Cueva de los Verdes — Attraction in Haría

Cueva de los Verdes (English: Cave of the Greens) is a lava tube extend for 6 kilometres (3.7 miles) above sea level and for another 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mile) below the sea (the Tunnel de la Atlantida). Lies within the Monumento Natural del Malpaís de La Corona, a protected area of the Canary Islands, it's a tourist attraction of the Haria municipality on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands (Spain).

It came about after the eruption of the Volcán de la Corona, around 3,000 years ago. As in all lava tubes, the top of a lava stream cooled and developed a solid crust, and the lava stream later drained away leaving the top crust as the roof of a cave. In about 20 spots, the roof of the cave collapsed and forming a cavern. And a cavern forms the entrance to the Cueva de los Verdes, one of the most impressive hidden wonders in the depths of Lanzarote.

It was used as a hideout by the locals who needed shelter to protect themselves from invasions and attacks of pirates coming from the north of Africa during the 16th and 17th Centuries. In the 19th Century, it became a must for travellers, experts and European scientists due to the uniqueness of this volcanic territory, named after a family that kept their cattle in the area, the story goes.

In the 1960s, the Cabildo of Lanzarote turned to artist from Fuerteventura Jesús Soto, later in close collaboration with Manrique, to adapt this natural volcanic sanctuary that has become an attraction for thousands of visitors who wish to unveil its secret. Soto used his knowledge and focused on the lights and shadows to make the most of the brightness on rocks and highlight the shapes left by the lava on its way. The two kilometres of cave walls is decorated by illuminated by colorful lights.

The cave is also famous for its concert hall which is located near the entrance and exit of the cave. The concert hall has about 15 to 20 rows with 26 seats in each row, allowing up to 500 people in the concert hall at once.

Opening hours: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (4:00 pm last guided tour). Visiting time: about 50 minutes.

Tickets: Adult €10,00 ; Children 7-12 years old €5,00 ; Children 0-6 years old Free; Discount for people with disabilities 30% discount off tickets.

Services & facilities: Free car and bicycle parking available; Toilets in the parking area; No toilets available inside of the cave.

Pets not allowed, except for guide dogs.

Visitors are recommended wearing comfortable clothing (temperature inside the cave is around 18º C all year round) and shoes with rubber soles to avoid slipping.

Photograph taking is allowed at all times.

Some photos courtesy of...

The place itself is interesting.. but as the old say "it's the people that make the place", otherwise is just dirt, stones and rocks. The lady at the entrance was a real UNPROFESSIONAL as one can get! Customers skills = 0, turism skills = 0, people skills = 0. What she's good at, someone might wonder?!?! Pointing fingers at who's to blame, customer's fault, that is! I payed and scheduled on line in advance and manage to get 1h hour earlier, but she said it is not possible to go early due to a lot of ridiculous reasons...not being flexible at all. Having kids with me, it is dificult to predict when we will be able to travel to this spot, taking into account the trafic as well, etc.. one might expect some flexibility, some understanding? Right? Well, no way! You paid for entering at 11:00 AM, only an act of God can help you enter early, as the management of that place with that lady as entrance bodyguard no way, no how! Her reasons: we're fully booked (I proved to her that the tickets on their website for the next timeframes were not fully booked!), we are very full here (that was not true!, Iwas there and I felt like she was lying to my face) and other crazy reasons for not letting us enter earlier... In the end, if a place is golden like, but the people who managing it are bad, from my point of view, that place deserves to find its place into oblivion. I understand rules and regulation, they should be applied in their spirit, but in the end, remember, we are paying to visit the place; without the turist that visits the...

Booked this without knowing how good it would be. Expected it to be super commercialised and touristy but couldn't be further from it.

You must visit as part of a guided tour, so you'll be there with up to 50 others. Clear to see why as there's lots of potential danger. We stuck at the back which really paid off. The tour guide speaks in Spanish first and then English, so you can use this time to walk slowly and look back uninterrupted.

The views are stunning. It's truly another world, and it's all natural besides some lighting and pathways. It's very well done, it preserves a lot of the caves without ruining it with big signs or similar.

There are some parts with low headroom, uneven flooring, uneven stairs etc. It's fine, but caution if you have reduced mobility. If you have kids, it's important to keep an eye on them as it could be very easy to fall or injure yourself if you're careless.

The views are stunning. My advice would be to look into it as little as you can and just visit. You'll be blown away. It was only about ten euros or something and well worth the money. We purchased through the Cactus Garden website, where you pay €20 or thereabouts and it grants you access to three attractions. We went with the Cactus Garden, these caves and the...