What to See in Lanzarote: The Essential Sights
Lanzarote looks like no other island in the archipelago. Here the landscape is black lava, ash fields and volcanoes that seem to have just gone quiet, and yet it does not feel like dead land but like an arid, clean beauty that gets under your skin. Much of the credit goes to one man, César Manrique, who instead of hiding the volcano decided to turn it into art. Almost everything you will want to see bears his signature in one way or another, so this route is also a walk through his legacy.
Not every spot is here (for that you have the full map on islas24). These are the essentials, sorted by whatever you feel like that day: fire and sea, the villages, or family plans.
Timanfaya and the mark of César Manrique
If you could only see one thing, it would be the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya, the so-called Montañas del Fuego (Fire Mountains). It is a sea of lava and volcanic cones born from the eruptions that shook the island between 1730 and 1736, one of the longest and most devastating volcanic episodes on record in the Canaries. The landscape is so fragile that you cannot roam it freely on foot or by car: it is visited aboard the bus that runs the Ruta de los Volcanes, a route of about fourteen kilometres through the heart of the eruptions that Manrique himself helped lay out. At the top, on the Islote de Hilario, you will see how the heat of the subsoil cooks food without fire and how a handful of brush bursts into flame when tossed into a pit. If you want to walk the park, there are free guided hiking routes, but only with prior booking and in small groups. A local tip: book the walking route weeks ahead, because the spots go fast.
Timanfaya is the gateway to what makes this island unique, but to understand Manrique it is worth visiting the Fundación César Manrique, in Tahíche. It is the house where he lived for twenty years, built over five volcanic bubbles connected by tunnels in the lava, with trees growing inside the living room. Manrique (Arrecife, 1919 - Tahíche, 1992) was a painter, sculptor and above all a landscape activist: he fought so that Lanzarote would have no giant billboards or high-rises on the coast, and he managed to keep almost the whole island low, white and free of clutter. He died in a car accident very close to this house, and his idea that nature and art can go hand in hand beats in every corner you will see.
Volcanic nature: Jameos del Agua, Cueva de los Verdes and El Golfo
To the north, inside a single volcanic tube, lie two of his most celebrated works. The Jameos del Agua were the first Centro de Arte, Cultura y Turismo that Manrique created on the island: a jameo is the hollow left when the roof of a lava tube collapses, and here, below sea level, an inner lake of transparent water formed, home to a tiny species of blind crab, the jameíto, which has become the symbol of the place. Very close by, the Cueva de los Verdes is a stretch of the same tube, a lava tunnel several kilometres long where the island's early inhabitants hid from pirates; the walk, in half-light and with plays of light, holds a final surprise we will not spoil. Wear comfortable shoes, because the floor is uneven.
On the southwest coast another unforgettable image awaits: the Charco de los Clicos, in the fishing village of El Golfo, a lagoon of intense green wedged at the foot of a crater half eaten away by the Atlantic. The colour comes from algae and the sulphur in the water, and it contrasts with the black sand of the beach, dotted with olivine, small green semi-precious stones. It is a protected place, so you look at it from the viewpoint and bathing or going down to the lagoon is not allowed. And to round off the volcano's most agricultural face, head up to La Geria, the wine district: over the ash of those eighteenth-century eruptions, farmers dug thousands of pits ringed by stone walls to plant a single vine in each and shield it from the wind. The result is a surreal landscape of black funnels, a cultivation method unique in the world, which yields the malvasía volcánica, the island's most emblematic grape. Stop at a bodega for a tasting; it is a midday plan that goes down a treat.
Villages with soul: Teguise and the northern viewpoints
Teguise was the capital of Lanzarote until 1852, when the baton passed to Arrecife thanks to its port. It is a white village of cobbled streets, old churches and stately mansions, with a noble air you notice the moment you walk through it. If you can, go on Sunday morning: it hosts one of the largest and most famous street markets in the Canaries, with hundreds of stalls of crafts, cheeses, clothes and live music filling the old town. Arrive early, because by midday parking becomes a small ordeal.
Heading up to the far north, do not miss the Mirador del Río, another Manrique masterpiece carved high into the Risco de Famara, more than four hundred metres above the sea. From its large curved windows one of the finest views in the archipelago opens up: below, the salt pans; ahead, the arm of sea that gives the place its name and, beyond it, the island of La Graciosa, white and flat, with the Archipiélago Chinijo in the distance. And if you like signature art, nearby is the Jardín de Cactus, the last work Manrique designed on the island: a green amphitheatre raised over an old volcanic sand quarry in Guatiza, with more than a thousand species of cactus and an old gofio mill crowning it. And on your way through the north, do not skip Haría, the valley of the thousand palms: the greenest village on the island and Manrique's last home, whose Casa-Museo keeps his studio just as he left it, with works half finished still on the easel. Many of these corners are also stargazing spots: Lanzarote's clear skies are best enjoyed far from the villages, and in our guide to where to see the stars in the Canaries we tell you where and when.
For families
With children, the best stop is the Rancho Texas Lanzarote Park, in Puerto del Carmen, the island's only zoo. It is a full-day plan: birds-of-prey shows, sea lions, farm animals for the little ones and a small pool area to cool off when the sun beats down. Buy the tickets online, which usually works out cheaper and saves you the queue.
Beyond the ranch, Lanzarote is easy to enjoy as a family: the Jameos del Agua delight children with its lake and cave stairways, the Ruta de los Volcanes in Timanfaya is done comfortably by bus, and the island has calm-water coves perfect for a dip with little ones, which we cover one by one in the best beaches of Lanzarote. If you are travelling with young children, head for the sheltered beaches of the south, with sand and every service close by.
How to plan your visit
Lanzarote is small and easy to get around, but the distances deceive less than on other islands: in little more than half an hour you cross from north to south. Even so, it pays to spread things out. The great Manrique centres (Jameos, Cueva de los Verdes, Mirador del Río, Jardín de Cactus) are in the north and chain together in a single day. Timanfaya, La Geria and El Golfo lie towards the centre and southwest, and make for another complete volcanic day. Teguise and its market call for a Sunday. With three or four full days you see the essentials without rushing, and a week leaves you room to slot in some beach time.
A car is practically essential to reach the good corners; the guagua (as we call the bus here) connects the main villages, but falls short for Timanfaya, La Geria or the deep north. A local tip: get up early for Timanfaya and the Teguise market, which are the places that fill up most, and leave the viewpoints for the afternoon, when the light comes in sideways and draws out every shade of the lava. And a practical note that saves grief: for the Manrique centres, above all Timanfaya and the Cueva de los Verdes, it is worth buying the ticket online in advance with an assigned time, because in high season huge queues of cars form and without a booking you can be left out. Bear in mind the wind too, which in Lanzarote blows almost constantly: bring something warm even if it is sunny.
On islas24 you have each of these places with its location, opening hours and how to get there, so you can plan your route without surprises. Choose where to start and let the island do the rest.