Cheap holiday Lanzarote

When is the best time to go?

Lanzarote is a year-round destination: the temperature stays between 20 and 25 degrees all year and rain is rare. April to October is the beach and swimming season; the sea is warmest in September and October. The island is especially popular as winter sun, because in December and January it is still around 20 degrees during the day. The cheapest months are March, October and November, outside the Dutch school holidays. The trade wind always keeps it just pleasant, even in summer.

The best places in Lanzarote

• Puerto del Carmen The largest resort, with a long beach, a promenade full of restaurants and most of the nightlife. Central and closest to the airport.
• Playa Blanca Quieter and more polished, in the sunny south, with the beautiful Papagayo bays around the corner and the ferry to Fuerteventura.
• Costa Teguise A little windier and therefore popular with surfers and kitesurfers, close to the capital Arrecife and the Manrique attractions in the north.
• Haria and the green north The valley of a thousand palms, greener and more authentic, with the Mirador del Rio and views of the islet of La Graciosa.
• Famara A wild surf beach under a high cliff wall, the opposite of the resorts: mostly nature, wind and waves.

Top 5 things to do in Lanzarote

• Timanfaya National Park The Fire Mountains, a lunar landscape created by the eruptions of 1730 to 1736. A bus tour (about €12, book in advance) crosses 51 square kilometres of lava, with demonstrations of the geothermal heat: a bundle of straw bursts into flame, water turns into a geyser in seconds.
• Jameos del Agua The masterpiece of artist Cesar Manrique in a lava tube: an underground lake with blind, white crabs found nowhere else on earth, plus a concert hall in the cave. Entry €10.
• Cueva de los Verdes A 6-kilometre lava tube from the Monte Corona volcano, with a surprising optical trick deep inside the cave. A guided tour of about an hour, entry €10.
• La Geria The wine region where farmers plant each vine in a funnel-shaped hollow in the black ash, sheltered from the wind by a low stone wall. Taste the Malvasia at a roadside bodega.
• El Golfo and the green lagoon A fishing village with a half-collapsed volcanic crater holding a bright green pool, the Charco de los Clicos, against a black lava beach. Combine it with fresh fish at the harbour.

Flights + transport from the Netherlands

From Eindhoven, Transavia flies direct to Lanzarote (ACE, Arrecife) in just over 4 hours, about three times a week; from Schiphol, TUI fly and Corendon also fly direct. The airport is 5 kilometres from Arrecife. Bus lines 22 and 23 run to the capital, lines 161 and 261 connect the airport with Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca; a ride costs from about €1.40 and you pay the driver. There is no direct bus to Costa Teguise from the airport, you go via Arrecife. For the interior (Timanfaya, La Geria and the north) a rental car is by far the handiest, and on the Canary Islands it is cheap, from about €20 per day.

What does a trip to Lanzarote cost?

Lanzarote belongs to Spain, so you pay in euros, and thanks to the low Canary tax rate (IGIC) drinks and eating out are a little cheaper than on the mainland. A simple room or apartment costs from €35, a mid-range hotel €60 to 110 per night. A menu del dia costs €12 to 15, fresh fish in El Golfo a bit more. Budget from €450 per person for a week including a direct flight. Tip: a combined ticket for four Manrique centres costs €35 instead of €37 separately, and saves you the queues at the ticket desk.