Does it rain much in Lanzarote?

No. AEMET's station at the airport records an average of 111 millimetres a year, with about 19 days bringing at least one millimetre, and the wettest month is December. When it does rain, there are plenty of indoor plans: the Cueva de los Verdes, the César Manrique Foundation, the MIAC in the Castillo de San José or Aquarium Lanzarote.

Do you need to book the Cueva de los Verdes?

Yes. Tickets are sold online only, always for a set date and time, and it is best to arrive 15 minutes early. The guided visit, in Spanish and English, lasts about 50 minutes. It has stairs, narrow passages and low ceilings, so it is not recommended for people with claustrophobia and is not adapted for reduced mobility.

Is it worth going to La Graciosa if it rains?

Almost everything La Graciosa offers is outdoors, so in the rain it loses much of its charm. If you cross, the ferry leaves from Órzola and takes about 25 minutes, depending on the weather. Under the Biosfera Express winter timetable, the last sailing back from La Graciosa leaves at 17:30. If you would rather stay put, the Mirador del Río shows you the island from its windows.

Map of Lanzarote and La Graciosa with six plans for a rainy day: Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes, the César Manrique Foundation, the MIAC in the Castillo de San José, Aquarium Lanzarote, the Montañas del Fuego and the ferry from Órzola to La Graciosa

i24Esther•26 October 2026

Lanzarote La Graciosa Culture Nature

What to do in Lanzarote when it rains: plans to save your day

Rain is almost a rarity in Lanzarote, which is exactly why it catches so many visitors without a plan. The good news is that few islands are this well prepared for a grey day: César Manrique turned lava tubes, volcanic bubbles and an old castle into places you can explore under cover. Add an aquarium, a winery with its own museum and a couple of escape rooms. And if you were planning to cross to La Graciosa, we tell you what to keep in mind at the end.

One distinction first: this guide is for an ordinary grey day. If there is a heavy rain warning, you need a different plan, and we explain it in Heavy rain in the Canary Islands: what to do.

Did you know? AEMET's weather station at Lanzarote airport records an average of 111 millimetres of rain a year, with only about 19 days a year bringing at least one millimetre. The wettest month is December, with around four such days.

Underground: the lava tubes of the north

The island's best shelter is beneath it. The Cueva de los Verdes is a section of the lava tube left by the La Corona volcano, a tunnel more than seven kilometres long that runs all the way to the sea. The guided visit, in Spanish and English, lasts about 50 minutes and covers roughly a kilometre of galleries, lit by the artist Jesús Soto. Two warnings: tickets are sold online only, for a set date and time, and the route has stairs, narrow passages and low ceilings, so it is not for anyone with claustrophobia and is not adapted for reduced mobility.

A few minutes away, in the same tube, is Jameos del Agua, the first centre Manrique created, opened in 1968. You walk down to an underground lake that is home to the blind crab, an endemic species adapted to darkness, and on to an auditorium set inside a cavity of the tube itself. One catch: the Jameo Grande, with its white pool, is an open-air garden. On a rainy day, add the Casa de los Volcanes to your ticket. It is the centre's own museum, with immersive rooms and virtual reality: another hour indoors, and a good bet with kids.

César Manrique's houses

In Tahíche, the César Manrique Foundation occupies the house where the artist lived from 1968 to 1988, built on top of a lava flow. Its lower level makes use of five natural volcanic bubbles linked by tunnels, and the visit ends in his former studio, now a room showing his paintings. The gardens are open-air, but the heart of the visit is under cover. It opens every day from 10:00 to 17:30.

In Haría, the César Manrique House Museum is the home of his final years, open to the public since 2013. The most moving part is the studio, kept just as he left it: pigments, drawings and unfinished canvases. It opens every day from 10:30 to 17:30, and there is a combined ticket with the Foundation.

Nearby, the Mirador del Río is a building dug into the top of the Famara cliffs, with a café and two huge windows looking out to La Graciosa. It makes a good shelter from showers, but when the cloud is low the view can vanish, as the centre itself warns.

And in Tías you will find A Casa, José Saramago's house museum, where the Portuguese Nobel laureate spent most of his last years. The guided visit, about 60 minutes long, takes in the house, the library and the garden. It is closed on Sundays; confirm the times when you book.

Art, an aquarium and plans with kids

In Arrecife, the Castillo de San José, an 18th-century fortress, has housed the MIAC since 1976: the International Museum of Contemporary Art, set up at Manrique's initiative, with a room devoted to Canarian artists such as Manolo Millares. It opens every day from 11:00 to 18:00, with no need to book.

With kids, the most complete plan is in Costa Teguise: according to its website, Aquarium Lanzarote has 33 tanks of Atlantic species, from Canarian fish to sharks. It opens every day from 10:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:15.

