By Gemma Tedaldi | Published: 8th July 2024 | Updated: 8th August 2024
Lanzarote, the Canary Island of volcanically influenced landscapes, African inspired architecture and delicious Canarian tapas, (plus there’s a nice beach or two as well). Sounds like somewhere you should visit right? We spent a wonderful 4 days exploring the island and as our first taste of Canary Island life it was perfect! So here is our suggested best 4 day Lanzarote itinerary:
📍 Lanzarote Itinerary Day 1 – Puerto del Carmen
📍 Lanzarote Itinerary Day 2 – Lanzarote Island Tour
📍 Lanzarote Itinerary Day 3 – Northern Lanzarote
📍 Lanzarote Itinerary Day 4 – Southern Lanzarote
Planning Your Trip? Use our favourite travel resources below:
Accommodation: We recommend Booking.com
Rental Car: We recommend Rentalcars.com
Flights: We recommend Kiwi.com
Tours: We recommend Get Your Guide & Viator
Lanzarote Itinerary Map
The Best 4 Day Lanzarote Itinerary
Lanzarote Itinerary Day 1: Puerto del Carmen
For your first day in Lanzarote we recommend getting to know the area around Puerto del Carmen, which is also where we would recommend that you stay for the duration of your Lanzarote itinerary, (more on where below!).
There is the beautiful old town to the west that you can easily walk to along the coastal paths, as well the bustling Avenue de las Playas at the centre of Puerto del Carmen, with numerous bars, restaurants and shops. There are also a few beaches to while away a few hours too, including Playa Blanca, Playa Grande and Playa Chica, so you will always be able to find a spot to sit and take in the rays post swim in the sea, (which coming from a landlocked country was just bliss!).
In the evening be sure to head to the Starlight Rooftop Open Air Cinema, where you can watch a film, (with dinner and drinks included if you opt for that ticket), as well as the sunset over Puerto del Carmen.
Where to eat in Puerto del Carmen
📍 Taberna De Nino- if you eat anywhere in Puerto del Carmen make it this incredible restaurant, with its traditional local dishes that are to die for.
📍 Flamingo’s – great for breakfast / brunch, the beetroot eggs are delicious!
📍 Grill Tropicana – great for post beach snacks and drinks.
📍 Delhi Delicious – if you fancy something less local then this Indian restaurant is fantastic.
📍 Black Buffalo Steakhouse & Grill – burgers, steaks etc with all the grill trimmings.
📍 Long Beach Club – great for drinks with a view over the beach.
Lanzarote Itinerary Day 2: Lanzarote Island Tour
Tourism makes up 85% of income on the island and what better way to spend a day of your Lanzarote itinerary than on a tour dedicated to showing you the best of the island. We can highly recommend this one-day Lanzarote Island Tour, which we go into more detail over on another post that you can read here, but here is the rough itinerary:
Pick up along the south coast of Lanzarote, (including various points in Puerto del Carmen) > Yaisa > El Golfo > Timanfaya National Park > Volcan Road > Mancha Blanca > La Geria > Teguise > Valley of 1000 palms > Jameos del Agua > Drop off at the same location as the pick up.
You can of course drive this route yourself instead of taking a dedicated tour, however it is worth knowing that to get into Timanfaya National Park you will have to pay an entrance fee, (around €20 per adult and €10 per child), and depending on the time of day / time of year that you are visiting it can get extremely busy with cars queuing both to get in and out of the National Park. You also can’t walk through the National Park not only because of the lava fields, but also due to the lichens that grow on the lava which are protected.
For the rest of your Lanzarote itinerary it is fairly open as to what your interests are, if you like hiking, want to experience more of the islands culture or just want to soak up the sun on one of the stunning sandy beaches you can find across Lanzarote.
Lanzarote Itinerary Day 3: Northern Lanzarote
For the third day of your Lanzarote itinerary, we would highly recommend heading to the north of the island, hitting up a hiking trail up an old volcano and visiting some of the islands cultural hot spots!
Start the day with a hike at Volcán de La Corona, a 610 metre high extinct volcano in the north of the island. In a 7 mile / 11 kilometre hike you can climb right up to the rim of the crater and have views across much of the island. This can be done on your own or with a group on a guided tour, (which is the best option if you haven’t rented a car), but if you do go on your own steam be sure to check the wind before hikes! There are very strong warm winds that are known to blow across the island and can make hiking near impossible / dangerous if you do try.
This Volcán de La Corona and Famara Cliffs tour is an ideal half day tour which includes hotel pick up in Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise, Costa Calero and Arrecife, plus you actually get to see 4 different volcanos rather than just the one.
If you have taken the tour, you will dropped off back to your pick up so you can spend the rest of the day relaxing at the beach and eating your way through all the tapas. We can highly recommend the local cod balls, canary potatoes, iberico ham and of course the Lanzarote fried goat cheese with fig!
If you made your own way then we can recommend stopping by Casa Museo de Cesar Manrique and / or the El Jardin de Cactus on your way back. Both of which are great places to visit. Buy your tickets and check what events are on at the CACT Lanzarote website, where you can get great deals if you plan on visiting more than one of the locations.
You can also visit these places if you take public transport, however the buses are few and far between out to these destinations and can take a couple of hours each way.
