Canary Islands volcanoes: what you can visit on each island and what it costs

You visit the Canary Islands volcanoes in three very different ways. On Tenerife you ride the cable car up Teide to 3,555 m; on Lanzarote you sit on a coach along the Ruta de los Volcanes in Timanfaya, the landscape left by the archipelago's biggest historic eruption; on La Palma you walk with a guide across the ash beside Tajogaite, the volcano born in 2021.

If you can only pick one, our recommendation depends on what you are after. For pure volcanic scenery with no effort, Timanfaya. For altitude and hiking, Teide. To understand a recent eruption and what it swept away, Tajogaite. Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura have had no historic eruptions, but they have calderas you can explore on foot.

Why the Canary Islands are volcanic, and which volcanoes are active

The islands formed on the African plate, which moves about 12 mm a year over a hotspot in the mantle; the most widely accepted explanation places that plume beneath La Palma and El Hierro today. That is why the islands get older from west to east: the oldest lavas above sea level are 20.2 million years old on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, 14.6 on Gran Canaria, 11.9 on Tenerife, 9.4 on La Gomera, 1.7 on La Palma and 1.1 on El Hierro.

Are they active? Every main island except La Gomera has had eruptions in the last 11,700 years, although none in that period has been dated on Fuerteventura. La Gomera has gone some 4 million years without a major eruption. The Smithsonian counts 75 eruptions in the Canaries over that interval, 15 since 1490, and Tenerife is the island with the most.

Canary Islands volcano eruptions: the historic list

The most recent eruption on land was Tajogaite, from 19 September to 13 December 2021: the longest on record on La Palma, with 1,219 ha covered by lava, some 7,000 people evacuated, 2,988 buildings destroyed and around 48 ha of new land gained from the sea. Cumbre Vieja is the volcanic ridge; Tajogaite is the 2021 cone. They are not two different volcanoes.

Teide (Tenerife): cable car, summit permit and prices

Teide stands 3,715 m high, the official measurement from Spain's national geographic institute (IGN); you will see 3,718 m in many places because that is the old figure. The cable car (Teleférico del Teide) climbs from 2,356 m to La Rambleta (3,555 m) and costs €43 return for a non-resident adult and €21.50 for children aged 3 to 13. Tickets are sold online by time slot at volcanoteide.com. You can stay at the top for an hour, or two if you have a summit permit.

The cable car does not reach the summit. The last 0.66 km (about 55 minutes and 183 m of climb) require a permit for the PNT 10 trail from Tenerife ON, which costs €15 for non-residents of the Canary Islands in the 09:00 to 17:00 slots. Booking opens 56 days ahead, every Monday at 07:00 Canary Islands time, and is separate from the cable car ticket. Without a permit you have two free viewpoints from the top station: La Fortaleza (about 45 minutes) and Pico Viejo (about 55); with an hour up there, pick one.

To see sunrise from the summit without setting off from the coast in the small hours, the Refugio de Altavista mountain hut (3,260 m), reopened after refurbishment, costs €71 a night with the permits included. And there is more volcano beyond the cone: a free 4.85 km trail each way (PR-TF 43.2) leads to Chinyero, which erupted in 1909, and the Cueva del Viento, in Icod de los Vinos, has 18 km mapped: its managers bill it as the largest lava tube in Europe (€25, booking required, at cuevadelviento.net).

The Teide tour with cable car and transfer costs the same on every channel:

If you are hiring a car, you do not need the tour: the cable car ticket on its own is €43, although the car park at the base has 220 spaces and the operator asks you to arrive after 13:00. Everything else is in our Teide guide.

Timanfaya (Lanzarote): timed tickets, the coach route and camels

The 1730–1736 eruption opened more than 30 vents along a 14 km fissure and covered some 225 km², a quarter of the island. The Montañas del Fuego centre, at Islote de Hilario, is run by the island council's tourist centres (CACT). Entry costs €30 (€15 for ages 7 to 12, free up to 6) and is sold online only with a set time at cactlanzarote.com: if you arrive late you lose it, with no changes or refunds. It is open every day from 09:30 to 15:45.

It includes the Ruta de los Volcanes, about 35 minutes on a coach with audio in Spanish, English and German, which you do not get off, and the geothermal demonstrations: water that shoots up as steam and brushwood that catches fire from the heat of the ground. El Diablo restaurant grills over a well at about 250 °C and does not take bookings. Best first thing or after 13:30; Sunday is the quietest day.

Timanfaya is a seat on a coach, not a walk. To set foot on the lava inside the park there are two free guided walks run by the national park, Tremesana (from Yaiza, over-16s) and the Coastal Route (Ruta del Litoral, from El Golfo), booked at reservasparquesnacionales.es about 25–30 days in advance. Outside the park, Volcán del Cuervo, the first vent of 1730, has an easy path right into the crater, and Caldera Blanca is a hike of about 10 km.

The dromedary rides at the Echadero de los Camellos cost €11 per person, are run by Yaiza town council (not the CACT) and cannot be booked. Some people see them as part of the visit; others prefer not to ride for animal-welfare reasons. Bear in mind too that no public bus goes to the Islote: car, taxi or organised tour. More in Timanfaya and on the César Manrique route.

