Visiting Lanzarote without a car: it’s easy with buses and tours

Is it easy to get around Lanzarote by bus?

Very good question! (Makes sense, that’s what you’re here for, after all.)

First of all, you should know that Lanzarote is a small island paradise, so nothing is really far away. There are points of interest all over the island, not grouped together in one place, so if you want to explore it you’ll have to roam around quite a bit.

So, is it easy to get around by bus?

Well, I’d say yes, “but”. Yes, yes, yes, it’s easy to get around by bus, because there are a good forty or so lines linking absolutely all the towns to each other.

There are also local lines within the beach resorts (they can be quite big, so it saves you walking around in the blazing sun).

So yes, getting around by bus is simple, especially as the vast majority of lines run fairly frequently.

But… well, yes, otherwise it would be too easy.

The main tourist sites are poorly served, or not served at all!

Timanfaya, the Mirador del Río and the Papagayo beaches have no bus. The Cactus Garden, Jameos del Agua and the Cueva de los Verdes have 5 buses a day.

So, in practice, for sightseeing you’ll need other ways of getting around. Luckily there are some, like bike hire, and taxis too.

Now, if you’re asking me whether you should hire a car or not… if you can, then hire a car in Lanzarote! It’ll be much, much simpler and more flexible, and car hire isn’t expensive.

Which town to stay in without a car

With a car, clearly, it’s very easy to find great accommodation in Lanzarote. Without one, there are a few drawbacks, so you’ll need to stay somewhere:

• fairly central
• very well served by public transport
• where the agencies pick up for their activities
• with a bit of life: restaurants, supermarkets, bars
• and beaches!

Well, the island is small, so lots of places fit the bill, especially Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen, which are very central.

Playa Blanca is way down in the south, but it has one big advantage: it’s right next to the Papagayo beaches, which are really lovely.

El Golfo without a car, on the other hand, is really tricky. No buses, few taxis… let’s just say you’ll have plenty of time on your hands! It’s pretty, but small.

4 recommended places to stay without a car

Map of Lanzarote

On this interactive map of Lanzarote, which you can save to Google Maps, you’ll find the main points of interest, the miradors and the villages to visit. You can hide layers if some things don’t interest you, to make it easier to read.

You can access the map here.

Which websites and apps to use for buses in Lanzarote

THE website for all the bus lines, timetables and journeys is Arrecife Bus. Pretty well designed, I think:

• journeys are fairly clearly laid out
• there are details for every bus line, with a map for each one
• buuut there’s no overall map of all the lines, which is a real shame

There’s an app along much the same lines: Intercity Bus Lanzarote. It’s reasonably clear and you can find the info you need, but it has one huge flaw: it doesn’t plan journeys.

When you try to plan a journey in the app, it sends you to the website, then on to the Moovit app, which is a real horror. Unreadable, far too many ads, nothing is clear, it pushes you to subscribe and to switch to the app (and then you have to do your search all over again). Honestly, it’s a shame to offer a tool like that. On top of that, it suggests taking an Uber, even though there’s no Uber on the island. Anyway. One to avoid!

So I’d say the best app (and therefore the best website) for journeys is Google Maps!  It works really well, the stops are clear, there are no ads and it’s accurate.

Can you get to Timanfaya without a car?

Timanfaya National Park is the heart of Lanzarote. It’s the most beautiful place on the island and the most touristy, and for good reason: it’s the most impressive.

So if you don’t have a car to get there, what are your options? Well, there aren’t many. Unfortunately, there’s no bus that goes to Timanfaya National Park, or even passes nearby. No bus takes the LZ-67, the road that crosses the volcanic area, so there’s no bus stop anywhere remotely close.

And even if you wanted to walk there, the police would stop you, because there are no pavements along this road, nothing that lets you get there on foot.

So the only option is to go with an agency: they pick you up from the island’s main beach resorts, take you to one or more places over the day, then bring you back. Honestly, given the price of the trip, it’s not bad at all! We’ll look at the different options below.

But you can also explore the park in a different way, notably on a lovely hike, and that’s really cool because it feels like walking on the moon. They also pick you up from the main towns (Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Honda):

• 3-hour hike through the Timanfaya volcanoes with Geotrekking Lanzarote, from €42
• Explore Timanfaya National Park by e-bike, from €120 (from Costa Teguise only)

Getting to the different tourist sites without a car, by bus or with an agency

Right, now that we’ve seen that Timanfaya can’t be reached by public transport at all, let’s see how it goes for the island’s other tourist sites, especially the main César Manrique ones.

