Lanzarote’s Viewpoints – Perfect Places at Sunset
What is it about the sunset that is so hypnotic? Maybe it’s the fire traced by the sun through the sky every time it goes down. Maybe it’s because in a land as low and surrounded by sea as Lanzarote, the horizon seems almost within reach.
The ideal accompaniment is silence or the sound of your own thoughts. No queues of people queuing for the perfect photo in the perfect place at the perfect time.
In Lanzarote it’s not difficult to find such places: viewpoints where you can lose yourself gazing and enjoy that moment of intimacy and mental reset that we all need at least every 24 hours.
Arrecife’s marina and its two castles
No two sunsets are the same. The sun turns yellow, plays at being orange, pink, fuchsia and mauve, reflecting in the scattered clouds, in the mirror of the bay and in the windows of the houses.
We’re sitting on the little wall along the Playa del Reducto. Out of curiosity, we check the time of sunset in autumn on Google: 19:15. How quickly those last minutes of sunlight pass. How urgently the night takes over from the day. How beautifully it does this.
From the International Museum of Contemporary Art-Castillo de San José, the scene has the atmosphere of a port. From the Castillo de San Gabriel, on the islets, you can also hear the song of the Eurasian whimbrel.
El Río, Guinate, El Bosquecillo, Famara
The Risco de Famara offers several places to stop and contemplate. César Manrique camouflaged a viewpoint in the very rock of the cliff, in what used to be military defences dating from the Civil War. Until five o’clock in the afternoon you can enjoy the impressive spectacle of the interior design, then take a walk around the villages of Guinate and Yé, and return to watch the sunset over the Chinijo Archipelago.
Nearby, the Guinate viewpoint offers another panoramic view from the Risco itself, which is 25 kilometres long and between 400 and 600 metres high. The wind, the sound of the ocean, the vertical wall dotted with endemic vegetation… beauty in its purest form.
Some people prefer to watch the sunset at sea level. An ideal moment is when the high tide coincides with nightfall, when the sand of the wild beach of Famara reflects the iridescent tones of the star that gives us life.
Malpaís, Jameos and the new Malpaso Viewpoint
Designed by César in 1966, the Mirador de Malpaso viewpoint is a major surprise behind a bend in a small mountain pass. Recently restored, it is a visual springboard to the palm grove of Haría and the valley of Temisa. The visit should be made during the day, taking advantage of the microbus that connects the Library of Haría with the Mirador, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 11:00 to 15:00.
The car park at the Mirador is small and parking your car by the side of the road is prohibited. In first place must come taking care of people and the natural environment: no sunset, no photo is worth the danger involved in leaving a car badly parked in this space.
A stroll through the La Corona malpaís (badlands) is a treat for the senses at any time of day, but its charm is multiplied when the day fades and melts into golden lights. The highlight is to book a dinner and concert at Jameos del Agua to experience this fairy tale natural scenery by day and by night, two completely different images.
Montaña Tesa, La Geria and the avenue of Playa Honda
Walking among vines, fig and olive trees, listening to the crunching volcanic rofe under your feet and seeing how the shadows of the mountains soften in the evening light… these are incomparable pleasures. Perhaps at this hour it smells of fire and roasting in the surrounding area.
The cracks in the lava flows, the lichens showing off their phosphorescent colours, the hollows confessing that they are not entirely black… La Geria might just be another planet in the hours before night falls.
On the coast of San Bartolomé, almost any point along the avenue of Playa Honda is a delight to watch the sunset while playing with the sand on the beach or having a drink in one of its restaurants.
Barranco del Quíquere ravine and Puerto del Carmen boatyard
Simple, wide and with spectacular views, the Barranco del Quíquere path connects the coast of Mácher with Puerto Calero along a track that runs alongside the sea, offering an invigorating aroma of sea spray and beautiful views of the coast.
From the boatyard in the old fishing village of La Tiñosa, in Puerto del Carmen, today one of the most important tourist centres on the island, you can enjoy the sunset while watching the boats in the harbour silhouetted against the changing light.
El Cuervo volcano: this is where it all began
Here you can walk on the exact spot in Tinajo where the lava began to flow in the eruption that Lanzarote experienced in 1730, and understand that oxidation and the passage of time will tumble everything, change everything, heal everything.
Surrounded by seas of ash, aligned cones and surreal rock formations, the backlighting of the sunset turns the Parque Natural de los Volcanes into a parenthesis in the space-time continuum.
Los Hervideros and a seat at Playa Blanca
Los Hervideros live up to their name because the water of the Atlantic hits the coast of Yaiza with determination and a certain fury, creating clouds of sea foam.
The water pushes through the cracks and crevices of this labyrinth of rock, creating blowholes through which the Atlantic explodes. Before you: the sun sinking beyond neighbouring Fuerteventura.
On the avenue of Playa Blanca, sitting on a bench you will find the same image, but calmer, as you watch the ferries come and go from Corralejo, caressing the silhouette of the island of Lobos.
👋 ☀️ See you in a few hours, Sun.
Thank you for all you do.