Lanzarote attractions: the places to visit and see, area by area

The things to do in Lanzarote come down to three: volcanoes, César Manrique's art made out of those volcanoes, and a coastline that switches from black to white within a few kilometres. The island is small and almost everything is less than an hour from your hotel, so the practical approach is to plan it by area: the south and west (Timanfaya, El Golfo, La Geria, Papagayo), the north (Jameos, Cueva de los Verdes, Mirador del Río, Haría, Famara) and the centre (Fundación César Manrique, Teguise, Arrecife), plus the boat trip to La Graciosa.

This page is about places, not excursions to buy (for those, see the list of excursions): we only talk about booking where you have to, as at Timanfaya.

The 24 places to visit in Lanzarote, in order

The order weighs how impressive a place is against how much effort it takes to get there. Prices are adult rates at the ticket office or official website.

What to see in the south and west: Timanfaya, El Golfo and La Geria

This is the area of the 1730–1736 eruptions. Driving times from each resort are in the distance table further down.

Montañas del Fuego, the heart of Timanfaya

The visitor centre on Islote de Hilario is the only way to see the interior of Timanfaya National Park. The ticket (€30, children aged 7 to 12 €15) includes parking, the geothermal demonstrations and the Ruta de los Volcanes (Route of the Volcanoes) by coach: 12–14 km and 35–45 minutes depending on the source, without getting off. You cannot walk or drive freely around the park. The full visit takes about an hour and a half, between 09:30 and 15:45.

Tickets are sold online only, for a set day and time, and are non-refundable in the CACT shop (see our review of the CACT). Arrive 15 minutes early: once your slot has passed, entry is not guaranteed. Even so, there are queues of cars at the barrier by mid-morning; the park management recommends going between 09:00 and 10:30 or after 13:30, and says Sunday is the quietest day. Mobile signal is poor: save the QR code on your phone before you set off.

Manrique's El Diablo restaurant grills food over the volcano's heat, but it only serves lunch and takes no bookings; "dinners on the volcano" are agency tours outside opening hours.

Echadero de los Camellos

About 2 km south of the park entrance, on the LZ-67, is where the dromedary rides start: €11 per person, 20–25 minutes, paid on site (by card). It is run by Yaiza town council, not the CACT. Several animal-welfare groups have criticised the animals' conditions (in 2021 and 2023); the council regulates prices and numbers. Best before 11:00, before the coaches. More in the camel guide.

El Golfo, Charco de los Clicos and Los Hervideros

The green lagoon of Charco de los Clicos fills half a volcanic cone beside the village of El Golfo. It can be seen only from the viewpoint, reached on foot from the car park at the north end of the village; going down to the shore or swimming is forbidden, and there is currently no staircase down to the beach: the coastal authority (Costas) removed it. It is free, like Los Hervideros a few kilometres south, where the sea roars into lava caves. Wear closed shoes: the rock is sharp and the spray reaches you.

The classic route runs south to north in the afternoon: the Salinas de Janubio salt pans (90-minute guided visit with salt tasting, from €22), Los Hervideros and, to finish, a fish dinner on the El Golfo terraces facing west. The Charco and Los Hervideros are not in the national park but in the Parque Natural de Los Volcanes, with no entry fee. More in the El Golfo guide.

La Geria: vines in pits of ash

The LZ-30 road between Uga and Mozaga crosses the most photographed landscape on the island: each vine lives in a pit dug into the picón (volcanic gravel), sheltered from the wind by a semicircular stone wall. This is where Malvasía Volcánica comes from, a grape variety found only on Lanzarote. Driving through is free; the cheapest guided visit is at Bodega La Geria (€15, three wines, under-15s free), and the Bodegas Rubicón estate can be visited without paying.

El Grifo, which bills itself as the oldest winery in the Canary Islands (with a foundation stone from 1775), only runs visits Monday to Friday; at weekends, Rubicón, Stratvs and La Geria are open. If you are driving, the limit is 0.25 mg/l in exhaled breath (0.15 for new drivers): for a tasting, take a tour with transport from the La Geria guide.

Papagayo and Los Ajaches

The coves of Papagayo, next to Playa Blanca, are pale sand and calm water within the Monumento Natural de Los Ajaches. Access by car costs €3 per vehicle, card only (for non-residents); on foot or by bike it is free. None has a Blue Flag or an announced lifeguard, and there are almost no facilities: bring water and shade. Playa Mujeres is the biggest and the only one with parking listed by the town council. More in the beach guide.

What to see in the north of Lanzarote: lava tubes and viewpoints

The north packs four CACT centres within a few kilometres of each other. Book the Cueva de los Verdes first, as it is the only one with a fixed time, and fit the rest around it.

