Lanzarote Travel Guide: What to See, Beaches, Getting Around and Where to Stay

The beating heart of the island is Timanfaya, the Fire Mountains: the only way in is the Ruta de los Volcanes coach tour, paired with the geothermal demonstrations (just 13 metres down, the ground nudges 600 °C), and tickets must be bought online in advance. Equally essential is the legacy of César Manrique: the Jameos del Agua, with its lagoon and tiny blind albino crabs; the Cueva de los Verdes, a lava tube with a clever optical surprise at the end; the Mirador del Río, perched high above the Chinijo Archipelago; and the Jardín de Cactus, a former volcanic-gravel quarry given a new life. Add Teguise, the historic capital, and Haría, the valley of a thousand palms where Manrique lies at rest.

The jewels are the Papagayo beaches, a string of turquoise coves within the Los Ajaches Natural Monument, just outside Playa Blanca. You reach them along a dirt track with a small toll, or by water taxi, and there is next to nothing in the way of facilities, so bring water and shade. For surfing, kiting and windsurfing, Playa de Famara unfurls two kilometres of sand beneath the towering Risco de Famara cliff, though its currents make swimming dangerous. For families, there's Playa Dorada and Flamingo (Playa Blanca), Las Cucharas and El Jablillo (Costa Teguise), or Playa Chica (Puerto del Carmen), a fine spot for snorkelling. Arrecife has its own Playa del Reducto, an easygoing urban beach.

You arrive at César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport (ACE), around 5 km from Arrecife, with good links to the UK and the rest of the Canaries. The best way to explore is a hire car: distances are short, the roads are excellent and the network fans out from Arrecife (the LZ-1 heading north, the LZ-2 towards Playa Blanca and the south). The local buses (guaguas) connect the resort towns but serve Timanfaya and Papagayo poorly; check routes and fares at intercitybuslanzarote.es. By sea, Órzola links to La Graciosa in about 25 minutes, and Playa Blanca to Corralejo (Fuerteventura) in another 25.

Lanzarote can fairly boast of an eternal spring: a subtropical desert climate, mild year-round, with the little rain it gets falling almost entirely in winter. The warmest month is August, averaging around 25 °C, with the sea at 22 °C; the coolest is January, hovering near 17 °C, which makes the island a bolt-hole of European sunshine when the cold bites further north. The wind is the real headline act: the trade winds blow steadily, which is why the sailing sports thrive at Famara and Costa Teguise. The odd calima (a dusty Saharan haze) can roll in. Almost any time of year works, but spring and autumn are the sweet spot: warm, with fewer crowds.

Puerto del Carmen (Tías) is the biggest, liveliest resort, with the Avenida de las Playas, diving and nightlife all on the doorstep. Costa Teguise is more family-friendly and laid-back, purpose-built and a windsurfing mecca at Las Cucharas. Playa Blanca, in the south, is the newest and most upmarket option: the perfect base for Papagayo, Timanfaya and the ferry to Fuerteventura. Arrecife offers the most authentic local feel, with the Charco de San Ginés and its tapas bars, plus Puerto Calero, an exclusive marina with a yachting air. To get properly away from it all by car, head for the boutique rural fincas and farmhouses inland (Yaiza, Haría, La Geria) and the bohemian buzz of Famara, in the shadow of the cliff.

Lanzarote's cooking is part seafarer, part volcano: papas arrugadas (wrinkly potatoes) with red and green mojo, fresh fish such as vieja, cherne or sama, sancocho, the ever-present gofio, and prize-winning goat's cheeses. The star turn is La Geria, a vineyard unlike any other on earth, where each vine grows in a pit dug into the volcanic gravel and sheltered behind a low semicircular wall; its malvasía wine, with the Lanzarote DO, is well worth a tasting. For fish, try El Golfo beside the Lago Verde, Arrieta or Órzola. Key tips: book Timanfaya online and days ahead, remember you can't wander the park freely, and however mild the temperature feels, the sun is fierce all year.