For each site, we’ll look at how to get there from each town and each beach resort, by bus and with an agency, to give you every option if you don’t have a car.

Getting to Jameos del Agua and the Cueva de los Verdes by bus or with an agency

It’s not the easiest place to reach, but it is possible by bus (yee-ha!).

Jameos del Agua has its own bus stop and is on bus line 9. Line 9 runs from Arrecife to Órzola, via Nazaret, Teguise and Punta Mujeres.

The big problem is that there are only… 5 buses a day. Great 😀

Arrecife – Jameos del Agua: 

• Take line 9, it’s direct
• 45 minutes
• keep a close eye on the timetable

Costa Teguise – Jameos del Agua: 

• it looks simple because it’s really not far as the crow flies, but…
• you first have to take line 31 (which runs from Costa Teguise to Famara) as far as Teguise
• then line 9
• it takes a good hour, all the same!

Puerto del Carmen – Jameos del Agua: 

• Take line 3 from Puerto del Carmen to Arrecife (lots of departures)
• Change to line 9, which goes to Jameos del Agua (few departures)
• the whole journey takes about 1 hour 45 minutes, and that’s if you don’t wait too long for your connection

Playa Blanca – Jameos del Agua: 

• It takes about as long: 2 hours, with one change
• take line 62 from Playa Blanca (quite a few departures) to Arrecife
• then, in Arrecife, take bus 9 to Jameos del Agua

Playa Honda – Jameos del Agua: 

• A good hour, with a change in Arrecife
• Take bus line 21 to Arrecife
• Then line 9

All in all, getting to Jameos del Agua by bus is a pain! At best it’s direct from Arrecife, but there are only 5 buses a day. And if you’re coming from the beach resorts further south, you’ll have to change, and line 9 is the weak link because it runs so rarely.

You could combine Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes and the Cactus Garden, which are all on this line, but with only 5 buses a day and awkward times, it looks complicated.

So if you still haven’t decided to hire a car (or get your driving licence), you’d be better off going on a guided tour to make the most of your day.

Tours that include a visit to Jameos del Agua:

• Timanfaya Park, Jameos del Agua and Cueva de los Verdes
  • Price: €89
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Playa Honda, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Puerto Calero, Yaiza
  • Info and booking

• Full-day tour of the island’s highlights
  • Includes visits to Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes, the Mirador de Guinate (a really pretty viewpoint), the Casa Museo del Campesino and El Golfo
  • Price: €85
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Playa Honda, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

• Tour of the Cueva de los Verdes and Jameos del Agua
  • Includes visits to Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes and the Ermita de las Nieves viewpoint
  • Price: €63
  • Duration: 5 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

• Tour of all the places created by César Manrique
  • Includes visits to the Casa Museo y Monumento al Campesino, the César Manrique Foundation, the Mirador del Río, Jameos del Agua and the Cactus Garden
  • Price: €79
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Playa Honda
  • Info and booking

The Cactus Garden

It’s a nice spot on the island that also has its own bus stop. Bad news: it’s also on line 9, like the previous sites. Bad news because that means few buses (5 a day) and direct only from Arrecife (that part’s quick, around 30 minutes).

From Costa Teguise, even though it’s really close, it’ll take you an hour because you have to go via either Teguise or Arrecife. Super handy!

And from Puerto del Carmen or Playa Blanca, allow at least 1 hour 30 minutes with a change in Arrecife. See the previous section for details of the lines.

So here, you can go on a guided tour run by an agency, which includes visits to other sites. There aren’t many of them, though: they’re mainly trips covering the César Manrique sites. But they’re interesting, especially the first one!

• Tour of all the places created by César Manrique
  • Includes visits to the Casa Museo y Monumento al Campesino, the César Manrique Foundation, the Mirador del Río, Jameos del Agua and the Cactus Garden
  • Price: €79
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Playa Honda
  • Info and booking

• Tour of the Cactus Garden, the Lagomar Museum and the island of La Graciosa
  • A lovely combination that lets you discover two Manrique sites and the island of La Graciosa, which is really worth it!
  • Price: €80
  • Duration: 7 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Playa Honda
  • Info and booking

• The legacy of César Manrique
  • A really interesting day that includes the Cactus Garden, Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes, the Casa Museo del Campesino, the Mirador del Río and the César Manrique Foundation
  • Price: €79
  • Duration: 8 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

The Mirador del Río

The Mirador del Río has the most beautiful view on Lanzarote (only the view from the Mirador de Guinate comes close), but that’s not all: it’s also a building in pure Manrique style. So in my opinion it’s really worth visiting, ideally at sunset if you can.