Cueva de los Verdes

A visitable section of the La Corona lava tube, which according to the CACT runs for more than 7 km and continues under the sea. It is not Manrique's work but that of the artist Jesús Soto, who lit it and opened it to the public in 1964. The name comes from a family, the Verdes, not from the colour green. The visit is guided, lasts about 50 minutes and covers almost 1 km at around 20 °C. At the end there is a surprise we are not going to give away.

€17, online only and timed (09:30–16:45). Not for the claustrophobic or for pushchairs, and if you are taller than 1.80 m you will have to stoop in several places.

Jameos del Agua

In the same tube, 1 km away, Manrique created his first centre (opened in 1968, with Jesús Soto): an underground seawater lake, a white pool beneath a leaning palm and an auditorium inside the rock. The lake is home to tiny blind albino crabs 2–3 cm long (Munidopsis polymorpha), the white specks on the bottom; do not throw coins, they damage the crabs' habitat. €17, no fixed time, 10:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:15. For €22.40 you add the Casa de los Volcanes museum (another hour). Pushchairs cannot get through.

Mirador del Río

Carved into the Risco de Famara cliff and clad in stone, with two huge windows over the El Río strait and La Graciosa. €9, 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:40). Save it for a clear day and bring a jacket from October to May. No bus goes there.

Jardín de Cactus

An old quarry in Guatiza turned by Manrique into an amphitheatre of cacti: about 500 species and more than 4,500 plants, with a restored gofio (toasted-grain) mill. €9, 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30. It closes earlier than the Jameos.

Haría, Famara and Caletón Blanco

Haría is the valley of a thousand palms and the village where Manrique lived until his death in 1992; his house-museum keeps the studio just as he left it (€10, or €17 together with the Fundación). On Saturdays there is a craft market in the square until 14:30.

Famara is a beach of more than 5 km beneath the cliffs, with surfing and low-tide sunsets, but also currents and a history of drownings: swim only near the Caleta or where there is a lifeguard. The cliff path (Camino de Los Caleteros) remains closed since the rockfall of 12 May 2026.

Caletón Blanco, on the road to Órzola, is a string of small white-sand coves among black lava, good for children on a falling tide in the morning. There are no toilets, showers or lifeguards. More spots in the guide to the north.

What to see in the centre: Manrique, Teguise and Arrecife

Fundación César Manrique and LagOmar

The house Manrique built on the lava at Tahíche, where he lived from 1968 to 1988, has its lower floor set into five volcanic bubbles linked by tunnels. It is run by a private foundation, not the CACT: €10, 10:00 to 17:30 (the ticket office closes at 17:00). No tripods or large rucksacks, and there is no left-luggage. With the Haría house, a joint ticket costs €17 on the Fundación's website.

Nearby, in Nazaret, LagOmar (€10) is a house dug into a quarry that is often sold as "Omar Sharif's house". The actor did buy it, but the story of him losing it in a game of bridge is a legend; nor is it Manrique's work. More detail on the César Manrique route.

Monumento al Campesino

In Mozaga, Manrique's tribute to Lanzarote's farmers: the sculpture Fecundidad on the Peña de Tajaste, the house-museum and a Canarian restaurant (12:00–16:00). It is the only free CACT centre (10:00–18:00) and sits at the end of the LZ-30, the road through La Geria, so it fits neatly into that day.

Teguise

The island's capital until 1852 has a historic centre protected as a listed historic-artistic ensemble. On Sundays, from 09:00 to 14:00, it hosts a market of 350–450 stalls that the town council describes as the most important in the Canary Islands. Arrive before 09:30: the coaches pull in from 10:30. The town itself is more enjoyable on a weekday, without the crowds. On the Guanapay volcano above, the Castillo de Santa Bárbara houses the Museo de la Piratería (piracy museum; municipal, so check the opening hours).

Arrecife

The capital takes a morning: the Charco de San Ginés lagoon with its fishing boats, the Puente de las Bolas bridge out to the Castillo de San Gabriel and, to the north, the Castillo de San José with the contemporary art museum (MIAC, €5.40, 11:00 to 18:00). On Saturdays there is a market in the Plaza de Las Palmas. El Reducto beach has a Blue Flag, but has been closed to swimmers several times because of sewage spills: check its status. Everything in the Arrecife guide.

La Graciosa and the neighbouring islands

From Órzola, at the northern tip, the ferry takes about 25 minutes to Caleta de Sebo. Líneas Romero and Biosfera Express charge the same, €29 return, and between them there is a boat roughly every half hour in the morning. There are no tarmac roads and, for now, no visitor cap or eco-tax either. Most people hire a bike in Caleta de Sebo (€10 for a mountain bike, €25 for an e-bike) and ride to Playa de La Francesa. Las Conchas is the postcard beach, but with strong waves and currents: it is not for swimming.

