Lanzarote Sur | Eye-Opening Excursion Focused Around The Volcanoes Of Timanfaya National Park

Lanzarote is a stunning island, and its volcanic landscapes are something that everyone should visit. Timanfaya National Park offers breathtaking views and a more unusual day out. Even if your holiday isn’t in Lanzarote it’s still accessible from Fuerteventura, and an excursion overseas might be just what your holiday needs to crank up the adventure. There are several different ways to do it – I’ve previously reviewed the Lanzarote Grand Tour but here’s another great excursion to explore the island.

La Geria Winery

There are three main parts to the excursion – El Golfo, Bodega La Geria, and the tour of Timanfaya National Park. Bodega La Geria is first, which is a small but welcoming winery north east of Playa Blanca. You’ll learn about the unusual grape growing methods on Lanzarote, different due to climate and volcanic influence. If you didn’t know any better then you most likely wouldn’t recognise it as a vineyard in the first place!

Despite having barely any rain or fertile soil on the island, Lanzarote still produces some wonderful wines. You’ll be invited to taste two during your visit – a dry, white wine, and a much sweeter dessert wine. Despite not drinking much dessert wine I absolutely fell in love with the two that I tasted. La Geria also has a gift shop and a really nice café for a quick coffee and some souvenirs.

Timanfaya National Park

The tour of the volcanic Timanfaya National Park over to the west is the main part of the tour. Over the course of the journey the tour guide provided some fascinating information on Lanzarote. He talked about how Lanzarote was formed, and described volcanic eruptions from long ago that locals thought to be El Diablo, the devil that natives believed lived atop Timanfaya.

There is no walking access to Timanfaya, so you’ll be in the coach for most of it. You will first stop at the car park, where there is a restaurant and gift shop plus several exciting displays. We got to see a demonstration of the heat underneath the surface, plus a volcanic vent in action. Lanzarote is a hot country anyway but you can certainly feel the temperature difference up there!

Once the coach tour starts, an audio tape plays that narrates the majority of the trip. It’s quite loud with some frankly bizarre music at points (think a more surreal Star Wars soundtrack) but provides a wealth of knowledge that will leave you in awe at the volcanoes around you. At 350m above sea level the peaks aren’t for those with a big fear of heights, but if you can stomach it then the views are one hundred percent worth it. The beautiful thing about Timanfaya National Park is that it’s not just Timanfaya that you get to see – there are over 100 volcanoes on the island and no two of them are exactly the same. I really appreciated the audio aspect of the tour and it helped me to visualise just how terrifying and magnificent the spate of eruptions in the 1700s must have been.

El Golfo Fishing Village

After the tour of Timanfaya National Park the coach makes it way to the final stop – El Golfo. El Golfo is a fishing village situated south of Timanfaya, and it’s a nice, calm way to end the day. There are some beautiful views to be taken in. The black sand beach is beautiful, and there are some wonderful rock structures standing strong against the powerful waves.

When we visited, locals sold jewellery and other items so this is a good place to buy handcrafted gifts.Many featured volcanic rock and olivine (otherwise known as peridot) which are both abundant on the island. Once everyone has soaked up the scenery the coach drops everyone back at Playa Blanca, ready for the ferry home.

Booking Details

Throughout our visits to Fuerteventura we’ve always booked with Excursion Center in Corralejo. They have provided us with safe and enjoyable tours time and time again. Their prices are very reasonable and they offer a whole range of experiences for both the thrill-seekers and the ones who don’t need quite so much adventure. If you’d like to book online before your trip then the best way is via Civitatis with their Lanzarote Timanfaya Day Trip which, like Excursion Center, offers really reasonable prices and has excellent reviews.

Currently excursions are available in Spanish, English, and German. The group meets initially at the ferry in Corralejo, and pick-up is available from hotels if needed. It regroups at Playa Blanca in Lanzarote, where from then on everyone travels together by coach. Should you be undertaking the trip whilst staying in Lanzarote then obviously you skip that part!

Trips usually start quite early on in the day so it’s wise not to book anything else for that morning. This one comes back late afternoon so there’s still plenty of time in the evening for dining and relaxing.

What You Need To Know

As mentioned above the trip is quite long so I thoroughly recommend you take lots of water. Food is not included on the trip but can be eaten at several different restaurants, however I’d probably suggest taking your own packed lunch as the restaurants and cafés can get quite crowded and there is an allocated time slot at each one. Chancing the queues would have been too stressful for us! It’s also important to be early to the ferry – if late then it won’t wait and you’ll end up missing out.

I’d say the excursion is suitable for children, although some may struggle with the long day. For adults the coach journey isn’t an issue as there are several stops for walking about and the information provided whilst travelling keeps you engaged. Younger children won’t find this quite so exciting, so I’d recommend it more for the older ones. Sensible shoes are also a must! Although there’s not much walking, the car park at Timanfaya National Park is very steep (and hot!) and when you get to El Golfo you may want to explore the trail a little bit.

Final Thoughts

The Lanzarote Sur excursion was a great introduction to the island for us, inspiring us to go back for more. It’s nice to explore on your own, but I loved hearing so much about the history of the island. If you want to see even more of Lanzarote in one day then the Lanzarote Grand Tour might be more appropriate for you; otherwise, book onto the Lanzarote Sur for the chance to see what the almost alien landscapes of Lanzarote have to offer.

What would be your favourite part of the Lanzarote Sur experience? If you liked this post then don’t forget to like, pin, and comment! You can check out my other reviews for Canarian excursions here:

Fuerteventura Grand Tour | Isla de Lobos | Lanzarote Grand Tour