At a glance
- The Guided Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour is from US$173 per person, runs 2 - 3 hours and keeps groups to 10 participants.[1]
- Drivers need to be 20 or older, with a driving licence held for two years or more.[2]
- Lanzarote Airport is 12 km from Puerto del Carmen, and pickup options appear when you check availability.[1][3]
- Lanzarote has a warm climate throughout the entire year, with an average annual temperature of about 21ºC.[4]
- Free cancellation is offered up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and you can reserve now and pay later.[1]
- Top choice Off-Road Volcano Buggy from US$173 Duration2 - 3 hours[1]Rating4.67 from 5,246 reviews[1]Guide languagesCatalan, English, French, Spanish[1]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours in advance[1] Check availability
- Can-Am Trail Buggy Tour from US$196 Duration3 hours[5]Rating4.54 from 243 reviews[5]Guide languagesEnglish, Spanish[5]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours in advance[5] See this tour
- On-Road Buggy Volcano Tour from US$207 Duration2.5 hours[6]Rating4.58 from 627 reviews[6]Guide languagesEnglish, Spanish[6]CancellationCancel up to 24 hours in advance[6] See this tour
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Ride the volcanoes from Puerto del Carmen
Good to know
Why base a buggy day in Puerto del Carmen
Puerto del Carmen runs along Lanzarote's south-east coast: a long resort of white apartments, a sheltered beach, a busy promenade and a harbour where dive boats and ferries come and go. Lanzarote Airport is 12 km away.[3] Inland, the shops and bars give way to pale ash, low stone walls and the first cones of the volcanic south, and the roads that climb towards Timanfaya begin a short drive from the resort centre.
The tour booked from this site is the Guided Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour, from US$173 per person, with groups limited to 10 participants.[1] It runs 2 - 3 hours and a live guide travels with you in Catalan, English, French and Spanish.[1] Pickup is available, and you check availability for pickup options when you book. You can reserve now and pay later, and free cancellation is offered up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1]
A buggy convoy fills a morning or an afternoon and leaves the rest of the day free for the sand, a late lunch of grilled fish on the promenade, or a swim at one of the sheltered coves along the coast road. If you are staying further west in Playa Blanca, note the distance: the airport is 33 km from Playa Blanca.[8]
What the off-road volcano buggy tour feels like
A buggy is an open, stripped-back machine: a high seat, a roll cage and fat tyres that float over loose ground. You follow a guide in a small convoy, engines loud, dust hanging in the air behind the last car. The surface changes under you from packed track to soft ash to broken lava rock, and the horizon shifts between black slopes, ochre cones and the blue Atlantic.
The route runs 2 - 3 hours and keeps the group small, limited to 10 participants.[1] Starting times are shown when you check availability, and the schedule moves through the day.[1] Expect a bumpy, dusty, cheerful ride rather than a polished drive. The open sides of the buggy give you a wide view of the lava fields, and the guide leads the convoy the whole way.
Stops break up the driving, and these are the moments for photographs, with the guide pointing out the shape of the ground ahead. The pace is set for the whole group. If you have never driven off-road before, the first few minutes are the learning curve, and the tracks themselves are wide enough to settle into quickly.
Lava fields, black cliffs and volcanic cones on Lanzarote's south-west coast.
Driving rules: age, licence and who takes the wheel
Drivers on this tour must be at least 20 years old and must have held a valid driving licence for a minimum of two years.[2] Those requirements apply to this buggy tour, and they are strict. Check the dates on your licence before you book, and bring the card itself on the day.
Decide who takes the wheel before you arrive, especially if you are booking as a couple or a group of friends. Keep the licence somewhere dry and zipped away from the dust, and have it to hand when the guide runs through the briefing at the start.
Passengers who are not driving still need to be ready for heat, wind and grit, and should wear the same sturdy clothes as the driver. The tour runs with a live guide, so there is always someone to ask about the route and the landscape, and the guide speaks Catalan, English, French and Spanish.[1]
The volcanic landscape you ride through
Much of Lanzarote's surface is young. The Timanfaya eruption lasted six years and covered 23% of the island in fresh lava and spatter.[9] Riding through the result feels like crossing a black and ochre desert: fields of clinker, lava that hardened in ropes and coils, and cones that still look raw, with pale lichen and a few wind-bent shrubs in the hollows.
