Travel guide: 10 best things to do in Lanzarote

Small enough to explore independently, you’ll also find some great guided holidays packed with Lanzarote activities, such as our Walking in Lanzarote break, and tours galore to take you to every corner of the island as well as around the coast.

Perfect for some winter sun but equally tempting year-round, here’s our pick of the island’s attractions in this Lanzarote travel guide.

The volcanic eruptions in the early 18th century transformed the face of the island to the otherworldly landscape you can see today, so if you do nothing else, one of the unmissable things to do in Lanzarote is a visit to Timanfaya National Park.

With one area known as the Mountains of Fire, the earth is still so hot in places that you can’t stand on it in flipflops, while guides pour water into cracks only for it to gush out again moments later as a cloud of steam.

Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote

Unsurprisingly, you can’t explore alone here. There are some limited walking tours and routes but the majority of visitors get to see the dramatic lava-blasted scenery on the national park’s guided bus tour. There’s more background on Lanzarote’s volcanic heritage at the visitor centre including a recreation of what the eruption must have been like. And don’t miss the restaurant where your food is cooked using volcanic heat.

You might think that earth scorched by violent volcanic eruptions wouldn’t be the most promising place to grow vines, but Lanzarote has been famous for its wines for centuries.

With the plants protected from wind by horseshoe-shaped stone walls, the vineyards of La Geria are a far cry from the gentle rows of vines you might see in Italy or France, but the rich volcanic soil is perfect for nourishing the grapes.

As far back as medieval times, the island was famous for its ‘Malmsey’ wine – now better known as Malvasia – while a few hundred years later, Regency fops would enjoy a glass of ‘Canary’ as it became known. You can still visit a string of wineries in the La Geria valley, including El Grifo (one of the oldest in Spain), Bodega Stratvs, Bodega Rubicon and Bodega La Geria. Some have their own restaurants as well as tasting areas and shops, but may need prebooking.

The influence of local artist Cesar Manrique can be felt everywhere across Lanzarote; not simply in his artworks, with sculptures dotted at viewpoints, but his insistence that houses should be white, never more than four floors tall, with only green, brown or natural wood used for window sills and shutters.

As a result, you won’t find strings of towering high-rise hotels on Lanzarote and the island’s natural charm has survived the rise in tourism and development.

So another of the best things to do in Lanzarote is to discover more about the artist himself. Start with a visit to the Cesar Manrique House Museum, in peaceful traditional Haria. Manrique transformed a run-down farmhouse to design his own perfect home, and you can see both the rooms inside and his former studio.

Then visit another of his homes at the Cesar Manrique Foundation in Tahiche, a short drive away. Built around natural volcanic bubbles created during the 18th century eruptions, these rooms are connected by tunnels bored out of the lava, with an exhibition hall in his former studio.

Unlike the black sand beaches of many other Canary Islands, there are some gorgeous stretches of golden sand to enjoy around Lanzarote.

One of the most famous is the Playa de Papagayo, one of half a dozen beaches at the tip of the spit of land to the east of Playa Blanca. With its curving crescent of white sand protected by cliffs around the bay, the emerald-green water is often as calm as a swimming pool and great for snorkelling and swimming.

Set in a national park, there’s a small fee to pay to access the unspoiled beach; do take all you need for the day, and check out the similarly tempting neighbouring beaches if Papagayo is busy.

Lanzarote has some gorgeous stretches of golden sand

Playa Blanca itself is another tempting spot, with sandy coves dotted along the length of the promenade which stretches past the town’s shops and restaurants to Marina Rubicon (check out the twice-weekly market while you’re there).

Or Playa Grande in Puerto del Carmen lives up to its name, with more than a kilometre of beach and calm waters to enjoy. If you prefer your beach time to be more active, Famara is famous for its watersports. There’s surfing and windsurfing to enjoy, as well as 6km of golden sand.

One of the more unusual things to do in Lanzarote, Jameos del Agua is another creation of Cesar Manrique, designed as an art, culture and tourism centre within a volcanic tunnel.

Home to a concert hall with some impressive acoustics, the attraction is formed from a series of collapsed lava tubes taking you from cave to cave, passing an underground lake that’s home to albino crabs before ending at the performance venue.

Outside, curving white rocks surround a gleaming turquoise pool, although sadly you can’t swim in this or the underground lake.

The Jardin de Cactus is yet another Manrique creation, originally created with the aim of harvesting cochineal beetles. Now home to around 500 species of cactus from around the world, there are over 4,500 cactus plants in total, with a chance to wander the paths leading through the weirdly wonderful shapes.

Along the way, there’s a historic windmill, some unusual art installations and a fish pond to discover amidst the lava rocks, plus a restaurant with lovely views back down onto the cactus garden.

It’s not just the Lanzarote activities on land which will tempt you to this Canary Island; instead you’ll find plenty of great boat trips to discover the ocean around the coast.

Like its neighbouring islands, there’s great whale and dolphin spotting here, with a string of tours to take you out to look for these marine creatures. Whales live in the waters off Lanzarote year-round, so you have a chance of seeing whenever you visit.

You can also venture under the waves in a submarine safari from Puerto Calero, exploring shipwrecks and learning more about some of the marine life of the Canary Islands.

Or take a tour of some of the neighbouring islands. There are ferries which run from Playa Blanca to Fuerteventura, close enough to be visible on the horizon, as well as sailing boat tours visiting La Graciosa, one of the smallest of the Canary Islands.

The wild coast of El Golfo is home to several unexpected attractions, including a series of fish restaurants overlooking the black rocks and crashing waves of the coastline, but also Lanzarote’s ‘emerald lagoon’.

Charco de Los Clicos, to give it its correct name, isn’t so much emerald as a bright acidic green, with algae causing the water to turn this vibrant shade.

A short walk from the village of El Golfo, the lagoon fills the crater of an extinct volcano, backed by a black sand beach and stretching down to the deep blue of the waves for an eye-catching contrast.

Isolated in the ocean, the inhabitants of Lanzarote have taken advantage of being surrounded by sea water for centuries. Today, a desalination plant provides the island with its water, but for a long time there were also salt flats across Lanzarote, producing valuable salt to trade.

The most important ones that remain are Salinas de Janubio, 120-year-old salt flats in the south of the island. There are guided tours to learn more about traditional methods of producing salt, as well the history and importance of the salt trade in the Canary Islands – plus a chance to try some of the uniquely flavoured salts during your visit.

Discover both history and culture at Castillo de San Jose in Lanzarote’s capital Arrecife. Nicknamed the ‘Fortress of Hunger’, it was built to protect the island against pirates before being transformed into the International Museum of Contemporary Art (MIAC) by none other than Cesar Manrique.

The first contemporary art museum in the Canary Islands, you’ll find Manrique’s own works on display alongside other Canarian artists, plus some unexpected sculptures. Spot horses with their riders in the waves below, then on the upper terrace find works recollecting the guards who would have stood here for long hours on duty.

We offer escorted tours to Lanzarote as well as hotel stays, so it’s never been easier to discover the island’s highlights for yourself. Grab your sunhat and book Saga Lanzarote holidays here.