Lanzarote - Iceland of south Europe!
Hey guys, nice to have you back on my Blog!
Last year I travelled to Lanzarote island which belongs to the Canary Islands and they are a part of Spain. These islands are located in front of the southernmost coast of Morocco. Before I travelled there I have seen just one picture of a volcano and I didn’t knew exactly what I was going to see there. If you don’t have many expectations, you will usually be surprised and I was extremely surprised by Lanzarote island! I have seen endless extinct volcanoes, craters, black sand beaches, really high and rough coastlines and also a green acid lake. I will show you in this blog which parts of the island have what to offer. First of all get yourself a cheap rental car (15-25 € per day) and then you’re able to reach all these following places in 15-75 minutes of driving.
Volcan Montana Colorada crater
The Southwest with the Timanfaya national park:
The Southwest of Lanzarote with the Timanfaya national park is the volcanic heart of the whole island. You can see endless craters and a vast volcanic landscape which looks more like the moon than the earth. Inside the national park it is not allowed to drive by your own because it is not safe due to very hot ground temperatures. The volcanoes are not really active but they heat the earth a lot up to 800° on some places in the park. From a photographers standpoint the park is not so interesting because you’re not allowed to fly your drone but there are many other beautiful craters like the Volcan Montana Colorada and the Caldera Blanca. Also you’re allowed to walk up those beautiful volcanoes to get a unique 360° of the whole place. I would suggest to spend a half day inside the park and a half day exploring the near craters with your rental car by your own.
Caldera Blanca crater
The Timanfaya National Park from the distance
To the north - from mountain roads to rough coastlines:
When you’ll drive the main highway LZ-1 to the north you’ll arrive at Órzola which has an amazing beach named Playa de la Canteria. After spending a few hours there you can have a good lunch at a restaurant and then head over in a 20 minutes drive via the LZ-203 and LZ-201 to the highest viewpoint named Mirador del Rio on Lanzarote island. The views to the island La Graciosa and to the cliffs on the left with an altitude with more than 450 meters are ridiculous. Next stop from there is a volcano crater which you can climb up in an hour with the name Volcan la Corona. If you don’t want to see another volcano just drive directly towards the Valle de Malpaso Haria in the middle of the island. You’ll drive through a few lovely villages and nice valleys. Arrived at the top you will get a view of the nice serpentines and you will also see the mountains behind you and the ocean in direction Morocco.
Playa de la Canteria
Left view from Mirador del Rio
Volcan La Corona
Other amazing places on Lanzarote island:
El Golfo: There are a few more amazing places on this little island and I want to tell something about two of them. The first one is a small village called El Golfo which is located directly behind the Timanfaya national park on the west coast. Next to the village is a half crater framed from nature directly behind a black volcanic beach. Inside of it is a green colored acid lake. It is a unreal combination of red volcanic stones, black volcanic sand, dark blue Atlantic water and the green lake. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not believe it if this is true.
El Lago Verde
Black volcanic beach near El Golfo
Caleta de Famara: The small village Caleta de Famara is a Surfertown filled with relaxed people and a lot of surf boards. You’ll feel a vibe of cape town with this huge amount of surfers in the sea in front of golden coast with huge cliffs. You can spend a full day relaxing on the beach or trying to surf there. Maybe you’ll get catched by the vibe and you will come back to Lanzarote island only to stay there for a week as many german surfing-fans. Next to the village are more volcano craters if you cannot get enough of them.
A crater next to Caleta de Famara
Caleta de Famara
Lanzarote is really a hidden gem that is waiting to be aired. You can get a AirBnB for 20-25 euros a day and a rental car for 15-25 €. Also going out for dinner is really cheap for european price levels. If you have some questions don’t hesitate to ask me!
Thank you guys for reading!
Luca