Discover the Amazing Landscapes of Lanzarote

You could be forgiven for thinking that Lanzarote is just a package holiday destination. It has the beaches, it has millions of visitors a year – it even has the British bars. But away from the main holiday resorts Lanzarote also has so much more to offer. Including some of the most surreal scenery on the planet – created by violent volcanic eruptions which occurred just a few hundred years ago.
In geological terms this is of course little more than the blink of an eye when viewed against the backdrop of millions of years of evolutionary development. So the landscapes on Lanzarote very much resemble what Earth must have looked like when it was first formed. Characterised by eerie twisted lava fields and the burnt out shells of spent volcanoes.

The influence of the eruptions are also readily evident elsewhere, for example in the paintings of Lanzarote´s most famous son, the artist César Manrique. Who was in the vanguard of the Spanish surrealist movement before going on to help shape the restrained development of modern day tourism on Lanzarote.

Manrique was determined to create alternatives to the ugly theme parks and ecologically unsound golf courses that were springing up in other Spanish sun spots when tourism was first taking off in the late 1960´s. He instead sough to fuse art with nature – a marriage that resulted in the birth of Lanzarote´s six Centres of Art Culture and Tourism – such as the Jameos del Agua and Mirador del Rio – which remain the most popular visitor attractions on the island to this day.

As well as breathtaking scenery and unique sights Lanzarote also offers a wide variety of interesting places to stay. The growth of independent travel on the island has resulted in a huge surge in demand for good quality villas in Lanzarote – the best of which can be found in the two largest resorts of Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen. There are also hundreds of hotels and apartment complexes to choose from too.

Booking a break here also doesn’t have to break the bank – an important consideration in the current climate. As flights to Lanzarote from the UK are available from as little as €100 return with budget operators such as Ryanair and Monarch, a snip given the four hour flight time and total contrast in climate. Whilst car hire in Lanzarote  is also very reasonably priced, making the island easy to explore.