La Graciosa in Lanzarote | Complete Guide

By Roberto (Updated Dec 22)

⏱ 4 min

When we did our trip to Lanzarote one of the things we didn’t want to miss was a visit to La Graciosa. This tiny island can be explored in one day, taking a short ferry trip from Lanzarote. It’s a good option to spend a long day or even two days and something that should be in a top things to do in Lanzarote 👌

Where is La Graciosa?

La Graciosa is located right next to Lanzarote, with a separation of few kilometers. Considered one of the 8 Canary Islands since 2018, La Graciosa is often forgotten due its small size, with a maximum distance of 8 km end to end. Some interesting facts are:

• There are zero paved roads and the most common vehicle there are bikes.
• Not even 800 people really live there.
• You can easily walk to cross the island end to end in one day (but don’t do it).
• It offers excellent waters for divers and acts as a marine reserve.

How to go to La Graciosa?

Since it’s only a couple km trip from Lanzarote, is easy to move from island to island. The ferries to La Graciosa depart from Puerto de Órzola, a small town in the north of Lanzarote. There are two companies that work ferries every day with a frequency of 30 minutes: BiosferaExpress and LineasRomero.

The cost for a roundtrip Lanzarote-La Graciosa is (or at least was) 30 €/adult and 15€/kids but you can find some discounts online, saving 2 or 3 € depending on the site. The boat trip takes only 30 minutes in the ferry, and the views are pretty nice, with big volcanic cliffs. Also, compared to other boats we have been to, I would say the boat is quite tranquil, unless you get hard winds.

Another important thing is that both companies have a free dedicated parking, where they let you park the car and guide you to the boat.

Recommended time to stay in La Graciosa

This is a personal answer, depending on how many days you are staying in Lanzarote. Honestly, one day exploring this island with bikes since the early morning, would be ok. And that’s what we did. Other blogs recommend to stay minimum one night to be relaxed, but we thing Lanzarote vibes are already quite relaxing!

You can explore the majority of the island in one day, eat, chill and even swim (if you don’t mind cold waters). So, are you staying 7 or less days in Lanzarote? Then save one day for La Graciosa.

What to do in La Graciosa?

Explore the island by bike

For us, the main experience we had in La Graciosa was to spend a day riding the bike on our own pace. While this is something usual, thanks to the earthy landscape and non-paved roads, it’s a curious experience. The island is also barely inhabited, so it’s a good option to run away from the crowds and chill at some locations.

There are three main routes to do with the bikes (or 4×4 cars in case you get one), as the map below shows:

• Purple route (15km loop around the north of the island) – the one we did
• Blue route (5 km in and out to Playa de la Francesa)
• Green route (15 km in and out to Punta del Pobre)

If you’re staying only one day and plan on renting bikes (and no 4×4) we suggest doing the Purple northern route counter-clock wise. By doing this, you ride as much as the Green route but have the chance to visit more places, and you leave Playa de las Conchas for the last stop.

Chill at Playa de las Conchas

Playa de las Conchas is a wonderful and wild beach. I say wild because the currents are very strong and so are the waves. Still, the waters are perfect blue and the sand with more than 600 meters is gold and perfect to lay on, unless it’s windy.

Go to the top of Montaña Bermeja

In case you have energy and have a clear sky, another plan is to reach the top of Montaña Bermeja. This red (bermeja) mountain is only 157 meters but every meter going up will take your breath. They say the views from there are even better.

We don’t have photos because… we didn’t go up! We stayed in the south of the beach there are some rocks with natural pools. We had our break there before going back to Caleta del Sebo.

Eat in Caleta del Sebo

We spent all the morning exploring the island with the bikes, and stopping at one restaurant in Caleta del Sebo saved our energy. Some gambas al ajillo, squid and papas arrugás with Aquarius, will bring your spirit back. 😎

Scuba Dive

We didn’t know that La Graciosa was so important for ocean life. This island belongs to the Largest Marine Reserve in Europe, with a total of 70,000 hectares and more than 770 species recognized. Some people even say it’s one of the best places to scuba five from Europe. This time Ellen didn’t went in the waters so we can’t recommend you a diving company. If you know a good one, let us know!

Other plans to do in Lanzarote