Sunset Buggy Tour Lanzarote: What Evening Driving Is Really Like

• Top choice Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour from US$173 Duration2 to 3 hours^[1]Rating4.67 from 5,246 reviews^[1]PickupPickup available, check availability^[1]CancellationFree cancellation, 24 hours ahead^[1] Check availability
• Volcano Buggy, 4/6 Seater from US$230 Duration2 to 3 hours^[5]Rating4.48 from 644 reviews^[5]PickupPickup available, check availability^[5]CancellationFree cancellation, 24 hours ahead^[5] See this tour
• On-Road Guided Buggy Tour from US$207 Duration2.5 hours^[6]Rating4.58 from 627 reviews^[6]PickupPickup available, check availability^[6]CancellationFree cancellation, 24 hours ahead^[6] See this tour

What a Sunset Buggy Tour in Lanzarote Means

On Lanzarote the light does much of the work. The island is bare, dark and low, with wide horizons and very few trees, so the sky stays interesting long after the sun has slid down behind the rim of a crater. A sunset buggy tour in Lanzarote is less about reaching one perfect viewpoint than about being out in the open when the day turns soft and the rock colours warm up. The guided off-road volcano buggy tour runs for 2 to 3 hours, and you check availability to see starting times.^[1]

Evening buggy tour Lanzarote trips are the same tracks after the heat drops, so the real decision is the hour you start. The island keeps a warm climate throughout the entire year, with an average annual temperature of about 21ºC,^[2] and the wind blows steadily from the north-east all year round, though its speed varies.^[7] Between them, the warmth and the breeze make an open buggy comfortable at almost any hour. Take a later start and you finish the drive in the softest light of the day, back in time for dinner.

Why the Last Light Suits This Ground

Volcanic ground does something useful with low sun. Black lava and dark ash soak up the light and bounce it back warm, and the cones throw long shadows that make the shape of the land obvious in a way it never is at midday. You see the texture of the clinker, pale dust tracks cutting across the fields, and rough edges where old flows stopped. From the driver's seat the scene changes constantly, which is half the pleasure of an evening drive.

Lanzarote is listed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve comprising the northernmost island of the Canary Archipelago and the northern islets,^[8] and the protected status shows in how empty the interior feels. Away from the resorts there is very little built: stone walls, a few white villages, vineyards sunk into hollows and mile after mile of open volcanic country. Late in the day that emptiness reads as calm rather than bleak, and there is little traffic to break the drive. If you want the island at its quietest, this is the hour to take it in.

Dust trails and dark lava: an evening run across the volcano country.

The Landscape You Drive Through

Much of the centre of the island carries the marks of the Timanfaya eruption, which lasted six years and covered 23% of Lanzarote in fresh lava and spatter.^[4] Buggy tracks thread through that country, past cones and across ash plains, with the island's highest point, Peñas del Chache, standing 672 meters (about 2,205 feet) above the sea.^[9] The ground you cross is young in geological terms and still looks raw, with cinders underfoot and almost nothing growing on it.

Further west, La Geria is farmland rather than wilderness, and a strange kind of farmland at that. The vines there grow in pits dug into the volcanic ash, a centuries-old technique that works with the special properties of that ash.^[10] On the south-west coast, Los Hervideros is a run of dramatic black lava cliffs where the Atlantic forces its way into sea caves and blowholes and seems to boil among the rocks.^[11] Nearby, the green lagoon at El Golfo, known as the Charco de los Clicos, sits in the crater of an extinct volcano that submerges into the Atlantic.^[12]

Licence Rules Before You Drive

Anyone who wants to take the wheel has two hurdles to clear. Drivers must be at least 20 years old, and they must have held a valid driving licence for a minimum of two years.^[3] Bring the licence itself in its original form, not a photo on a phone, so the check at the start takes a moment rather than an argument. If you are travelling as a pair, the less experienced driver can still ride along and take a turn at navigating.

Those rules apply to the buggy tour operated by Buggy Tour Lanzarote, and they cover the person behind the wheel rather than the passengers, so a group can share one vehicle as long as the driver qualifies. Have the licence details ready when you book, and nothing slows the handover at the meeting point. The tour runs with a live guide, in Catalan, English, French and Spanish.^[1]

Timings, Group Size and Pickup

The guided off-road volcano buggy tour takes 2 to 3 hours, and starting times are shown when you check availability.^[1] Numbers are kept down on the track, with groups limited to 10 participants.^[1] Pickup is available, and you check availability for pickup options when you book.^[1] If you are choosing where to stay, Lanzarote Airport is 12 km from Puerto del Carmen^[13] and 33 km from Playa Blanca.^[14]

Other buggy listings on the island offer different shapes of day. The off-road guided buggy volcano tour in a 4 or 6 seater is listed from US$230 and runs 2 to 3 hours,^[5] the on-road guided buggy volcano tour is listed from US$207 over 2.5 hours,^[6] and the guided Can-Am trail buggy tour is listed from US$196 over 3 hours.^[15] Each one covers volcanic country in its own way, so pick the version that matches your timing and your appetite for dust.

What to Wear and Bring

Off-road driving in an open buggy is dusty, and the dust finds every gap. Wear something you are happy to wash twice: long trousers, a light long-sleeved top and closed shoes rather than sandals. Bring sunglasses, both for the glare and to keep grit out of your eyes, plus a bandana or buff for your face and a hat you can tie down. Sunscreen matters even late in the day. The light stays bright until the sun is low.

Once the sun drops, the coast can turn breezy, so a thin jacket is worth having in the back of the vehicle. Keep phones and cameras zipped into a pocket rather than loose. Bring water. If you are prone to motion sickness, say so before the drive starts and sit where you feel steadier. Leave the good clothes at the hotel: dust is part of the experience, and nobody finishes an off-road buggy drive looking pressed.

Prices, Booking and Cancellation

The guided off-road volcano buggy tour is listed from US$173,^[1] and you can reserve now and pay later.^[1] Free cancellation is part of the deal: you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.^[1] That takes some of the risk out of committing to a fixed slot around a flight or a ferry. Other buggy listings on the island start at different prices, from US$196 for the Can-Am trail tour^[15] to US$288 for the Puerto del Carmen buggy adventure.^[16]

There is one thing you will not pay on top: Lanzarote currently does not charge a general overnight tourist tax.^[17] The island receives just over 3 million holiday tourists per year and a further 500,000 day visitors arriving by cruise ship.^[18] Booking a buggy slot before you fly is the calm way to do it. Cruise passengers have it easy too: ships dock at the Puerto de los Mármoles, 3 km (1.9 miles) from the centre of Arrecife,^[19] which leaves plenty of the day free.

Plan your evening drive

1. Check the driver rules

   Drivers must be at least 20 and have held a valid licence for two years or more^[3].

2. Choose your start time

   The drive takes 2 to 3 hours, so check availability for the starting times that suit your evening^[1].

3. Sort out pickup

   Pickup is available, so check availability for pickup options and confirm the details before the day^[1].

4. Dress for the dust

   Long trousers, closed shoes, sunglasses and something to cover your face make an open buggy far more comfortable.

5. Book with flexibility

   Reserve now and pay later, and remember you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund^[1].

Answers before you go