Your return ties you to your ferry company: check its last sailing. By bus, the last line 9 leaves Órzola at 18:10.

From Playa Blanca you can also cross to Fuerteventura and Lobos (with a free permit): see the Fuerteventura day trip.

Free things to do in Lanzarote, and what the paid ones cost

Almost half of this list costs nothing:

There is no pass that bundles the centres: the only CACT combo is Jameos plus the Casa de los Volcanes (€22.40). The big five (Timanfaya, Jameos, Cueva, Mirador and Cactus) add up to €82 per adult; with the two Manrique houses, €99. Children aged 0 to 6 go free. Timanfaya and the Cueva have no ticket office: buy those two first and build your trip around them.

Itinerary: what to see in Lanzarote in 3, 5 or 7 days

In 3 days

• Day 1, south and west. Timanfaya at 09:30, the camels on the way out, lunch in La Geria (the Rubicón restaurant takes no bookings: arrive before 13:00), and in the afternoon Janubio, Los Hervideros and sunset at El Golfo.
• Day 2, north. Cueva de los Verdes in your slot and the Jameos before or after, Mirador del Río, and back via Haría or the Jardín de Cactus depending on the time. In summer the LZ-205 is one-way and the CACT advises reaching the Cueva via the Jameos.
• Day 3, centre. Fundación César Manrique at 10:00, LagOmar, Teguise and the Monumento al Campesino. If it falls on a Sunday, reverse the order and start with the market.

In 5 days

Add La Graciosa (a full day) and a beach day at Papagayo, or Famara if you surf.

In 7 days

A week leaves room for a hike (Caldera Blanca, Volcán del Cuervo or Tremesana, which is booked a month ahead and is for over-16s), a winery, Arrecife on a Saturday and Fuerteventura or Lobos.

In one day

With only one day, or no car, the practical choice is a whole-island tour with pick-up. On your own, pick either Timanfaya and El Golfo or the north: you cannot fit in both.

Things to do in Lanzarote without a car or with kids

Without a car, the north works by guagua (bus): line 7 links Arrecife with the Fundación, LagOmar, the Jardín de Cactus and Haría, and line 9 reaches the Jameos and Órzola (only three of its five departures from Arrecife stop at the Jameos). However, there is no bus to Timanfaya, the Mirador del Río or El Golfo: there you need a tour or a taxi. Timetables at arrecifebus.com and tips in the guide without a car.

If you don't drive

1

One day, the whole island

Full-day tour with pick-up from the resorts; the best-rated of the general island tours (4.7 from more than 3,300 reviews).

GetYourGuide9 hours

Lanzarote: Full-Day Island Highlights Tour

4.7 (3,338)

from €51Check availability

2

The big three in one go

Timanfaya, Jameos and Cueva de los Verdes in 9 hours, with pick-up. Those three tickets alone add up to €64 on your own: check the listing to see which are included in the price.

GetYourGuide9 hours

Lanzarote: Timanfaya Park, Jameos Agua & Cueva Verdes Tour

4.5 (2,873)

from €89Check availability

3

The Manrique route

Campesino, Fundación, Mirador del Río, Jardín de Cactus and Jameos with a guide, 8–9 hours.

GetYourGuide8 - 9 hours

Lanzarote: César Manrique Full-Day Tour

4.6 (458)

from €85Check availability

With kids, bear in mind that neither the Cueva nor the Jameos allow pushchairs (bring a baby carrier) and that Timanfaya is seen sitting on the coach, with no walking. The camels and Caletón Blanco usually go down well; water parks and the aquarium are in the guide with kids.

GetYourGuide2 hours

From Yaiza: Timanfaya Express Tour with No Queues

4.6 (367)

from €57Check availability

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Lanzarote: Lagomar Museum Entry Ticket

4.7 (1,258)

from €10Check availability

GetYourGuide2 - 3 hours

Lanzarote: Guided Off-Road Volcano Buggy Tour

4.6 (5,579)

from €150Check availability

GetYourGuide9 hours

Lanzarote: Full-Day Island Highlights Tour

4.7 (3,338)

from €51Check availability

GetYourGuide9 hours

Lanzarote: Timanfaya Park, Jameos Agua & Cueva Verdes Tour

4.5 (2,873)

from €89Check availability

GetYourGuide2.5 - 5 hours

Arrecife: Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengers

4.6 (2,155)

from €49Check availability

See all on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 5 October 2026

When to go and what to bear in mind

The centres are open all year (the Jameos and the Cueva, every day of the year). The problem is not the sun but the wind: the trade winds blow harder in summer on the north and east coasts, and viewpoints and ridges are cooler than the coast. Month by month in the weather guide.

At Timanfaya, do not take a single stone or leave the paths, and drones are not allowed at the centres. Respect the closures (Charco de los Clicos, the Famara path): the rockfalls are real.