If you are looking for attractions to see when you have booked a Lanzarote apartment to help you escape from the beach, then starting with Timanfaya Volcano Park is a must and probably top of your list if it is your first visit to the island.
You will first drive to the car park at the visitor centre. The journey through the park is the start of the experience. It is described as being a lunar scene and that is honestly the im pression that you do get as you watch fields of solidified volcanic lava that have been untouched since they were laid down. The area is now a protected park to help preserve this landscape.
When you reach the car park at the top of the visitor center there are an abundance of uniformed guides to entertain you. They will show how a bucket of water poured down into a bore hole erupts seconds later as steam, heated ashtonishingly fast just by the heat of the rocks below the ground. Another favorite trick is to place some brushwood into the ground and then it is pulled out burning seconds later. Again, this is just the heat of the ground.
Also within the visitor centre is a fairly unique restaurant. There are no conventional ovens. Instead the food is cooked from the heat given off by a hole in the ground. The demonstrations of the heat given off from the subterranean rocks are certainly varied!
There is also a guided coach tour from the visitor center that shows tourists a little more of the area and the rock formations. All of this makes Timanfaya, Fire Mountain, well worth a visit!
When you are renting a Lanzarote apartment there are lots to see and do, as well as the beaches and Timanfaya National Park. The island is easy to get around whether in a hire car or in organized tours. Take your pick!
A favorite place to visit, especially for my little girl, is the Cactus Garden, designed by local artist Cesar Manrique. There are a wide variety of cactus plants on show, well over 1000 species in fact, in this sunken garden that can be sheltered from the hottest of the elements. There is also a restored white windmill to visit within the gardens, which also has the site’s café for a welcome refreshment or snack.
Also worth a sight seeing visit is El Golfo, a semi-circular volcanic crater. The crater has been half erroded by the sea, hence not being visibly chopped, and filled with sea water that has filtered through the black sand that keeps the sea from the crater. The water in the crater has caused a green lagoon, which is caused by the algae thriving in the water and it contrasts spectacularly with the surrounding black sand.
Another favorite, and the destination of many coach tours, is the Cave of Los Verdes. These are a complex of underground caves that were created in the lava some 3,000 years ago and were used as shelter to the original inhabitants when the pirates of old came raiding. They are well worth a visit, even if only to uncover what the secret is of Lanzarote. You only get to discover it by visiting the cave and I’m not about to tell you now!
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