Lanzarote in 5 days, César Manrique's island

💡There's a combined pass for the Manrique centres

Jameos, Cueva de los Verdes, Mirador del Río, the Cactus Garden and Timanfaya are also sold in bundles of three or six, considerably cheaper than separately. You buy it at the first one you visit.

💡The weather is good all year, but the wind never stops

Low twenties in January and in July, with constant trade winds: welcome on the beach and genuinely rough on a clifftop. Bring a windbreaker even when the forecast says twenty-five degrees.

💡Rent a car: it's cheap and there's no other way to see the island

Hire here costs half what it does on the mainland and the distances are short. Watch out for dirt tracks: many insurance policies don't cover you off tarmac, and the road to Papagayo is unpaved.

💡There are no illuminated signs or tall buildings here, and that's deliberate

Manrique got height limits and roadside advertising banned; that's why the island looks the way it does. Don't walk on the ash off the paths: it takes decades to recover.

💡Timanfaya is booked online and entered by bus

You can't drive round it yourself: there's a fixed route on the park bus with an assigned time. In high season it sells out, and the queue of cars at the gate can reach an hour.