Why Lanzarote is the best island in the Canaries for a family holiday
As a travel writer, I'm often asked where I take my own family on holiday. There tends to be surprise when I answer the Canaries, rather than a destination on the other side of the world.
The remarkable archipelago of the Canary Islands never disappoints, with its perfect year-round climate, accessibility from airports across the UK and superb value.
The majority of visitors head for Tenerife or Gran Canaria, but savvy families looking for somewhere different choose classy, less-developed Lanzarote.
Think low-rise buildings, quieter resorts and a relaxed vibe that eases family stress, with still plenty to see and do. And, whisper it (when the kids are around), a holiday to Lanzarote can actually be educational too.
Getting there: find affordable family holidays to Lanzarote with TUI*, which departs from airports UK-wide, throughout the year.
Keep it sustainable
Increasingly, my daughters come home from school giving me lectures on how to live more sustainably, and Lanzarote, an isle with no fresh water sources, has always had to take living close to nature and protecting it seriously.
The whole island is recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with the programmes and protections that entail. It's a clean, green oasis where development is kept low-rise thanks to the Canarian artistic visionary Cesar Manrique (more on this mercurial figure later), with a blissful whitewashed architectural aesthetic that makes the most of the binary colours of the ocean and black lava.
At the Mirador del Río you gaze out over the largest marine reserve in Europe, the Chinijo Natural Park. No tour boats run out here.
You just admire its wild wonder from this dramatic viewpoint and café with its floor-to-ceiling windows, fashioned by Manrique. This protective vibe ripples through an island where recycling is taken seriously, and development is strictly controlled.
You can stay green
I've stayed at a lot of places that brand themselves as 'eco', but that can just be asking you to use the same towel more than once to save on laundry. Finca de Arrieta actually walks the clean, green walk.
Run by Joshua Braddock, whose parents moved to the land here in 2005, they are serious about protecting the island. Think eco-village rather than eco-resort.
They properly recycle, desalinate their own water and sport over 100 solar panels. Guests are also encouraged to leave food for other guests and use their shower water to water the gardens.
Upcycling is part of creative accommodations alongside the preservation of traditional skills like dry-stane dyke building. It looks and feels very Manrique. It's great fun for families, with animals on site, a playground, and the chance to stay in a yurt or a larger villa.
It's one giant geography lesson
Forget dull schoolbooks and YouTubers screaming about overhyped natural sights. Lanzarote thrills with the real deal. This glorious island is alive with volcanoes, and in the Timanfaya National Park, you have one giant geography lesson.
Take a bus tour around the Manrique-crafted route and then enjoy lunch with a view as you savour steak cooked using geothermal energy.
Top tip: visitor numbers to Timanfaya National Park are tightly controlled, so be sure to book your slots in advance online.
Many people miss the more recently opened walking route in La Cueva de los Verdes. Don't be that foolish. And book ahead as numbers are strictly limited for the guided tours that take you on what feels like a journey to the centre of the earth, deep into the bowels of a lava tube system.
Afterwards, head to nearby Punta Mujeres to show any of your brood not yet convinced that geographical features can be fun, with natural lava-formed pools you can bathe in for free, as the ocean rolls by outside.
Child-ready resorts
A heaving resort can be a bit much for families. Lanzarote's resorts are much smaller and less bustling than those in southern Tenerife. My favourite Lanzarote resort is sleepy Costa Teguise, which is geared towards families; think ice cream and low-key cafés rather than nightclubs.
A villa works well. Lanzarote Retreats has The Beach House, a villa that sleeps four with a plunge pool a towel's throw from the beach, as well as bigger options.
The Costa Teguise beaches are sandy and great for messing around with wee ones. Playa del Jablillo is special; a wee lagoon surrounded by lava where toddlers can toddle and bigger kids snorkel.
The Manrique-designed Pueblo Marinero is a pedestrianised joy of bars, cafés and restaurants, with a craft market on Wednesdays.
Puerto del Carmen is the biggest resort, and the centre can be a little brash. I recommend staying at the recently revamped Seaside Los Jameos*. It sits on the resort's quiet northern fringes overlooking the large, never too busy Playa de los Pocillos.
Manrique's marvels
It's time to dive into the wondrous artistic elephant in the Lanzarote family room. This Canarian visionary's art blends seamlessly with nature, and he had friends in high places who shared his vision of low-key, low-rise tourism development.
My kids love his style, and that you can explore myriad Manrique sights, not just stare at 'boring' paintings on a wall. His two former residences are eye-popping wonders. The highlight, though, is the Jameos del Agua.
This volcanic cave system was being literally trashed as an old rubbish tip, but Manrique saved it, and it's now one of the most dramatic concert and evening venues you'll ever see.
And it's a great place for a subterranean lunch, but book ahead. Manrique's Cacti Garden is also an essential stop, while the wind sculptures at many local roundabouts are dashes of free Manrique that make driving around the island box-ticking fun for families.
Ride the Yellow Submarine
You get a lot of semi-submersible boats that claim to be 'submarines' in tourist resorts, but you'll usually see far more snorkelling and don't actually dive underwater.
Submarine Safaris offers something different. This is a proper €3 million euro submarine certified to dive down to 100 metres. The Lanzarote trips take you to below 30 metres, a real thrill as the live cameras show the dive.
It all feels very safe and professional, letting families spy the passing sea life. We saw a lot, with the highlights rays and a barracuda. There are three shipwrecks too.
For parents, the crates of local wine being matured here in the constant temperature catch the eye; you can snare a bottle as a memorable souvenir in their shop.
The trip is educational too, stressing 71% of the Earth's surface is covered in ocean, and it is home to 94% of life, also playing a crucial role both in absorbing carbon dioxide and creating oxygen.
They stress the need for us all to do our bit recycling, not littering. A new one for me was learning the three reasons why fish swim in schools. My kids loved the experience, especially as social media's MrBeast has done it too and is pictured on the wall at the base.
Take the kids to Treasure Island
Every kid has heard of this mythical escape first conjured up by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. You've a choice of two here.
Day trips ease out from Lanzarote's Playa Blanca to Isla de Lobos, a lovely inhabited volcanic isle where you can swim and hike. This is the easiest option.
There are also day trips out to the eighth Canary island, La Graciosa, which floats dreamily off Lanzarote's wild northwest. I'd recommend, though, taking the local ferry with Los Lineas Romero to allow more time there.
If you're able to spend the night at one of the simple self-catering options, even better. La Graciosa feels a million miles from the stress of home, with sandy streets rather than tarmac and no traffic lights. You can chill in the only real village of Caleta del Sebo, or hire a bike to explore the web of trails.
Hiking up a real-life volcano is a joy for little ones, too. How many kids return home from holiday telling their friends they've hiked up a real-life volcano on the real-life Treasure Island?
Climate in Lanzarote
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum daytime temperature °C |  20 |
20 |
21 |
 22 |
23 |
 25 |
 27 |
 28 |
28 |
25 |
23 |
21 |
| Hours of sunshine (daily) | ||||||||||||
| Days with some rainfall |  4 |
 3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| Sea temperature °C |  19 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
19 |
 20 |
21 |
 22 |
23 |
22 |
21 |
20 |
The above guide shows the climate in Arrecife. Find out more about the conditions across the island in our complete guide to the climate in Lanzarote.
Ready to book your family escape? Browse the latest offers on holidays from TUI, which offers breaks year-round to the Canaries.
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