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Lanzarote

Intimately intertwined with the legacy of 20th-century lanzaroteño artist and environmentalist César Manrique, Lanzarote is an intriguing island with an utterly extraordinary geology of 300 volcanic cones, eerie blackened lava fields and the occasional bucolic, palm-filled valley.

A Unesco Geopark since 2015, the island also ticks all the good-time boxes. There are beautiful beaches (both blonde-sand and black-rock), fascinating sights, glittering natural pools and excellent hiking, cycling, surfing and diving, not to mention a wealth of restaurants and accommodation. Though long associated with package tourism, Lanzarote is now pulling in an ever-growing number of independent travellers.

The main holiday resorts hug the southern coastline, northeast of which rise the surreal volcanic badlands of the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya and the island's wine region. Among the wilder northern reaches, surf flourishes at Famara, former capital Teguise surprises, Haría charms with its history and, beyond, Isla Graciosa (the Canaries' eighth island) beckons.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Lanzarote.

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Fundación César Manrique
Upon returning definitively to Lanzarote, César Manrique built his spectacular house and creative centre, Taro de Tahíche, into the lava fields just outside Tahíche. It’s a real James Bond-style hideaway, with whitewashed walls, a sunken pool, bursts of bougainvillea and cacti, and white- and red-leather seats slotted into cavelike dens; upper levels are inspired by traditional Lanzarote architecture, while subterranean rooms are crafted from five huge air bubbles left by flowing lava. Manrique lived here from 1968 to 1988.
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Parque Nacional de Timanfaya
Lanzarote's most spectacular sight, the eerie 51-sq-km Parque Nacional de Timanfaya sprawls around the Montañas del Fuego (Mountains of Fire) formed by the calamitous six-year eruption that rocked the south of the island from 1730. Almost entirely bereft of life – apart from 200 species of lichen – this bare moonscape is an otherworldly vision in copper, black and grey, with thin soil trickling down volcanic cones to meet fields of frozen-in-time lava and a boiling magma chamber 4km beneath the surface.
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Cueva de los Verdes
A yawning, kilometre-long chasm, the Cueva de los Verdes is the most spectacular segment of an almost 7km-long lava tube left behind by an eruption 5000 years ago. As the lava ploughed down towards the sea, the top layers cooled and formed a roof, beneath which the liquid magma continued to slither until the eruption exhausted itself. Guided 50-minute tours, in Spanish and English, run every 30 minutes; you'll wander through two chambers, one below the other.
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Jameos del Agua
When molten lava seethed through this volcanic cavern around 5000 years ago, the ocean leaked in slightly, forming the startling clear azure lake that glints in the basilica-like grotto at the heart of the Jameos, one of Manrique’s greatest masterpieces and the first of his intervenciones. The artist's idea of installing bars and a restaurant around the lake and adding a whitewashed pool and a 600-seat concert hall (with wonderful acoustics) in the 1960s was a pure brainwave.
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LagOmar
Carved into the rock face, with fanciful chimneys, cupolas, lookouts and twisting staircases, this gallery, restaurant and bar with a New Mexico–meets-Morocco look is wrapped in legend. What is certain is that it was designed by César Manrique and prominent architect Jesús Soto, and briefly lived in by Omar Sharif (who lost it in a spectacularly unsuccessful game of bridge). Just 2km south of Teguise, it's hugely underrated and blissfully uncrowded, with regular exhibitions and a small museum.
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Museo Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo
Converted into an art gallery in 1976, on César Manrique's wish, the well-preserved 18th-century Castillo de San José houses one of the Canaries' major contemporary art collections. Aside from a couple of early works by Manrique himself, its thoughtfully presented rooms spanning the 1950s to 1970s star works by such greats as Miró, Millares, Tàpies and Lanzarote-born Pancho Lasso. It's a walkable 2km northwest of central Arrecife.
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Mirador del Río
In the late 19th century, the Spanish armed forces set up gun batteries overlooking El Río (the strait separating Lanzarote from Isla Graciosa), 2km north of Yé. César Manrique left his distinctive mark in 1973, ingeniously converting the gun emplacement into a spectacular, cave-like, 475m-high lookout point. The interior is washed in white, with spider-like iron installations adorning the ceiling. Vertiginous views sprawl across sweeping lava flows – frozen in time – falling to the ocean, and Isla Graciosa sparkles across the water.
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Castillo de San Gabriel
On a little islet just off the seafront promenade, reached via the 18th-century Puente de las Bolas or a more recent Franco-era bridge, the 16th-century Castillo de San Gabriel was originally built to fend off pirate attacks. Today it holds the Museo de Historia de Arrecife, with Spanish-language exhibits on the island's geology, flora and fauna as well as pre-Hispanic life, the Spanish conquest and the capital's history.
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Museo de la Piratería
Perched 396m high on the Montaña de Guanapay, 1km east of town with sweeping views across the plains, the 16th-century Castillo de Santa Bárbara doubles as a fascinating multilanguage pirate museum (it's hugely popular with kids). Exhibits detail the numerous attacks Lanzarote suffered at the hands of pirates from across Europe and Africa from the 15th to 18th centuries, when Teguise was its capital.