El-Gar Tour of the World

January is always an exciting time in our house because it’s the moment when we start thinking seriously about where we will we get to this year. Not really! I’ll be honest, 2026 travel planning has already started, but the anticipation definitely ramps up once the end of year festivities begin to fade.

I’m not fond of winter, it’s dark, cold and often wet, so it’s an ideal time to escape if you can. So, like many Northern Europeans, that means Spain and more specifically Lanzarote.

The Canaries have only come onto our travel radar relatively recently, as we are not really resort people. However, on a trip to Tenerife a few years ago, we discovered that there is a lot more to the Canarian islands than beaches, giant pools, clubs and bars. All of the things we love about Spain are here too: amazing scenery, delicious food and lots of culture.

We’ve opted to hire a car and tour the island for just under two weeks. We are going to stay in four “hubs” that hopefully will allow us to explore the whole island.

The Canaries are a good bet for winter because, being situated off the coast of West Africa, they typically have very warm weather, with a promise of 300+ days of sunshine every year.

Part One – Arrecife

The capital of Lanzarote is where we will start this trip. It has a whole host of cultural, historical and architectural treats with a port, a promenade and picturesque lanes to wander.

Ideas for Arrecife

• San Gines area
  • Promenade
  •  Port
  • Old town lanes esp. Luis Fernandes Fuentes
  • Sunday craft Market
• Castles
• Museums/Cultural Centres
• Arrecife Town Hall
• From Arrecife
  • Costa Teguise
  • Playa del Reductos
  • Las Grietas de Montana Blanca (Gorge)

Part Two – Tinajo

This little town looks a bit in the middle of nowhere, and that’s exactly what we are looking for here. We want to use this as a base to do a bit of hiking, and hopefully it’s unspoilt enough to host some bird life.

Ideas for Tinajo

• Traditional Market
• Timanfaya National Park
• Caldera Blanca
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Part Three – Playa Blanca

Situated at the furthest West end of the island this area is one of the main visitor areas after Puerto del Carmen. It has plenty of the tourist attractions tht t he islands are famous for but it’s also close to a few places where we can go hiking and birdwatching too, so th best of all worlds.

Ideas for Playa Blanca

• Beaches:
  • The Papagayo Beaches on the Eastern edge of Playa Blanca
  • Two nice beaches in the town of Playa Flamingo and Playa Dorada
• The Ferry port with ferries running all day to Corralejo in Fuerteventura with some nice bars nearby.
• The Marina Rubicon. Shops, ships and restaurants.
• Sea front promenade stretching full width of town.
• Pedestrian only shopping area in centre of town.
• Aquapark (if you like that sort of thing)

Part Four – Puerto del Carmen

Now I know I said before that we aren’t great resort lovers, but you can’t come to the sun without enjoying some of the pleasures. Puerto del Carmen seemed like the ideal place to end the trip with some relaxing time and a bit of pampering, so never say never.

Ideas for Puerto del Carmen

• Shopping
• Nightlife
• Beaches

In reality, Lanzarote is so small that you can easily visit most places from any other point on the island. You don’t really need multiple accommodations but we decided to use these 4 bases in order to explore the island and make sure we can get quickly to the places we want, especially if we want to go on foot.

So here are our ideas for a trip to Lanzarote, I’ll update here with how it went.,