Lets fly to Lanzarote

Lanzarote, Canary Island, Spain - Dec 2025

It all started with a bet …. “Can I find one last flight in 2025 for under £70 and be back before NYE?” This was on Dec 26th. As I do love a good bet and I love flying … off course I found such a flight. London to Lanzarote on Dec 30th and back on at 10pm on Dev 31st for £55. Booked.

Plus I never been to the Canary Islands and it was sunny and 22 degrees there. Let’s go.

For this one night I stayed in Playa Honda, which is a little costal town. The best part is, I would walk straight from the airport to where I stayed, it was about 20min gate to door. First stop was the beach, as it is my tradition to put my feet in the sea, every time I go to a beach. And it was perfect timing as the sun just started to go down and the sky had the most beautiful colours. I had time for a pizza and a glass of wine or two, before saying goodnight.

Fun fact: Lanzarote is only 125km off the north coast of Africa and 1000km from the Iberian Peninsula

Day 2 - Dec 31st

How amazing was it to wake up to 20 degrees and sunshine. Honestly life is just better with some sun and when you don’t need to dress up in 3 layeers.

Time to explore and to get ready for a volcano tour.

Walking along the beach in Playa Honda was amazing. Feeling the sand and waves under my feet, finding colourful shelves and sea glass …The white houses with green windows and doors, palm trees, so many cactuses (love them) and I also made friends with a cat. Life is good.

I did book a tour to see more of Lanzarote, so from Playa Honda to my meeting place it was about a 45min walk. The walk went past the airport and planes literally flew right over my head to land. So cool.

What a way to start the last day of the year :)

The Tour to Parque Nacional de Timanfaya

El Diablo - symbol of the park designed by César Manrique

The one thing to do on Lanzarote is visiting the Timanfaya National Park. The National Park takes up to 25% of the islands surface and is a UNESCO biosphere reserve as it has a unique fauna and flora. The park is created by volcanic soil and it is the only NP in Spain, which is entirely geological. The last volcanic eruptions happend in 1824, however, most of the area covered by the national park was transformed by the eruptive period from 1730 to 1736. If you have been to Iceland, Lanzarote looks very similar. Black and brown volcanic stones, harsh surfaces, volcanic mountains … it is like Iceland with palm trees. Even so the last eruptions are hundreds of years back, the landscape looks like it only happened last year.

The entrance road to the Timanfaya National Park

View over Lanzarote’s Volcanic Landscape

The volcanic activity on Lanzarote continues today, as the surface temperature in the core ranges from 100 to 600 degrees at the depth of 13m. This natural phenomenon is off course as a tourist attraction in which water is poured into a cavity, followed by an almost instantaneous expulsion of steam and where fire is been made. It is a little touristy, but it is fun. Plus the viewpoint up here is amazing and you can see all the volcanos and even the sea. Plus there was wine.

The roads along the Timanfaya National Park. If you hire a car you can only drive up to the visitor centre. From there you have to take one of the islands tour buses to see the eruption sites. This is to make sure the flora and fauna stays untouched, as no stopping and getting out is allowed.

One of the fun things to do on Lanzarote is a camel ride in Timanfaya National Park. It is only short, about €10 but the views from the hump are amazing.

Dromedaries (camels with one hump) have an interesting history here in Lanzarote. They arrived in the 14th and 15th century on the island and were used to plow fields and transport goods around Lanzarote. Fun Fact: Camels are incredibly bouyant because of their large stomachs, and they were actually brought to Lanzarote floating and towed by boats from Africa. Mid 20th century, there were about 3000 camels on the island.

Today the camels are used for tourists, offering a ride along the volcano.

From Volcanos and Camels to Wine

As wine lover, I was very surprised about how amazing the wine was on Lanzarote. I was actually surprised there was so much wine grown here.

The wine on Lanzarote is grown in deep filled volcanic ash pits called picons, surrounded by crescent-shaped stone walls called hoyos , which protect the vines from strong winds from the atlantic. A very unique grape on the island is the Malvasía Volcánica, a white wine is very crisp whites with mineral and tropical notes. Many vines on Lanzarote are ancient, having survived the phylloxera plague that devastated European vineyards. Very well known vineyards or bodegas are, El Grifo which is the oldest winery, producing Malvasía Volcánica wines and La Geria, which is famous for its iconic volcanic vineyard and traditional production. So make sure to stop by and have a glass or two. Also the corks here are very cool, mine said “Life is too short for bad wine”.

And with this, my exciting short last trip in 2025 came to an end. Lanzarote was not on my list of places, as tbh I never looked as closely to the Canaries. But sometimes, places you overlook surprise you . And Lanzarote did just this. It is a beautiful island and if you love beaches, sunsets, wine and cactuses … book your flights now. I am already looking into visiting the other islands in 2026.

And with this. Goodbye 2025. Thank you for an amazing year filled with adventures. Bring on 2026 with even more.

Costs of the Trip:

Return Flights with EasyJet from London £55

Stay in Playa Honda £42

Timanfaya National Park Tour £36

Plus wine, food and souvenirs

It all started with a Map …