lit, no ring is switched on, and the heat comes from the same deep source that once cracked this ground open. Plates arrive hot and simple, the room looks out on dark lava, and the smell of sulphur drifts in when the door opens. If you have dietary needs, read the current listing before you book, and ask your guide about wine from La Geria, where vines grow in hollows scooped out of volcanic ash.
Islote de Hilario and the Route of the Volcanoes
The coach stops at Islote de Hilario, where the ground itself is the attraction. Surface temperatures reach around 250 ºC, and they can reach more than 600 ºC at 13 m deep.[5] Guides show the heat with dry brush or a handful of gravel, and you feel it through the soles of your shoes when you stand still. Warm air comes off the vents over your ankles, and the ash is warm to the touch. This is the part of the park that people remember afterwards.
The Route of the Volcanoes has adapted coaches.[7] The park is about 51 square kilometers (20 square miles) in size, and the drive crosses a good part of it, past black fields and cones that look freshly tipped out.[8] Film makers have used these slopes as a stand-in for other planets, in Enemy Mine, Krull, Mission Stardust, Stranded and Operation Ganymed.[9] There is no shade anywhere on the route, and the evening crossing is gentler for it.
from US$155
The evening tour with volcano dinner runs 5 hours and starts from US$155, with pickup across the island.[1]
Getting to Timanfaya and what entry costs
If you are travelling under your own steam, the park is easy to reach from the coast. Puerto del Carmen and Timanfaya National Park are about 22 km apart directly, with a road distance of about 23.5 km.[10] By public bus, Line 60 passes through Yaiza on its route between Arrecife and Playa Blanca, which gets you close before the last stretch.[11] For independent entry to Montañas del Fuego, tickets can only be purchased online and for a specific time slot, so sort that out before you set off.[12] The standard adult entrance ticket costs 30.00 EUR.[13]
Mancha Blanca is worth a stop on the way in. The Timanfaya Visitor Centre there gives free access to its exhibition and audiovisual programme, and it is open Monday to Sunday from 9:00 to 16:00.[14][15] The Termesana Route is another way into the story: it allows visitors to come into close contact with the volcano and the culture of Lanzarote's inhabitants during the 1730-1736 eruptive period.[16] Near the camel station, the ride lasts approximately 20 minutes and gives you a slow look across the ash fields.[17]
What to wear, pack and check before you go
Booking is flexible. You can reserve now and pay later, and free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1] Starting times vary with the date, so check availability to see starting times and choose your pickup point from the 37 pickup location options listed.[1] The guide speaks English, Spanish, German and French, and the tour is rated 4.44 from 261 reviews.[1] Arrive at your pickup point a few minutes early and keep the booking confirmation handy.
Dress for a hill walk in the evening rather than a beach dinner. Flat closed shoes, a light jacket and a bottle of water cover most of it, and a scarf helps on the open sections of the coach. The lava holds warmth long after sunset, but the air over the fields cools quickly and the wind can be fresh on exposed stops. Keep children close near the vents, stay on the marked ground, and save photographs for the last of the light, when the sky still holds its colour and the lava keeps its shape.
Other ways to see Timanfaya on the same trip
If an evening does not fit your plans, Lanzarote has daytime alternatives. The Lanzarote: Timanfaya Park, Jameos Agua, & Cueva Verdes Tour runs 9 hours from US$102 and takes in the caves as well as the park.[3] The Lanzarote: Timanfaya Park and Jameos del Agua Full-Day Tour runs 9 - 10 hours from US$86.[18] A shorter option is the Lanzarote: Timanfaya National Park Express Tour, which lasts 3 hours from US$66.[4]
Hikers often prefer a guided walk instead. The Lanzarote: Timanfaya Natural Park Trekking Tour lasts 3 hours from US$54, and the Lanzarote: Hike Across Timanfaya's Volcanic Landscapes runs 3 hours from US$51.[19][20] Cruise passengers docking at Arrecife can join the Arrecife: Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengers tour, which lasts 2.5 - 5 hours from US$57.[21] For the park at dusk, with the volcano dinner named in the listing, the evening departure is the one to book.
How hot the ground runs at Timanfaya
Temperatures recorded at Islote de Hilario and the subsoil heat used by the grill at El Diablo Restaurant.[2][5]
Compare tour from-prices
From-prices in US dollars from the listings.[1][3][4] No separate child from-price appears on these listings.
When to book the evening volcano dinner tour
Booking the evening tour
Pick your date
Choose a day that leaves your afternoon free, then check availability to see starting times.[1]
Reserve now, pay later
Book your place with reserve now and pay later, and cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1]
Choose your pickup point
The listing shows 37 pickup location options, so pick the one nearest where you are staying.[1]
Pack for the evening
Bring a light jacket, flat shoes and water for the stops on the ash.
Let the guide lead
Your guide takes the group through an express security check, and Timanfaya National Park is a stop on the route.[1]
Book the Timanfaya National Park evening tour with volcano dinner
from US$155
