The fourth-largest of the Canary Islands is far less like the usual picture-postcard idyll of a vacation island, and with its black, rugged lava fields it looks downright hostile. And yet Lanzarote attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors year after year. Many stay in the hotel towns in the south of the island with their sandy beaches, some of which are artificially kept up. But Lanzarote is much too good for a pure "hotel beach vacation". Therefore, we present a few attractions beyond the beach, and yes, a visit to Lanzarote is definitely worthwhile.

Museo Lagomar Nazaret

An emerald green pool framed by whitewashed and sand-colored rocks - with this enchantingly beautiful sight the Lagomar presents itself. It is a fantastically beautiful residential complex with winding paths, caves, tunnels and grottos. One would like to move in immediately. The fairy-tale refuge was designed by Cesar Manrique (1919-1992). The internationally known painter, architect and landscape designer enriched the image of the island with his nature-oriented creations and vehemently opposed the tourist over-exploitation of Lanzarote. Interesting - actor Omar Sharif gambled away his domicile while playing cards. The new owner made it accessible to the public. It is worth a visit!

Museo Lagomar
C. De los Lovos 2, 35539 Nazaret
Tel:. +34 672 461555
Web: lag-o-mar.com

Museo Lagomar in Nazareth. © Detlef Berg

Hotel Iberostar Selection Lanzarote Park

The luxury resort is perched on a headland in Playa Blaca in the south of the island. Its shape is modeled on the semicircular walls of volcanic rock that shelter the island's vines from the wind. They are called zocos, and it was this shape that Cesar Manrique took as a model for the snow-white retreat. As a result, not only do all the rooms have sea views, but the areas for families with children, the private guests and the star prestige guests with special amenities are separated. There is a first-class buffet that leaves hardly anything to be desired. This is accompanied by selected wines from the island and the Spanish mainland. 

Iberostar Selection Lanzarote Park
Av. Archipielago 7, 35580 Playa Blanca, Las Palmas
Tel: +34 928 517048
Web: iberostar.com
Price: double room from 154 Euro

View of the Iberostar Hotel in Playa Blanca. ©Selection Lanzarote Park

Winery El Grifo

If you're on the island in March, you'll hardly believe that the vines standing in small craters made by man ever sprout leaves and later even bear vines. But the ash stores the heat, the dew and the rare rain. El Grifo is just one of several wineries. Founded in 1775, it is the oldest winery in the Canary Islands and one of the ten oldest in Spain. It produces both mineral Malvasia whites and robust reds aged in oak barrels from Listan and Syrah grapes. If you like it sparkling - the sparkling wine produced in traditional bottle fermentation is also great.

El Grifo
LZ-30, Km 11, San Bartolome, Apartado des correos No.6, C.P. 35550
Tel:. +34 928 524 036
Web: elgrifo.com  

Vine field in Lanzarote. © Dim Hou/Unsplash

Restaurant Salmarina in Playa Quemada

Nobody comes to the tiny fishing village by chance. But word has gotten around that you can eat very well at the Salmarina restaurant. Pepe Reyes and his wife Cristina Hurtado de Mendoza have been running the restaurant, which is located directly on the beach, for many years. "Sure, freshly caught fish and seafood are always on our menu. That's what people like," says Pepe. And they also still experience a piece of the original Lanzarote. That's how it looked everywhere on the island 50 years ago - simple, whitewashed houses, no hotels or apartments for visitors. And in Playa Quemada it remains the same.

Salmarina Playa Quemada
Avda Maritima 13, 35570 Yaiza
Tel:. +34 928 823 036
Web: salmarinarestaurante.com

Mirador del Rio

Spectacular - through oval-shaped glass panes of the viewpoint designed by Cesar Manrique in the north of Lanzarote, we look down on the neighboring island of La Graciosa. Is there a place with a more beautiful view? Islands rise out of the Atlantic, as if thrown down by a whim of nature. In front La Graciosa, behind it like little sisters Alegranza and Montana Clara.

The Mirador del Rio from the inside. ©Shutterstock

Hike around the Caldera Blanca

There are places that you should definitely have seen once. They are landscapes that you know from pictures - a landscape without any tiny blade of grass, a landscape that looks as if it had fallen from the moon. During a three-hour hike up to the crater rim, we look into an open textbook of geology and, once at the top, into the 300-meter-deep crater maw. Lanzarote is a mythical land.

The salt fields of Janubio

In the past, salt was still needed to preserve fish. Back then, salt was worth its weight in gold. Salt extraction from seawater has long since become uneconomical. Today, the natural stone basins into which the salty seawater is fed to evaporate are a protected industrial monument. But production is still going on, mainly because of the tourists. The sea salt is a good souvenir for the local cuisine. And the piles of salt heaped up in the basins make a picturesque photo motif, especially in the evening hours.

Janubio Saline. © Shutterstock