But if you don’t have a car, your options are really limited because… there’s no bus, simple as that. Well, there’s a bus that goes to Yé, but that’s 2.5 km away. Handy! And it’s uphill. So if you’re fit, you can set off on foot, but come on: 45 minutes in the sun, along a road with no pavement… tempting, isn’t it?

So, unfortunately, the options are limited. Going on your own looks complicated unless you’re a seasoned backpacker, which leaves the agencies. A few tours cover the César Manrique sites and include the Mirador del Río.

• Tour of all the places created by César Manrique
  • Includes visits to the Casa Museo y Monumento al Campesino, the César Manrique Foundation, the Mirador del Río, Jameos del Agua and the Cactus Garden
  • Price: €79
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca, Playa Honda
  • Info and booking

• The legacy of César Manrique
  • A really interesting day that includes the Cactus Garden, Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes, the Casa Museo del Campesino, the Mirador del Río and the César Manrique Foundation
  • Price: €79
  • Duration: 8 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

Getting to El Golfo by bus

El Golfo is a lovely little all-white fishing village, the perfect place to eat seafood by the water and then enjoy the sunset. It’s cute, it’s pleasant, and right next to it there’s a strange green lagoon edged by a black sand beach. Honestly, it’s all worth a visit!

But you can see where this is going. There is, of course, no bus to El Golfo! Otherwise it would be too easy. The nearest bus stops at La Hoya, a mere… 9 km away. But look on the bright side: you can follow the coast to El Golfo, and apparently it’s a superb hike! You can also walk there from Yaiza, but it’s a tarmac road with no pavement.

As for agencies, there aren’t many, and they generally just stop at the green lagoon rather than visiting the village of El Golfo, unfortunately.

• Full-day tour of the island’s highlights
  • Includes visits to Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua, the Cueva de los Verdes, the Mirador de Guinate (a really pretty viewpoint), the Casa Museo del Campesino and El Golfo
  • Price: €85
  • Duration: 9 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Playa Honda, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

• A grand tour of Lanzarote
  • Includes visits to Timanfaya, Jameos del Agua, the Lago Verde and a tasting at the La Geria hacienda
  • Price: €75
  • Duration: 8 hours
  • pick-up in Costa Teguise, Arrecife, Playa Honda, Puerto del Carmen, Playa Blanca
  • Info and booking

How to get to Papagayo by bus

Papagayo is one of the most beautiful places on Lanzarote. It’s a whole string of pretty light-sand beaches, some of them volcanic, in a magnificent setting. It’s a desert landscape, and each beach is overlooked by viewpoints with incredible views.

It’s at the very southern tip of Lanzarote, in a protected area next to Playa Blanca.

If you don’t have a car, you can still get there, but you’ll need to walk a bit.

There’s no bus that goes straight to Papagayo. But bus 30 goes to the far eastern end of Playa Blanca, to the Las Coloradas stop.

From Las Coloradas, walk a little way to reach the first viewpoint, above the first superb beach, Las Mujeres. Then, after another 20 to 30 minutes on foot, you reach the south of the peninsula and the other small beaches.

Otherwise, you can also take a taxi for the few kilometres of road: it’s 5 to 10 minutes on a rough track, but it’s not expensive.

Another option is to discover the Papagayo beaches from the sea! With several boat trips, by catamaran, you can spend a superb day in the sun and in the water!

Along the same lines, you can hire a small boat, or go on a kayak trip. Not bad!

Visiting a wine hacienda

A few haciendas here make very good wine. Yes, a very volcanic island, with almost no humidity and no vegetation, managing to produce wine does sound surprising. And yet they’ve developed a method that works really well! In the centre of the island there are renowned haciendas that I recommend visiting.

• Bodega La Geria
  • It’s the island’s main one, the best known, highly regarded
  • Unfortunately there’s absolutely no bus that goes there (unless you walk for 45 minutes)
  • But as it’s the main hacienda, it’s where the tours go, so you can visit it on a guided tour with transport:
    • Walk through the bodega’s vineyards with a tasting, hotel pick-up included
    • Tour of the island’s most beautiful places (Timanfaya, Cueva de los Verdes, Mirador de Guinate…) with a tasting stop at the bodega!
    • Tour of Timanfaya volcano park and the La Geria bodega, with a tasting

• Bodega El Grifo
  • another renowned bodega on the island, smaller than La Geria, but with a good wine museum!
  • You can get there by bus: it’s on line 32 (stop 159)
  • Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a tour that visits this bodega

Getting to and from the airport by bus or taxi

I’ll write a dedicated article about it, but it’s perfectly possible to reach the main towns by bus or taxi from Lanzarote airport, just outside Arrecife.

