If you are going to a villa in Lanzarote in the near future you might be wondering about where to visit when you are there. Well, the capital city of Lanzarote is Arrecife and that is a good place to start with.
Arrecife is a lively port city that took over from Teguise as the Island’s capital. It is located on the south coast of the island, nestled between Costa Teguise and Puerto Del Carmen. Arrecife is also the home to the island’s airport and a slight detour on the road to Puerto Del Carmen will give plane enthusiasts an excellent treat as they can stand almost at the end of the runway and, dependent on wind direction, have the airplanes passing low level over their heads as they take off or land.
Arrecife is home to half of Lanzarote’s inhabitants and the site of Lanzarote’s only multi story building. From miles around the island’s only high rise structure can be seen as a giant over the city. Cesar Manrique’s vision for the protection of the island stopped the building of any more such buildings and for 30 year this hotel, the Arrecife Gran Hotel, was a mere shell mid construction as authorities debated completion or destruction.
As already mentioned, the traditional capital was Teguise, some siz miles further inland. This was chosen as protection from the regular pirate raids of old and was the capital of the island for 4 and a half centuries. It was only in 1852, when the importance of the port was recognized for the marine trade that the capital status was moved to Arrecife.
This piratical history can still be seen today as there are two castles standing guard over the harbour. Although, these days they mainly stand and watch the biggest fishing fleet in the Canaries setting to sea and returning with their catch.
If you are looking for attractions to see when you have booked a villa in Lanzarote to help you escape from the beach, then visitin Timanfaya Volcano Park is a must and could be top of your list if it is your first visit to the island.
You are taken up to the top of the mountain, or drive in a hire car, to the car park at the visitor centre. The journey through the park is the start of the experience. It is described as being a lunar scene and that is really the im pression that you do get as you watch fields of solidified volcanic lava that have been untouched since they were laid down. The area is now a protected park to help preserve this landscape.
When you reach the car park at the top of the visitor center there are an abundance of uniformed guides to entertain you. They will show how a bucket of water emptied down into a bore hole erupts seconds later as steam, heated unbelievably quickly just by the temperature of the rocks below the ground. Another favorite show is to push some brushwood into the ground and then it is pulled out burning seconds later. Again, this is just the heat of the ground.
The visitor centre also houses a fairly unusual restaurant There are no powered ovens. Instead the food is cooked from the heat given off from a hole in the ground. The demonstrations of the heat given off from the subterranean rocks are certainly varied!
There is also a guided coach tour from the visitor center that shows tourists a little more of the area and the rock formations. All of this makes Timanfaya, Fire Mountain, worthy of a visit!
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