Walk through Lanzarote

Lanzarote offers the visitor a variety of interesting things to do. So that you can enjoy your free time, we have come up with the following three tourist routes:

Northern Route

We leave from La Villa de Teguise, declared an artistic-historic preservation area. In front of the village, one can see the castle of Guanapay, or Santa Barbara, on top of Guanapay mountain, a place that now hosts the Museum of the Emigrant.

After visiting historic Teguise, heading north, one can visit on the left El Santuario de La Virgen de Las Nieves on the crags of Famara.

Crossing the villages of Los Valles, we arrive at the singular village of Haria, known as the valley of 10,000 palm trees. A beautiful place that breaks up the arid landscape of the island. After walking through the streets and squares, the route continues on towards Guinate, where one can visit the small zoo, Loro Parque. From there, we carry on to El Mirador del Río, one of the best works of César Manrique. Dug out from the stone, this viewpoint offers us an impressive view of the Chinijo archipelago.

The route continues along the coast, and after heading towards Órzola, where the white sand and turquoise waters vividly combine, we stop at Los Jameos del Agua and La Cueva de Los Verdes, both creations of Cesar Manrique, and places that are a must to see. Finally, we pass through Guatiza, where we visit the cactus garden, El Jardín de Cactus, also a creation of Manrique. After passing the cactus fields where cochineal is cultivated, we reach the end of the northern route.

Central Route

We start this route in the island's capital, Arrecife, where one can visit the C18 parish church, which is situated by El Charco de San Gines. Arrecife receives its name from the collection of tiny off-lying islets that appear and disappear with the tide. On one of these, San Gabriel, is seated the castle of the same name. Access to the fortress is gained by crossing El Puente de Las Bolas. El Castillo de San Jose is another must see. Renovated in 1968 by Cesar Manrique, the castle is home to the Museum of Modern Art.

From there, we come to Tahiche, site of the Cesar Manrique Foundation, the former home of the artist, which is built inside five lava bubbles. Continuing the route, we head for San Bartolome, where the Tanit Museum is found, archaeological site of the Zonzamas.

Next, we visit Monumento al Campesino, also created by Cesar Manrique, where one can sample typical food from the island. Heading along the road that takes us to La Santa, famous for its fresh fish, we pass through the villages of Tao, Tiagua and Tinajo. Returning to our starting point, we come to Mancha Blanca, where we find the sanctuary of the patron of Lanzarote, La Virgen de Los Dolores.

Southern Route

From Tias, the most important municipality on the island, with the beautiful beaches of Puerto del Carmen, we cross La Geria, where we see the unique way of cultivating which has been developed by island's farmers to combat the lack of rain. We head towards Yaiza, a beautiful village whose highlights include La Casa de Benito Perez Armas and La Ermita de los Remedios.

Leaving Yaiza, we visit the National Park of Timanfaya, a volcanic landscape that we cover by road until we arrive at the Islote de Hilario (Montañas del Fuego) where one can see geothermic exhibitions and find the only restaurant in the world which uses the heat of the earth to cook by.

Continuing with the route, we arrive at Las Salinas del Janubio, Los Hervideros and El Charco de Los Ciclos, also called Laguna Verde.

Playa Blanca is the last stop on this route, with its beautiful beaches at Papagayo and its sense of history - it was from these coasts that the conquest of the Canary Islands began.