For a different kind of evening, there are sometimes Candlelight concerts in Arrecife: you will find the dates and tickets in the Lanzarote events calendar.

Wine, food and a market

A rainy day is a good excuse to get to know the island's wine. In San Bartolomé, the El Grifo Wine Museum keeps its original wine press and its 1775 foundation stone; according to the winery itself, it is one of the ten oldest in Spain. The audio-guided visit, available in five languages, takes about 45 minutes and ends with a tasting of two wines. Watch the calendar: Monday to Friday only, with last entry at 17:15. If you are driving, leave the tasting to whoever is not behind the wheel.

Three kilometres away, in Mozaga, the Casa Museo del Campesino is free and opens every day from 10:00 to 18:00. Part of the route crosses open courtyards, but there are rooms on the island's farming life and a restaurant serving Lanzarote cooking from 12:00 to 16:00.

In Arrecife, around the Charco de San Ginés, where Manrique was born, there are bars and restaurants to sit out the rain. For dinner, LagOmar in Nazaret has a restaurant and a cocktail bar among the caves and tunnels of a former volcanic quarry, open Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00.

If it rains on a Sunday, remember that the Teguise market is outdoors, in the streets of the old town, from 09:00 to 14:00. A passing shower is fine; in proper rain, pick another plan.

If you are staying in the south

From Playa Blanca it is under half an hour by car to the Montañas del Fuego in Timanfaya National Park, where you see the volcano sitting down: the Ruta de los Volcanes is done by coach, about 35 minutes among the craters with an audio commentary in Spanish, English and German. The geothermal demonstrations take place outdoors, but the El Diablo restaurant, with its large glass front, cooks with the heat of the earth. Tickets are sold for a set time slot, between 09:00 and 15:45.

For an afternoon indoors, Puerto del Carmen has The Escape Room Lanzarote in the Biosfera shopping centre, with air-conditioned, family-friendly rooms. In Playa Blanca, Island Quest offers three games of 60 to 70 minutes, in Spanish and English. And many hotels have a spa or a heated pool.

La Graciosa: nearly everything is outdoors

What makes La Graciosa special, its sandy streets, its volcanoes and its beaches, is all outdoors, so in the rain it loses much of its charm. If you cross anyway, the ferry leaves from Órzola and takes about 25 minutes, although the ferry company Biosfera Express says the crossing time depends above all on the weather. Under its winter timetable, in force since 25 October, the last sailing back from La Graciosa leaves at 17:30, so do not leave the return to the last minute. In Caleta de Sebo, the village by the harbour, there are places to eat and have a drink while the shower passes.

If you would rather not cross that day, the windows of the Mirador del Río show you the island from under cover, right across the strait. And for when the sun comes back, everything is in What to see in La Graciosa.

What we will not promise: the drive south

In Gran Canaria and Tenerife, the best answer to a grey day is often to drive over the mountains. Here we are not going to sell you that trick. Lanzarote is a low island: its highest point, Peñas del Chache, stands at about 670 metres according to Spain's National Geographic Institute (IGN), and there is no great ridge to split the weather in two. Nor can we promise you sunshine in Playa Blanca while it rains in Haría, because the AEMET data we checked covers the airport only. Why it does work on other islands is explained in Canary Islands microclimates: why the weather changes in 20 kilometres.

What the data does show is that rain here is the exception. So the local trick is a different one: choose your plan by the day of the week (El Grifo, Monday to Friday; A Casa, closed on Sundays) and save the best beaches in Lanzarote for tomorrow. And if what is hiding the sky is not cloud but dust, that is calima, which has its own rules: Calima in the Canary Islands: what to do.

That way, the rain stops being a problem and becomes an excuse: to go down into a lava tube or step inside the house Manrique built among volcanic bubbles. The rest of the island, in the sunshine, is in What to see in Lanzarote, and Gran Canaria and Tenerife have their own plan B too: What to do in Gran Canaria when it rains and What to do in Tenerife when it rains.

Discover all these places, with their location, opening hours and how to get there, on islas24.info.

Sources: Centros de Arte, Cultura y Turismo de Lanzarote (cactlanzarote.com): Cueva de los Verdes, Jameos del Agua, Mirador del Río, Castillo de San José, Montañas del Fuego and Casa Museo del Campesino; César Manrique Foundation (fcmanrique.org); A Casa José Saramago (acasajosesaramago.com); El Grifo winery (elgrifo.com); Aquarium Lanzarote (aquariumlanzarote.com); LagOmar (lagomarlanzarote.com); The Escape Room Lanzarote and Island Quest (official websites); Teguise Town Council; Biosfera Express and Líneas Romero; AEMET, climate normals 1981-2010 for Lanzarote Aeropuerto; Instituto Geográfico Nacional. Opening hours checked on 26 October 2026.