ROL Cruise recommends…
Feel the heat at Timanfaya
Nowhere on Lanzarote will you more vividly experience its volcanic nature than at the Timanfaya National Park. Home to the Montañas del Fuego, or ‘Fire Mountains’, the park has a unique Martian-style landscape due to devastating volcanic eruptions in the 1730s. Temperatures just a few metres under the surface reach as high as 600°C; you’ll be shown how water poured into a bore hole erupts like a mini-geyser just seconds later. After your coach tour of the volcanoes, you can visit the El Diablo restaurant, where the meals are cooked simply by placing a cast-iron grill over a hole in the ground.
Explore an enthralling underground world
Another intriguing slice of Lanzarote’s geology can be explored at La Cueva de los Verdes. This labyrinth of volcanic caves features 2km of natural rock formations, formed by lava flows from the La Corona volcano around 3,000 years ago. In more recent centuries, La Cueva was the hiding place of choice for local people, keen to escape the clutches of pirates descending on Lanzarote from the Atlantic. Today, the caves are lit up in a phantasmagorical display of colour with atmospheric music providing the perfect finishing touches. One even has its own lake, while there is a concert hall with capacity for 500 people.
Cacti, cacti everywhere
Visiting a disused quarry while on holiday might seem like a strange thing to do – but not when it’s Lanzarote’s remarkable Jardín de Cactus, or Cactus Garden. Designed by artist and architect César Manrique, there are more than 1,000 species of cactus in this vast space, taken from all over the world, including the United States and Madagascar. But the Jardín de Cactus is as much about Manrique himself as the cacti on display so impressively. One of Lanzarote’s most famous sons, Manrique was an artistic force to be reckoned with. His characteristic flair can be seen across this impressive attraction, from the 8m-tall metal cactus at the entrance to the garden’s quirky restaurant and bar.
