Things to do in Lanzarote with kids

Lanzarote is one of the easier islands to bring children to, and we say that as people who have watched a lot of families arrive nervous and leave already planning the next trip. It is small, so nothing is a long drive when a nap or a meltdown cuts the day short. The sea is warm for most of the year. And once the novelty of the pool has worn off, usually somewhere around day three, there is far more to do than most people realise before they come.

Here is how families tend to spend a week here, roughly in the order that keeps everyone happiest.

Choose the right beach for the age you have

Not all beaches suit small children, and on this island the difference really matters, because it is not about the beach being nice, it is about which way it faces.

The exposed north and west coasts take the full force of the Atlantic. Famara, the enormous beach under the cliffs on the north-west, is a wonderful place to walk, fly a kite and watch the surfers and paragliders, but the water there has real waves and a real pull, and it is not where you want a toddler paddling unwatched. Save those coasts for the drama and the photos.

For actual swimming with young children, head for the calmer, shallower water on the south and east side of the island. The little golden coves at Papagayo, down near Playa Blanca, sit in the shelter of the land and warm up beautifully, though they involve a bumpy track and there are few facilities, so pack everything you need. The resort beaches at Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca are the easy option, with shallow entries, lifeguards in season, and a café never far from the sand.

If you have very young children, look for the smaller bays rather than the long open beaches. They warm up faster, the water stays shallow further out, and there is usually somewhere to retreat to in the heat of the middle of the day.

Get them into the volcanoes

Children who are bored of sandcastles tend to come alive in the middle of the island, because Lanzarote genuinely looks like nowhere else on earth. It is a volcanic island, reshaped by long eruptions in the seventeen-thirties, and in great stretches the ground is black and rust-red lava as far as you can see, with the smooth cones of old craters on the horizon. To a child that is not a geography lesson, it is another planet.

The Timanfaya fire mountains in the west are the headline act, a landscape so raw that the ground a little below the surface is still hot. The visits are managed to protect it, so you see much of it from a coach and from the demonstrations at the top, where they show you just how close the heat still is. It photographs like science fiction and it sticks in a child’s memory for years.

Head underground

When the lava flowed here, some of it drained away beneath a hardened crust and left long tunnels behind. Several of these lava tubes in the north of the island are open to visit, and they are among the most memorable hours of a family holiday: cool, dramatic, echoing, and completely out of the sun. The artist César Manrique turned two of them into extraordinary spaces, one built around an underground lagoon, the other a cave you walk down into. Older children who like a scramble and a good echo talk about them long after the beach days blur together.

Easy days when you just need a plan

Some days you do not need an adventure, you need somewhere to point the car before anyone melts down. A few reliable ones:

• A weekly market. The Sunday market in the old town of Teguise is the big one: space to wander, snacks to try, buskers, and small things for children to spend their holiday money on.
• The cactus garden. A garden built into an old quarry, full of thousands of cactus and the odd lizard, keeps curious children busy without much walking, and it is another of Manrique’s set pieces.
• A clifftop viewpoint. The Mirador del Río in the north gives you a jaw-dropping view down to the little island of La Graciosa, and there is a café to bribe everyone with afterwards.
• A boat to a car-free island. From the north of Lanzarote a short ferry crosses to La Graciosa, a tiny island with sandy streets, no traffic to speak of, and beaches to yourselves. For older children it feels like a proper expedition.

None of it needs booking far ahead, and all of it fills a morning without anyone overheating.

Give them one thing they will actually tell people about

Somewhere in the week, a lot of families look for the one outing that becomes the story of the holiday, the bit the children describe at school in September. On an island this size that is usually something outdoors and a bit different: a boat trip, a bike ride down a quiet lane, a paddle in a kayak, or a short amble on horseback.

If a first ride is on your list, it is worth knowing how it works with children, because it is gentler than most people assume. The minimum age to ride a horse is seven: from seven to fourteen they ride their own horse with an adult alongside, and from fourteen they ride on their own. For the littlest ones there is a gentle ride inside the grounds. Nobody is pushed, nobody is talked into a canter, and the pace of the whole group is set by whoever is least sure. Our rides are built around exactly that sort of mixed-age, mixed-nerve family group, and if it turns out not to be their thing, the beach is not going anywhere.

Eating out without the stress

Family food here is easy. The local staples are child-friendly almost by accident: papas arrugadas, small salty potatoes you eat with your fingers, fresh grilled fish, and simple rice and pasta everywhere. Resort restaurants cater for fussy eaters without blinking, and eating early is completely normal, so you are rarely fighting the clock against bedtime.

The practical bits that save the day

• Bring hats, high-factor sun cream and more water than feels necessary, every single day. The sun here is stronger than it feels because the breeze cools your skin while you burn.
• Plan the beach and the active things for the morning, and keep something shaded or indoors for the hottest part of the day.
• Nothing is far. If a plan is not working, you are rarely more than half an hour from a better one, so hold your itinerary loosely.
• A light windproof layer earns its place even in summer, especially for the northern beaches and any boat trip.

Do that, keep the days flexible, and Lanzarote does most of the work for you. It is a small, warm, safe island that happens to look like the surface of another world, which is a hard combination to beat with children in tow.