Visit Timanfaya National Park (on foot!) | Exploring Lanzarote 🌋

By Roberto (Updated Nov 22)

⏱ 4 min

Did you know that you can visit Timanfaya National Park on foot for free? Not many people know this and neither did we before visiting Lanzarote. We will explain here what steps to follow and before you ask… yes, we do recommend doing the visit if you have some extra time.

A bit of info about Timanfaya National Park

In Spain, there are more than 100 natural protected areas, and only the best or most special make it to the “Hall of Fame”, considered National Parks. Thanks to its biodiversity, mystical terrain and special interest, Timanfaya National Park is one of the 16 Natural Parks in Spain, since 1974.

The scenery in Timanfaya literally looks like the moon, originated from volcanic eruptions. Strange rocks and lava formations welcome you with red and orange colours. Honestly, it’s a place you’ll remember for being SO unique.

The typical tour to Timanfaya

Almost everyone who visits Lanzarote visit Timanfaya, and they do it with the tour bus. Years ago, it was possible to visit it with private agencies, but not anymore. So, the only way to visit and explore the Park is by bus through the Ruta de los Volcanes (the Route of the Volcanoes).

The route around volcanoes, costs 12 € per person (6 € for kids) and includes the entrance to the park, the bus drive, around 30 minutes, and some short exhibitions with heat. It’s so important to mention that you cannot leave the bus, so all the visit is from inside and you see everything seated… At least the buses are well organised, with information in Spanish, English and German in the 5-6 stops they make.

There are tours with buses every 15 minutes, from 9 am to 5:45 pm (until 6:45 pm 1st July – 30th September). We absolutely recommend avoiding going to the centre from 11 am to 3 pm, because the line of cars at the entrance of the parking is freaking long. We went around 4:30 pm in Easter Week and had 0 problems.

How to visit Timanfaya by foot?

The interesting thing is that there is ANOTHER WAY to explore Timanfaya, and it’s completely free. The government has a website for all the Natural Parks, and provides cultural walks in some of them.

For Timanfaya National Park, they offer one guided tour along the coast and another inside Timanfaya, called, Tremesana Route from Yaiza. In the excursion, they pick you up from Yaiza (a nearby town) with a mini bus, and drive you to protected areas of the park. Once there, you walk for 3 km while receiving awesome explanations from the guides (they are biologists) and they answer all types of questions.

They offer one group in Spanish and another in English, each day. But only one tour per day! Thus, making a reservation is the most important. Access to the official website below:

With permission of the website, this is what they say about the route in Timanfaya:

Due to SECURITY AND QUALITY reasons of this SERVICE, VISITORS WHO DON´T UNDERSTAND the LANGUAGE of the BOOKED GROUP, WON´T BE ADMITED.  

SERVICE WITH GUIDE ONLY IN ENGLISH.

1.- Free guided walking tour service, previous booking, maximum 1 month ahead to the wanted date.

2.- Small groups (maximum 8 people); it is required to speak the language in which the service is offered. 

3.- Meeting point: PLAZA DE LOS REMEDIOS S/N, YAIZA. 15 minutes before the reserved time.

4.- Tour length: 3 k. Length: 3 hours (approximately). Difficulty: minimum.

5.- this service is offered for adults over “16 YEARS OLD”.

6.- Mandatory CLOSED FOOTWEAR, no high heeled, suitable for uneven ground. Failure to comply the requirements may result in the cancelation of the reservations.

7.- It’s recommended to wear: comfortable clothing, water, sun cream protection, cap or hat.

8.- Submit ID or the document proving the identity of all the attendants of the walk, as well as the “permit number” generated by the booking system.

9.- This service may be cancelled due to force majeure or weather alert by adverse events (Yellow, Orange or Red Alert).

10.-  PLEASE BE PUNCTUAL.

Important things to know about the walk to Timanfaya

Hence, the only important things you need to do are: register in the official website for your language, be on time, and bring walking shoes.

It’s so important to be registered and they don’t make exceptions because there is a max of 8 people in the group. Even for us, Ellen couldn’t make it because we only found one free spot to do it! In case you want to take the risk without a reservation, almost everyday, people who registered don’t go… Since it’s free, dumb people register and if they have another plan, simply don’t go, and f*ck the others.

Is the experience worth it?

In my view, 100% yes. But it’s not for everyone. You’ll love it in case you are a curious person, and have around 4 hours to spend. The only drawback I found was that the walking has too many stops and you don’t walk too much, and there is no toilet for 3 hours…

In case you only have time for one tour, between the bus or the walk, I’d do… I don’t know. 😅 I think the bus shows you the most impressive things with nice lookouts and a general view of the volcanoes. But the walk immerses you in the park, you can touch some rocks and even go in a lava cave. In addition, the explanation of the guides give you lots of information and stories.

More adventure around Canary Islands:

And another CRAZY hike to one of the highest volcanoes of the world: