Mount Teide sunset tour: pickup, the walk and the price

The listing is short and specific. You are picked up in Adeje, you explore a natural lava tube, and you walk for about two and a half hours to a 2,000-metre peak inside Teide National Park, through the area of the last volcanic eruptions. Then you are taken back to Adeje. In all, the Mount Teide sunset tour runs five hours.

The walk is 5.5 km in total. The climb is small for a volcano: the description gives 200 metres of elevation gain, and another line of the same listing says 220. The fitness asked for is moderate. The listing also says that on this route you meet almost no other hikers, and the group is limited to four participants, so the guide walks at the pace of a handful of people, not a coach party.

One detail matters at booking. The listing says the sunset route runs only with the group tour option. If the evening light is the point of your trip, make sure that is the option you pick.

The Mount Teide sunset tour and the night climb share a national park and little else. The night climb, our top pick at $245, picks you up in Los Cristianos and starts walking at about 4 am, depending on the sunrise time. You watch the sunrise from a viewpoint at 3,200 m and reach the summit, 3,718 m and the highest point of Spain, between 10:00 and 11:00. It covers 10 km with 1,380 m of climbing and lasts ten hours.

Its listing is blunt: «This is a strenuous hike. A high level of physical fitness is essential.» Boots are checked at the trail entrance, and warm layers, a hat and winter gloves are strongly recommended. In return you get a sunrise picnic with a warm drink and snacks, and the summit itself. Of the four Teide hikes on this site, the evening hike is the shortest, the lowest-priced and the one with the smallest group, so it is the one to pick for a Mount Teide half day tour.

Per hour the evening hike and the night climb are close: about $21 an hour for the Mount Teide sunset tour, about $24.50 for the night climb. What the higher price pays for is the summit, the sunrise picnic and five more hours on the mountain.

The daytime summit hike at $212 starts at the Teide cable car car park, with no pickup. The cable car ticket for the way down is not in its price, and the cable car runs only when the wind allows. The Pico Viejo crater hike at $179 is a new listing with no reviews yet: an 800-metre-wide crater, a ten-hour day and a moderate level of difficulty.

The Mount Teide sunset tour suits you if you want the volcano without a 4 am start or a summit push. The listing asks for moderate physical fitness, and the walk takes about two and a half hours at the pace of a group of four. Eric from Germany: «The pace of the tour was ideal — never rushed, but also no unnecessary waiting.»

It also suits you if you dislike busy paths. The listing says you meet almost no other hikers, and Lene from Norway wrote: «During the whole walk it was practically only the three of us.» She liked the quiet of the ground too: «The lava, that creates a special silence, makes you very relaxed.»

It suits you less if the summit is the goal. The evening hike stays at about 2,000 m. For the top of Teide, take the night climb, or the daytime summit hike, where the cable car ticket is extra.

Book the Mount Teide sunset tour at $105 if you want Teide National Park in five hours, at moderate fitness, with pickup in Adeje and a group of four at most: 18 reviewers rate it 5.0. If you are fit and want the summit, book the night climb at $245, our top pick, rated 5.0 by 114 reviewers.

If you have one evening and moderate fitness, the Mount Teide sunset tour is the simple choice: five hours, pickup in Adeje, a lava tube and a quiet walk to a 2,000-metre peak. If the summit is the reason you came, set the alarm for the night climb instead.