Tajogaite (La Palma): the youngest volcano, guided visits only

You can only go to the cone with a licensed company. The official trail is a loop of about 6 km taking just over two hours; it starts at Llano del Jable and ends at a safe distance from the crater (trail page on visitlapalma.es). Each company sets its own price: on their websites, about €30–38 (€32 with Astronorte and Senderismo La Palma) and up to €48 with pick-up; on the booking platforms, from €37. Many tours are in Spanish only: ask about the language before you pay.

Paying gets you the walk across the ash, not a climb to the crater rim. You can see the lava flow for free from the viewpoints the island council (Cabildo) marks as safe: the Virgen de Fátima monument in Las Manchas, Tajuya church, the Camino de Los Campitos in Los Llanos and Tazacorte harbour for the lava deltas. The coast road between Tazacorte and Puerto Naos crosses 2.4 km of the 2021 lava.

In Las Manchas, Caños de Fuego explains the lava tubes of the 1949 San Juan eruption (not 2021): €8, or €4 for just the walkways and the glass viewing platform over the Cueva de Las Palomas. Going into that 560 m tube requires a licensed company and a guide: an hour and a half, ages 5 to 75. In the south, the Volcán San Antonio centre (€8) has a half-hour walk around the crater rim, next to the 1971 Teneguía. It is all in the Tajogaite guide.

Lava tubes and calderas you can visit

On Gran Canaria, Bandama is the volcano people visit: you walk down to the floor of the crater, which formed about 5,000 years ago, and combine it with other trips into the interior. On Fuerteventura, Calderón Hondo is the easy volcano, an hour and a half; do not feed the squirrels. Fuerteventura's Cueva del Llano has had its tube closed since 2014, and only the visitor centre is open. La Palma's Caldera de Taburiente is not an explosion crater but a basin formed by collapse and erosion: you visit it as a hiking route, not as a volcano.

On El Hierro there is nothing to walk on: Tagoro lies under the sea, about 2 km south of La Restinga. The Geopark visitor centre, on the La Restinga road, recreates the underwater eruption. More in the El Hierro guide.

Volcanic alert levels: is it safe to visit the Canary Islands volcanoes?

The alert level is not a fixed fact: the Canary Islands Government sets it through the PEVOLCA plan, with monitoring by Spain's national geographic institute (IGN) and the Canary Islands volcanological institute (Involcan), and reviews it regularly. Check it before you go, not with a travel agent or in this guide.

At the time of writing, Tenerife is on green. For months there have been low-intensity earthquake swarms west of Las Cañadas and south-west of Pico Viejo that residents do not feel. At its latest review, the PEVOLCA scientific committee saw no signs of an eruption "in the coming weeks or months", with ground deformation of about 2 cm in three years; it warns that light tremors may be felt, and it meets every three months.

La Palma was still on yellow in the latest update available, the only island not on green, because of CO₂ in Puerto Naos and La Bombilla. Residents are being allowed back into those neighbourhoods home by home, and about 1,600 sensors measure the gas in real time.

Our picks: volcano tours

Our pick

1

Teide with the cable car, no car needed

Seven hours with transfer and cable car ticket; the same price as on the official website.

Tenerife

GetYourGuide7 hours

Tenerife: Mount Teide Tour with Cable Car Ticket & Transfer

4.3 (6,095 reviews)

from €92Check availability

2

Timanfaya in half a day

A five-hour organised trip to the park, for anyone not hiring a car on Lanzarote (no public bus reaches the Islote).

Lanzarote

GetYourGuide5 hours

Lanzarote: Timanfaya National Park – Half-day tour

4.4 (2,815 reviews)

from €59Check availability

3

Walking among volcanoes on Lanzarote

Three hours on foot through landscapes from the 1730 eruption, outside the paid area; the coach tour does not let you get off.

Lanzarote

GetYourGuide3 hours

Lanzarote: Hike Across Timanfaya's Volcanic Landscapes

4.8 (1,531 reviews)

from €44Check availability

4

Tajogaite with a certified guide

The official route with a local guide, about four hours including transfers; the only legal way to get close to the cone.

La Palma

GetYourGuide4 hours

Tajogaite Volcano: the official route with a certified local guide

4.9 (545 reviews)

from €37Check availability

5

Inside a lava tube on La Palma

Two hours in the Cueva de Las Palomas, with helmet and lamp.

La Palma

GetYourGuide2 hours

La Palma: Cueva de Las Palomas Volcanic Tube

4.7 (696 reviews)

from €25Check availability

Tenerife

GetYourGuide7 hours

Tenerife: Mount Teide Tour with Cable Car Ticket & Transfer

4.3 (6,095 reviews)

from €92Check availability

Tenerife

GetYourGuide9 hours

Tenerife: Teide National Park, Masca, Icod & Garachico Tour

4.6 (3,035 reviews)

from €58Check availability

Tenerife

GetYourGuide8 hours

Tenerife: Teide National Park Full-Day Tour with Pick-up

4.5 (1,922 reviews)

from €59Check availability

Lanzarote

GetYourGuide9 hours

Lanzarote: Timanfaya Park, Jameos del Agua, & Cueva de los Verdes Tour

4.5 (2,866 reviews)

from €89Check availability

Lanzarote

GetYourGuide5 hours

Lanzarote: Timanfaya National Park – Half-day tour

4.4 (2,815 reviews)

from €59Check availability

Lanzarote

GetYourGuide2.5 - 5 hours

Arrecife: Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengers

4.6 (2,155 reviews)

from €49Check availability

See all options on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 2 October 2026

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