By bus, a ticket costs between €1.80 and €4. The longest journey is probably just under an hour, to Playa Blanca. Lots of bus lines leave from the airport; you can check them on Arrecife Bus.

By taxi, there are official fares for the official taxis. Make sure you take one of those, and check the fare. Here are the prices set by the municipality of San Bartolomé; they may have been updated since, as these date from 2024:

• Airport – Arrecife: €14
• Airport – Puerto del Carmen: €22
• Airport – Playa Blanca: €55
• Airport – Costa Teguise: €27
• Airport – Teguise: €31

Otherwise, you can book your driver in advance to save time, travel with peace of mind and avoid getting ripped off on the price.

• Book your driver in advance

Taxis and ride-hailing apps

Right, first of all, there’s no Uber or any other ride-hailing app in Lanzarote.

There are plenty of taxis, but they don’t belong to big taxi companies. Well, there are a few, like Taxi Lanzarote or Taxilanz, but taxis are generally run by the island’s municipalities, so what’s on offer differs between Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen, for example.

That’s why it’s almost impossible to find fares other than the airport ones. You have to negotiate directly with the driver for wherever you want to go.

If you want to visit the tourist sites by taxi: 

• taxis offer day tours of the main sights, but I haven’t managed to find the prices
• you can take a taxi from your town (Playa Blanca, Puerto del Carmen…) to Timanfaya, for example, but you’ll need to ask the driver to wait for you, as there’s no taxi rank there.

Hiring a bike in Lanzarote

Cycling is a great way to get around Lanzarote:

• the roads are recent and well maintained
• people don’t drive like maniacs and are considerate
• some roads have cycle lanes, mainly in the north
• distances are never huge, so you can easily explore the island this way. For example, Playa Blanca to Timanfaya takes about 1 hour 30 minutes

As it’s never too hot or too cold, and the chances of a tropical downpour landing on your head are fairly slim, it’s a pleasant way to get around.

But be careful: there’s hardly any shade on the island! It’s volcanic, with practically no shade, few trees and little vegetation.

As for hiring, once again it’s super simple.

All the beach resorts have bike hire shops, with e-bikes or regular bikes. Hotel complexes may have them too.

A standard bike costs around €20 a day, or €25 to €30 for a high-end one. For an e-bike, allow from €35. Honestly, if it’s quite hot, an e-bike turns out to be a good option! But the island is fairly flat, so a bike ride won’t be very tiring 🙂

Here are a few recommended places to hire a bike:

• Bike Sensations, in Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca (and Gran Canaria). They also organise group bike rides
• Papagayo Bike, in Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise: very good bikes, and they also organise bike trips

In conclusion

There you go, now you know it all! As you can see, there’s a great bus network for getting from town to town and to and from the airport. When it comes to reaching the tourist sites, though, it’s more complicated.

The major sites are NOT accessible by bus (Papagayo, Timanfaya, the miradors, El Golfo…), so you can choose between:

• going through an agency
• taking one of the tours offered by taxi drivers
• hiring a bike
• or, in the end, deciding to hire a car to explore Lanzarote

The island is small, so not having a car isn’t that much of a handicap, since there are all the agencies. But if you want to go at your own pace, you’ll need a bit of a budget for taxis and agencies, and that budget will be bigger than the cost of hiring a car.

At the end of the day, if you don’t drive, you’ll manage just fine, it’s just less flexible and more expensive, that’s all 🙂

Don’t miss the other articles on Lanzarote!

• What to see in Lanzarote? – here I list all the most beautiful places not to miss, plus everything you need to know to plan your trip
• Where to stay in Lanzarote? – Costa Teguise, Puerto del Carmen, in the centre near the volcanoes… there are loads of options, and I give you my favourites!
• What’s the best month to visit Lanzarote? – month by month, I go through the island’s pros and cons
• Do you really need to hire a car in Lanzarote? – I go through the pros and cons of Lanzarote with and without a car. Flexibility, prices, agencies…
• If you’re visiting Lanzarote as a family, everyone will find great things to do

But if you’d like to find out more about the other islands, here’s my next article, all about planning your trip to Gran Canaria!