The island's human landscape is just as strange. In La Geria, vines are grown in pits dug in the volcanic ash, a centuries-old technique that uses the exceptional properties of that ash.[10] Near Yaiza, the crater of an extinct volcano submerges into the Atlantic to form the Charco de los Clicos, also called the Green Lagoon, a Natural Reserve.[11] Further west, Los Hervideros is a stretch of black lava cliffs where the Atlantic surges into sea caves and blowholes and appears to boil among the rocks.[12] Inland, Peñas del Chache stands 672 meters (about 2,205 feet) above the sea as the tallest mountain on Lanzarote.[13]
Lanzarote is listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, comprising the northernmost island of the Canary Archipelago and the northern islets.[14] Low white villages keep their shape against the dark ground, and protected land sits close to the resorts. On a buggy route the colours shift with the light: near-white ash at midday, deep orange towards dusk.
from US$173
Runs 2 - 3 hours in a small group limited to 10 participants, with pickup available and a live guide.[1]
Pickup, timing and the drive to the tracks
Distances on the island are short. Puerto del Carmen is 12 km from Lanzarote Airport, and Playa Blanca is 33 km from the airport.[3][8] Cruise ships dock at the Puerto de los Mármoles, 3 km from the centre of Arrecife.[15] From any of these bases, the southern routes are within easy reach by taxi or hire car.
Lanzarote sits in the trade winds, which blow steadily from the north-east all year round, though the speed varies.[16] The island also has a warm climate throughout the entire year, with an average annual temperature of about 21ºC.[4] A buggy day can work in any month, with a windproof layer for the open sections. Lanzarote currently does not charge a general overnight tourist tax.[7]
Pickup is available for the Guided Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour, and you check availability for pickup options when you book.[1] Starting times also appear when you check availability.[1] Arrive a little early, with your licence ready and your bag closed, and ask the guide about the day's route before the convoy pulls out.
What to wear and how to handle the dust
Dress for grit. Long trousers and a long-sleeved top keep dust off your skin, closed shoes stay on your feet, and sunglasses protect your eyes when the buggy kicks up ash. A thin buff or scarf over the mouth helps on the dustiest stretches, and a light windproof jacket is worth having in an open buggy that catches every gust.
Bring water, high-factor sunscreen and a way to keep your phone and licence dry and secure, ideally in a zipped pocket rather than a loose bag. Cameras with a strap are fine, and a small towel is useful at the end. Leave jewellery and loose hats behind. You will finish dusty, so plan a shower and a cold drink afterwards.
Other buggy tours and volcano days on Lanzarote
The island has several buggy options beyond the off-road volcano route. The Guided Can-Am Trail Buggy Tour is from US$196 and runs 3 hours.[5] The On-Road Guided Buggy Volcano Tour is from US$207 and takes 2.5 hours.[6] The 4 or 6 seater Off-Road Guided Buggy Volcano Tour is from US$230.[17] A Puerto del Carmen buggy tour of 2 hours, in a small group limited to 6 participants, is from US$288.[18]
If you would rather walk, the Guided Volcano Hike with Transfers is from US$48 and lasts 3.5 - 4 hours.[19] The hike across Timanfaya's volcanic landscapes is from US$51 and takes 3 hours.[20] For two wheels, an e-bike tour of volcano craters and scenic vineyards is from US$143 and runs 4 hours.[21] Lanzarote receives just over 3 million holiday tourists per year, plus a further 500,000 day visitors arriving by cruise ship.[22] In the busiest weeks, reserve before you fly.
From prices for buggy tours
From prices per person as listed for these buggy tours.[1][5][6][17]
Buggy tour prices
From prices per person for each listing; the listings show a single from price rather than a separate child rate.[1][5][6][17]
When to ride the volcano buggy
Booking your buggy tour
Choose your date
Starting times are shown when you check availability, so pick the slot that fits your day on the island.[1]
Check the driver rules
Drivers need to be 20 or older, with a driving licence held for two years or more.[2]
Add pickup if needed
Pickup is available, and you check availability for pickup options when you book.[1]
Reserve and pay later
You can reserve now and pay later, and free cancellation runs up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.[1]
Pack for dust
Long sleeves, closed shoes, sunglasses and water make the ride more comfortable, and bring your licence.
Ride the lava fields from Puerto del Carmen
from US$174Reserve now & pay later
