Discover Lanzarote - The Fire Island

If you are bored with lazing around sunbathing etc, there are plenty of activities to get you out and about.

Set at the northern tip of the Canaries, the volcanic island of Lanzarote is a truly unique place. The national park 'Timanfaya' is one of the worlds most important locations for volcanic studies and the breathtaking landscape here has been the setting for numerous films and television works. The terrain was even used extensively by NASA in their testing of lunar vehicles.

Once the capital of the island, Teguise is now a beautiful and peaceful little village up in the north. Every Sunday however Teguise is transformed into a bustling market with stalls and traders lining the meandering cobbled streets throughout the entire town.

The southern point of the island is where you will find the stunning beaches of Papagayo. There is relatively easy access to the beaches here but their remote location means they are kept deliberately quiet and tranquil with few services available. Of course there are hundreds of other beautiful beaches all around the island for families keen to have ice-cream sellers close to hand!

La Geria is the Lanzarote wine region. The landscape here is an incredible sight with thousands upon thousands of semi-circular hand built dry stone walls, each surrounding a hollowed out piece of ground with a single vine contained within. Despite the dry climate here the hollows are able to trap enough moisture to feed the vines. A drive through the region, either in a hire car or on an organised excursion is highly recommended as all of the bodegas offer wine tasting.

Cesar Manrique - Maker of Lanzarote

Cesar Manrique was a highly respected artist and architect, born on Lanzarote in 1919. By the time of his tragic death in 1992 he had transformed the island into the truly unique place it is today. Lanzarote is Cesar Manrique's most important work of art. The natives say that he has "made" Lanzarote. In 1964 Manrique began his campaign to bring awareness to the people of Lanzarote. He convinced the Government of the Island to ban the use of billboards on the highways and landscape. His first construction was the grotto of the Jameos del Agua, with its famous natural auditorium. His creations, integrated in the natural landscape are notorious for their simplicity.

As an interior architect he accomplished a harmony of space and volume, an example being the Mirador del Rio. His desire to live with the volcanic lava led him to build his own house in the Taro de Tahiche. A unique beauty and example of a house integrated amidst nature, building an oasis in the centre of a river of petrified bluish-black lava. It would later turn into the Fundacion Cesar Manrique.