Timanfaya National Park is definitely one of the most exotic landscapes in European countries. The vast landscape of red-black volcanic cones, of which you can count dozens, bare dry plains and old lava fields resemble the planet Mars much more than the Earth's surface.
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Take a trip to the Mountains of Fire, Montañas del Fuego, as the area is known among the locals, and experience an otherworldly experience.
How volcanoes have changed the landscape of the island
The Timanfaya area has only recently been created.
Massive volcanic eruptions, some of the largest ever in human history, swept across Lanzarote between 1730 and 1824, completely transforming the landscape of almost a third of the island, leaving 11 villages under the lava deposits and new mountains created by the eruptions, of which there is no trace today.
Fortunately, most of their inhabitants managed to flee to the east coast and then to other islands.
Thanks to its unique, unspoilt landscape, dominated by deep reds and blacks, Timanfaya National Park has become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Tourism and the Ruta de los Volcanes
The centerpiece of the national park is the iconic "Road of Volcanoes", the Ruta de los Volcanes, winding through the center of Timanfaya through the area with the largest number of volcanic craters and also the place that is the most diverse. Here the red smooth slopes of the volcanoes are interspersed with black wrinkled dry lava fields and wide plains with distant views.
You can't drive your own car on the Ruta de los Volcanes, only the national park's tourist minibuses. The visitor centre is located only about a kilometre from the LZ-67 road connecting Yaiza and Mancha Blanca.
Is it possible to get around Timanfaya on foot?
No, the heart of the national park is only accessible by car to the visitor centre and then by tourist bus. The only part accessible on foot is the coastline, along which the Ruta del Litoral long-distance hiking trail runs.
Entrance fees to the national park
To ride the Ruta de los Volcanes, you must buy a ticket at the visitor centre or online at the official website for 20 eur, children under 12 for 10 eur.
If you want to travel across Lanzarote, consider a discounted entrance fee:You don't have to pay an entrance fee for a walking tour of the coastal Ruta del Litoral.
Free Timanfaya
If you just want to soak up the atmosphere, and don't need to see the largest concentration of volcanic craters on the Ruta de los Volcanes, just take a drive on the LZ-67 road, which runs across the eastern edge of the national park and has no entrance fee.
You can stop along the way for photo stops at parking lots or dirt roads that often disconnect from the main road.
Accommodation Timanfaya
Don't look for any accommodation in the national park, but you'll find plenty of apartments and guesthouses around its edges in the village of Yaiza in the south or Tinajo in the north. However, prices are higher than in the larger towns and range between 92 eur and 128 eur per night.
How to get there
To get to Timanfaya National Park you need to rent a car.
There's no public transport and there's no bus stop anywhere nearby (the nearest is in Yaiza, 7km away).
What to see around
Discover all the places to see in Lanzarote.
