Rent a Car in Lanzarote

Lanzarote is small enough to feel manageable but spread out enough that walking and buses won't cut it. The resorts cluster in the south around Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen, while the wild stuff — the surf beach at Famara, the cliffs at Mirador del Río, the wine country of La Geria and the lava plains of Timanfaya — is scattered to the north and west. The capital, Arrecife, sits in the middle, but it's not where you'll spend your days.

The island's buses (the guaguas) link the main towns reasonably well, yet they barely reach César Manrique's landmarks, the Jameos del Agua or the northern villages like Haría and Teguise. With your own car you can do the whole north in a day, stop at a roadside bodega in La Geria, and reach the quiet beaches of the Papagayo coast that no timetable will get you to. For a week's holiday, car hire almost always works out cheaper and freer than booking a string of organised tours.