See the island in its original form.. (Timanfaya National Park)

Member Name: icklepickle

Product:	Timanfaya National Park
Date:	31/08/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing view, not a bad price, great tour

Disadvantages: A bit scary on the coach

The Montanas del Fuego can be found on the island of Lanzarote. Also known as the "fire mountains".

They were created in the 1730's when over a 100 volcanoes rose up from beneath the ground. These devastated most of the island.

In 1824 they erupted again and due to lack of erosion this part of the island is still the same.

In 1968 Lanzarote declared this part of the island a national park, called Parque Nacional de Timanfaya.

The scenery in this part of the island is truly fantastic and most unusual. It can only be described as "space like" and almost looks like another planet.

The park is one of Lanzarote's biggest tourist attractions and a fantastic to visit.

On entering the park you pay 8 euros each to enter.

You drive round some long winding roads to a large busy car park. If you arrive when there are many coach trips you may find yourself with a bit of a wait!

You cannot drive around the park yourself, you must go on the coach tour that does this for you.

If its quiet you shouldn't queue long for the comfortable clean coaches.

If you are scared of heights or narrow roads this may not be the trip for you.

The drivers are very experienced in driving around, but some of the gaps they fit down and the winding bends are quiet scary. (some of the coaches have some very big scratches) you can see why lol!

The tour lasts about 45 - 50 minutes depending on what driver you have.

There is a commentary over the speakers which is done in Spanish, English then German. This tells you the full story of how the volcanoes erupted etc and is very interesting.

Some of the sights you will see are truly spectacular and a camera is a must!

You see how the lava has cooled and it still appears almost exactly how it was originally. This is due to the lack of rainfall on the island which means the cooled lava has not eroded.

Once the tour is over there are some demonstrations from other staff, which include setting hay on fire from the heat of the volcano, and pouring water down a hole (i wont ruin the surprises)!

Wear good shoes (i had some cheap asda trainers and lets just say they MELTED!) The ground is so hot its amazing!

There is also a gift shop which sell reasonable priced goods.

Also there is the famous El Diablo restaurant which serves authentic Canarian food which is all good from the heat of the volcano (geothermal heat). There is a large cast iron grill placed over a large hole. You can see about 50 whole chickens cooking on the heat, the smell is fantastic!

We did not eat in the restaurant but i was told by some friends that the food was lovely but expensive.

When leaving the car park if you turn right, further down the road there is a camel ride service, which is not included in the entry fee. We did not use this option but i am told it is very good. (camels scare me)

It is not the kind of trip we would do again because once you have seen it once that's kind of it.. but it truly is fantastic and an amazing sight to see. The land is so unusual and its very interesting.

Thomson were offering this as an excursion and i cant believe the price they were charging, its so much cheaper to hire a car for a day and see a few different places because the price of the car and entry fees were still half of the price Thomson were charging! Or shop around because there are other excursion companies on the island that will do it a lot cheaper.

Summary: A great trip and a place definitely worth visiting!