Trip to Lanzarote – César Manrique Island

A month ago we decided to take a last minute trip to Lanzarote. It’s been on my list of travel destinations for absolutely ages. My parents went there in the 90s and told me all about volcanoes and César Manrique and ever since they planted the seed, I’ve been dreaming of visiting this volcanic island one day.

So my husband and I made it happen over the bank holiday weekend adding a few extra days to both ends. Also, the price of bitcoin increased, so it just seemed the perfect timing to finance our trip by selling one.

All things César Manrique

Canarians are well aware of César Manrique‘s cult status, so they offer combo tickets with various sites you can visit. Definitely worth getting that. We saw one or two things every day over 5 days. On day 6, we just slept, ate, relaxed, swam in the sea and ate some more.

Jardín de Cactus

We went to the Jardín de Cactus on day 1.

Already, I was a bit stunned from our car drive to our Airbnb because Lanzarote knows how to win you over with colours. *Insert heart-eyed emoji here* There was definitely a lot of oohs and aahs and wows along the way and we’d been on the island for a mere hour!

The cactus garden is sunken into the volcanic landscape. This way, you see the whole garden from above when you enter from street level, which is already amazing. Add to that over 1000 different species of cacti, from furry to funky to phallic looking.

Jameos del Agua

Los Jameos del Agua are just fascinating. They are openings in a volcanic tunnel which has been created by the eruption of La Corona Volcano in the north of the island. The tunnel is 6km long and also encompasses the Cueva de los Verdes.

Absolutely stunning, and you can still see the influence of the 60s and 70s. There are a couple of terraces, cafés, a lake with unique albino crabs and a concert hall! I like that you see none of this above ground and it’s an exploration as you descend the first set of stairs.

Cueva de los Verdes

As mentioned, Cueva de los Verdes is in the same tunnel as Jameos del Agua. We had to visit it in a group for safety reasons. Again, beautiful underground landscape with another concert hall and a very entertaining guide.

Parque Nacional Timanfaya – Montañas del Fuego

The fire mountains!

Probably my favourite bit, especially because of the devil.

I don’t think it needs much explaining. The island is made up of volcanoes, there were eruptions between in the 17 and 18 hundreds et voilà, spectacular landscape from another planet!

Casa / Museo César Manrique

César Manrique certainly knew how to build houses in volcanic landscapes. The bathroom here was a dream and certainly on the top list of bathroom goals.

I kept thinking of how I could translate his way of getting natural light into living quarters for our house in Fitou.

Fundación César Manrique

Where to even begin. The Foundation was created after César moved to his casa in Haría.


Be prepared to be speechless and needing to rest in every volcanic bubble to take it all in. Oh and the pool, the colours and the “magma garden”! I would have moved right in, if I could.

Mirador del Rio

You’d think that all of this is enough, but to top it off, César Manrique created a view point at the north end of Lanzarote overseeing La Graciosa.

Places to eat

We stayed in Arrieta and therefore explored more of the food choices there than the south, which is a lot more touristy and offers more international variety.

• El Diablo in Timanfaya National Park: They use the volcanic heat to grill meat and fish.
• El Amanecer in Arrieta: Fresh fish of the day is fab.
• La Nasa in Arrieta: Best seafood paella. And the wine!
• La Ermita in Tías: Great wine, great selection of tapas, not just the standard list of things.
• Flora y Fauna Restaurant in Orzola: Great for tapas and a friendly chat with the owner.
• The beach bar in Arrieta: It’s the van right next to the restaurant at the beach and they make the best mojitos ever.

I made a tonne of more photos, which you can see here.

I had great aspirations for this trip to film and make something great. But a mix of not having the right camera, having to still figure out some settings and just generally needing a bit more practice make for a bit of a wobbly video, but hope you’ll enjoy it nonetheless.