What to see in two days on the island of Lanzarote

The island of Lanzarote is a relatively small island, but it has a lot to offer, so if you only have two days to visit it, it will be difficult to choose what to visit and what to leave for next time.

On this tour you will be able to discover virgin beaches, legendary caves, fire volcanoes and dreamlike viewpoints in just 48 hours. To do this, it will be essential to have a car, plenty of sunscreen and a desire to see landscapes full of contrasts.

Of course, as a tip, since many of the places have an entrance fee, the recommendation is to buy a pass that includes several of them to save money. The prices of the passes are around 35 euros for adults and half that for children between 7 and 12 years old, it all depends on the tourist sites you want to include in it.

Day 1: route through the north

The first day will be focused on a route through the north of the island. The first stop will be the Cactus Garden, in Guatiza, a botanical garden with more than 5000 square meters and more than 7,000 specimens of cacti, from all corners of the world. It is essential that you arrive there at 10:00 in the morning, during its opening hours, to avoid queues and thus not waste time visiting the rest of the sites. 

The day will continue in Jameos del Agua and Cueva de Los Verdes, in the municipality of Haría, about a 15-minute drive away. Both are located inside a volcanic tunnel generated by the eruptions of the Corona Volcano.

The Jameos del Agua get their name from an interior lake formed by sea filtrations, where a unique endemic species called blind crab also lives. The place also has a restaurant, an outdoor pool (which you cannot swim in) and an auditorium where famous singers generally perform concerts.

Fleeing from the sun and heat during peak hours, the best option is to continue with the visit to the popular Cueva de los Verdes, which is located right in front of Jameos. It is a seven-kilometer cave full of legends and used as a refuge by the islanders during pirate attacks during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The story says it gets its name from the surname of a family that used to keep their cattle in the area. Furthermore, the cave also has an auditorium where concerts are held with enviable acoustics. During the 50-minute visit, you will tour the different galleries, some of them up to 50 meters high and with a big surprise at the end that, as happens in Las Vegas, what happens in the Cueva de los Verdes, stays in the Cueva de los Verdes.

After an intense morning of sightseeing, you can enjoy typical Canarian dishes at the restaurants in Arrieta, just a 5-minute drive away. You will taste everything from the best fish from Lanzarote, or fried cheese, to the famous "papas arrugadas" with mojo. With your stomach full, we will drive to the top of the Risco de Famara to enjoy the Mirador del Río, a viewpoint located 400 meters high, which gets its name from the body of water that separates the island of La Graciosa from Lanzarote. 

From its balcony and the panoramic windows of its café, visitors can contemplate the Chinijo Archipelago, a group of islets formed by La Graciosa and the islets Roque del Este, Roque del Oeste, Alegranza, and Montaña Clara. It is important to mention that it closes at 5:00 PM, so it is advisable to keep track of time while you eat. If you arrive late, you can always go to the side to enjoy the views, but they are not as spectacular.

Once the mandatory tourist stops are finished, it's time to relax on the popular Famara Beach, under the imposing cliff. It is one of the best places to watch the sunset, as the cliff tends to take on reddish hues that mix with the orange and pink tones of the sky. It is a beach with strong waves, so many surfers come there to enjoy the waves or simply to walk. It also has a dune area that will transport you to the desert, all along six kilometers of sand.

To end the day, on the way back from Famara, you can stop at the Lagomar Museum, a cocktail bar and restaurant embedded in a cave in the village of Nazaret. With ambient music and dim lighting, it is one of the most spectacular and different places to enjoy a wine or a beer.

Day 2: route through the south

The second day begins at Timanfaya National Park, in the municipality of Yaiza, in the south of the island, to see one of Lanzarote's biggest attractions: the volcanoes.

The opening hours are at 09:30 in the morning, but it is recommended to arrive half an hour earlier in high season. Once there, you can leave your car in the parking lot and enjoy the geysers, a route through the Fire Mountains by bus, and dishes made with the earth's heat at the El Diablo Restaurant, a work by César Manrique.

After the visit, the ideal is to continue the route to the south, towards Playa Blanca, with numerous characteristic enclaves of the island where you can take movie-like photos, such as the small town of El Golfo. There you will find a viewpoint from which you can observe a landscape taken from planet Mars, with a black sand beach, which contrasts with the reddish rocks, and where the Lago de los Clicos, better known as the Green Lagoon, is also located, which gets its color from the algae at its bottom. In addition, it is a good place to eat seafood and typical Canarian food by the sea.

The next stop is Los Hervideros, volcanic cliffs where the waves crash with force, generating a sound similar to boiling water. It is important to mention that you must be careful when leaning out on the balconies in this last area. If you continue the road towards Papagayo, the next destination on the list, you will find Las Salinas de Janubio, where you can take good photos and appreciate the island's salt flats, full of colors and with the presence of numerous protected birds.

Once the route is finished and after several hours of "sightseeing", you can finally relax on the beaches and coves of Papagayo, at the southernmost point of the island. If you haven't eaten yet, you can do so at the beach bar on top of the mountain, where you will have a panoramic view of the two main coves.

It is important to mention that the entrance to Papagayo costs three euros and is accessed via a dirt road with a few stones, so you will have to be careful not to damage it.

Finally, you can end the last day on the island by having a typical Lanzarote wine in the La Geria area. It is a protected natural area of more than 5,000 hectares, where vines are cultivated in holes dug in volcanic ash that protect them from the wind with semicircular stone walls. You can taste all kinds of wines in the different wineries in the area, as well as enjoy a sunset among palm trees, volcanoes, and vineyards to put the finishing touch on your trip to Lanzarote.