Recharge your energy levels by visiting the very unique island of Lanzarote that is sure to recharge your energy levels. This is known as “the Lanzarote effect”

Travelling as a family of mixed ages is recomemended and adds to the group experiencie. Lanzarote in January transports you to spring and relaxation, discovery of the island and yourself.

We arrived on Friday night with enough time to rent a car and go to Yaiza in the gateway of the Timanfaya N.P., where we had rented a small house for five people: Villa Uga.

The first day: Saturday.

The distances are relatively short in Lanzarote and you can get a around easily. The fact you are at the foot of the N.P. makes travelling around the mountains accesible, and you don’t have to get up so early. The earlier you get there, the better, because you can avoid the queues at the “Echadero de Camellos” (The resting camels), this area is situated before you enter the N.P.  My advice is to stop if you are traveling with kids.

The camel ride is short for the travellers but I imagine that it is much longer for the camel drivers who do the same walk everyday.

Within a few meters you can find the ticket office, and you can buy  single or a multiple area tickets to visit 3, 4 or 6 CACT (Art, Culture and Tourist Center) with discount. My advice is to check before buying the tickets, using this link

We bought a multiple area ticket for four places: “Montañas de Fuego”, “Jameos del Agua”, “Cueva de los Verdes” and the “Jardín de Cactus”

We parked the car and walked to the “Guagua” (canarian name that means BUS), it is a special bus that the N.P. offers free to visit the “Timamfaya N.P.” By leaving the car you can help to respect the environment.

In the “Guagua” a recording tells you about the history, the characteristics, the different dates of volcanic eruptions and anecdotes about the N.P. and the surrounding area.

And, of course, we stayed to have a lunch in the restaurant because it has a natural barbecue which is heated with the volcanic ashes. It is curious to see the water shoot up when it is put in the holes (geysers) because ten metres below your feet the temperatura is 300 ºC.

After lunch we visited the “Cueva de los Verdes”, a natural marvel, in this place the guides interact very well all the family, especially the kids and they enjoyed a lot.

Saturday night we enjoyed “Los Jameos del Agua”, we have shared our opinion in the attached link  Lanzarote and Cesar Manrique.

The second day: Sunday. 

There are 50 kilometres between Yaiza to “Jardin de Cactus” and you need 50 minutes to get there. The island is small so travelling around is easy and you can stop and change your itinerary without any problem. It is especially useful when you travel with a family of different ages.

The “Jardin de Cactus” is the most northen point we wanted to visit. From here we travelled south 20 Km until the “Monumento al campesino” where we had lunch, we danced and bought our fridge magnets.

Later we travelled a further 10 kilometres until Arrecife (the capital of Lanzarote). We loved “El Charco de San Ginés” which is a natural lagoon that enters into the edge of the city and makes a harbour or natural port for the fishing boats.

The White houses of the fishermen surround the port producing a picture postcard. It is a beautiful place and perfect for lunch or dinner, and you can take advantage of the warm temperatures of the island.

The quaint restaurants on the maritime promenade have “mojo picón” ( a typical sauce from the Canaries island), fried fish and all types of cheap “tapas”. And the very friendly nature of the locals add to the experience of a perfect day.

The maritime promenade is a pedestrian area with no traffic so it is the ideal place for children to play and run while the older members of the group finish the lunch or dinner which can be enjoyed using all five senses.

The third day. Papagayo Beach.

The locals advised us to go to Papagayo Beach. In January the temperatures in Lanzarote are warm (between 20 and 25ºC), but Papagayo beach is sheltered by rocks where you are isolated from the wind and the thermal sensation is hot and after a few minutes you want to dive into to the water and swim in the sea.

The water is turquoise and the landscape offers a spectacular contrast between “The Ajaches”  (deserted and protected zone) it is a virgin area without buildings or houses on the beach. The access to the “Ajaches” is through a well marked forest track for a payment of 3€.

This place surprised everybody: kids, teenagers and adults… there is a unique “chiringuito” (small bar) to have a lunch, buy water or have a very cold refreshing beer.

This oasis in January was the perfect end to our trip. From Papagayo beach we went to the airport (30 km), where we finished our three days full of volcanic energy.