Cueva del Viento: how to visit and what to expect

The Cueva del Viento sits in Icod de los Vinos, the same municipality as Finca Julia. It is a lava tube formed some 27,000 years ago by flows from Pico Viejo's first eruptive phase, and with 18.5 surveyed kilometres — its official operator's figure — it is the largest in Europe. Visits must be booked ahead and they sell out: do it before you fly.

What it actually is

A lava tube is not a cave carved by water. It forms when a lava flow cools on the outside and crusts over while molten rock keeps running underneath; when the eruption stops, the conduit is left empty. What you walk through is that conduit: walls bearing the high-water marks of the lava, stalactites of melted rock, petrified lava falls and bridges between levels. There is no water and none of the limestone formations you would see in a karst cave.

You will read online that the Cueva del Viento is "the fifth longest in the world" and measures 18 km. Its official operator currently publishes 18.5 surveyed kilometres and ranks it sixth, behind five Hawaiian tubes. We prefer to say what can be checked: it is the largest lava tube in Europe and one of the largest on the planet, and the exact figure is best taken from their own site.

How to book

Booking is compulsory and made online on the official site. Groups are capped at fifteen people, so slots vanish in high season and at Easter. Payment is by card only. If you are travelling in summer, book as soon as your flights are confirmed.

What the visit is like, step by step

It starts at the visitor centre on Calle Los Piquetes, in Icod itself, minutes from the house. There you are given a helmet with an electric headlamp and driven to the trailhead. The whole thing takes about two and a half hours in three parts: a stretch across the lava badlands and the old royal path, with views of Teide and the coast; the descent into the tube; and some five hundred metres inside, single file, with the guide explaining how it formed.

Can you go with children?

Yes, from the age of five. Below that, entry is not permitted, with no exceptions. From about seven or eight it usually works very well: the darkness and the helmet are half the appeal. Bear in mind it is two and a half hours of walking, not a stroll.

When to go

Inside the tube the weather is irrelevant: it is the ideal plan for a "panza de burro" morning, the low cloud that covers the north coast in summer. The outdoor stretch is more pleasant away from midday sun, so early slots are the best ones. From Finca Julia it is a few minutes by car, which means you can take an early slot without a truly early start.