Lanzarote Itinerary Day 4: Southern Lanzarote
For your fourth and final day in Lanzarote you should head to southern Lanzarote, either via the land or the sea, hitting up another hike if you fancy it, (and if the weather is good), visiting the islands incredible salt flats and stopping by Playa Blanca and the Papagayo beaches, (the town not the beach), for some well deserved R&R.
If you are after something more relaxed and / or haven’t hired a car then this half day Catamaran Cruise to the Papagayo Beaches from Puerto del Carmen is the perfect thing for you! With lunch and kayaking included it is one of the best ways to spend your last day in Lanzarote.
If you have a hire car then this is very easy to get around and do, if you are limited to public transport then visiting all of these locations is still possible, it will just take a little longer, which isn’t for everyone.
Start day 4 of the Lanzarote itinerary with a hike at Montaña Blanca, not to be mixed up with the hike at Caldera de Montaña Blanca, which is little further to the north – and let’s be honest is basically the same name! This hike starts and ends at Montaña Blanca and leads you through the surrounding lava fields as well as up to the mountain peak, which gives you views of the whole island on a clear day.
Next up stop by the La Hoya salt flats and the Visitor Center Salinas de Janubio, where you can learn about the history of salt in Lanzarote as well as even taste some of the unique flavours that are produced. This 90 minute Salinas de Janubio guided tour is perfect.
If you have rented a car then we suggest finishing up the day at Playa Blanca (the town not the beach), on the very southern coast of Lanzarote, or with a trip to one of the nearby beaches Playa Flamingo or Playa de Papagayo. If you are using the local bus network, it is of course possible to reach Playa Blanca but it will take quite a while, so we suggest heading back to Puerto del Carmen to explore the beaches there instead,
Where to stay in Lanzarote
We stayed in Puerto del Carmen during our trip to Lanzarote and would highly recommend it, due to being close to beaches as well as plenty of eateries, but lovely and quiet at night, specifically along the Calle Alegranza. We stayed at Playa Chica Place along here and it was perfect.
If you would rather stay in a hotel over an apartment, then by far the best place to stay is at Hotel Fariones. We visited the hotel so we could go for dinner, but the grounds and sea views are stunning.
Check out all the best accommodation options below:
Lanzarote Itinerary FAQs
How to get to Lanzarote
There are two way to get to Lanzarote, by flying into Arrecife International Airport (ACE), which connects the island to destinations throughout Europe, or by sea, via a ferry from a neighbouring Canary Island or from mainland Spain, Cadiz).
How to get around Lanzarote
By far the best way to get around Lanzarote is by bus or hiring a car, (depending on if you want the freedom to go places a little of the beaten path). We didn’t hire a car but used the bus network during our 4 days in Lanzarote, and it worked out great for us.
There are a number of buses that go directly to and from the airport all along the southern coast of the island. You can check the bus lines information here.
If you are utilising the buses on the island, it is a great idea to explore the island with various tours, we took this one-day island tour and it was a great way to see the island without having to drive it ourselves.
If you do want to hire a car you can either do it through Lanzarote CiCar Rental or Rentalcars.com, (we’ve used Rentalcars.com numerous times across Europe, including in Gran Canaria and would highly recommend them!).
Tours in Lanzarote
When to visit Lanzarote – Weather in Lanzarote
Lanzarote is an island with almost year round food weather, which means that it can get rather hot in the summer months, which is also one of the busiest times of year on the island with the summer holiday peak season. We would suggest visiting in one of the shoulder season, spring or autumn, as the weather is still wonderful. We visited in April, and it was lovely and warm during the day and a little cooler at night, plus with the added bonus of not being too busy either.
How many days to you need in Lanzarote?
You can definitely see a lot of the island in one day, (especially if you do a tour like this one which we took and wrote about here), but you need at least 4 days to see Lanzarote properly without feeling rushed.
What to do in Lanzarote in 3 days?
If you only have 3 days in Lanzarote we would suggest taking an island day tour for one of the days, and exploring the local area that you are staying in the other two. If you have hired a car you can definitely see more of the island, but it isn’t necessary especially if you are staying near a main bus route.
Is 4 days enough for Lanzarote?
We spent 4 days in Lanzarote and thought it was a great amount of time for a first trip. We managed to see a lot of Lanzarote thanks to doing a one day island tour, and spent our other three days exploring the local area on foot and with the bus network. There is however a lot more of the island to see, which unless you were driving you wouldn’t get to see in 4 days.
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Conclusion: The Best 4 Day Lanzarote Itinerary
Hope you have enjoyed our 4 day Lanzarote itinerary. There are of course many more things to see and do across the island, but as a first time trip to Lanzarote this is a great itinerary to base a trip off, especially if you plan to do as we did and hop across to Gran Canaria next!
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Here are a few other articles you may find useful for planning your trip:
📍 The Best One Day Lanzarote Island Tour
📍 Is Lanzarote Worth Visiting?
Gemma Tedaldi
Gemma is the owner and author of The Travelling Tedaldi, a travel blog helping travellers to discover the best road trips and travel itineraries throughout the UK and Europe. When she isn’t writing about her favourite travel destinations, she can often be found out exploring local hikes or planning future trips.