Draft preview · work in progress
Guide · 02
The oldest of the Canary Islands and the most eroded - which is why it looks less like a volcano and more like a desert that happens to have an ocean on both sides. About 100 km end to end, mostly empty, and best seen with a hire car and no fixed plan.
The north · under an hour
By ferry
A tiny uninhabited volcanic island a short crossing from Corralejo harbour. Walk the loop, climb Montaña La Caldera, swim off the wooden jetty into the shallow lagoon at El Puertito. Visitor numbers are capped and a free permit must be booked in advance, so sort that before anything else - and take your own food and water, because there is very little there.
30 minutes
A string of sheltered turquoise pools north of the village, shallow and calm enough that children can be left to it. The west-coast counterpart to Corralejo and, for a lot of people, the better half of the island.
30 minutes
Fishing boats pulled up under the seventeenth-century Castillo del Tostón watchtower, and some of the best fish restaurants on this side of the island. South of the village the coast turns wild and the surf beaches start.
25 minutes
Two inland villages worth the detour. Lajares is the island's surf-and-craft hub with good coffee and a Saturday market, sitting under a line of volcanic cones. La Oliva has the Casa de los Coroneles, the grand eighteenth-century house of the island's former military governors.
Short walk
A narrow gorge of pale, wind-carved sandstone near Lajares - the closest thing the island has to a slot canyon, and startling if you have only seen the beaches. Wear proper shoes, go early, and take the sacred rust-red mass of Montaña Tindaya in on the same drive.
All along the north
The north coast between Corralejo and El Cotillo is the island's surf heartland - reef and beach breaks to suit most levels, and no shortage of schools. Autumn and winter bring the bigger north-west swells.
The centre · one to two hours
The island's first capital, founded in 1404 and set in a valley inland precisely so pirates could not see it from the sea. A handful of streets, a whitewashed church, and more greenery than anywhere else on the island. Small, and the single most photographed village in Fuerteventura for good reason.
A viewpoint on the road above Betancuria, designed by César Manrique, looking north over the whole eroded interior. Stop at the two large statues of the Guanche kings Guise and Ayose on the same road - the view from there is free and nearly as good.
A black volcanic-sand beach on the west coast with a marked path along the cliff to a set of sea caves. The rock here is among the oldest exposed in the Canaries. Ten minutes' easy walking each way, and it feels a very long way from a resort.
A quiet village on the way back with a seventeenth-century church whose stone doorway is carved with Aztec-influenced motifs that nobody has fully explained. Worth five minutes and a coffee.
Working salt pans on the east coast near Caleta de Fuste, with a small museum on how sea salt is still harvested here. Combines well with the drive back north.
The south · two hours plus
The Jandía peninsula is a long way from Corralejo - a two-hour drive each way. Go once, go early, and make a day of it rather than trying to fold it into something else.
A 12 km beach on the wild south-west coast, backed by a mountain wall and reached by a long unsurfaced mountain track. One of the most spectacular places in the Canaries and one of the most dangerous to swim - the currents are lethal and there are no lifeguards. Check your hire car agreement, because many prohibit the track.
An isolated house above Cofete built by a German engineer in the 1940s, and the subject of every conspiracy theory the island has to offer - submarine base, Nazi hideout, take your pick. The reality is murkier and more mundane, but the setting is extraordinary.
Kilometres of pale sand on the sheltered east side near Costa Calma, where a huge tidal lagoon forms and drains. World-class windsurfing and kitesurfing conditions, and shallow warm water to wade in if you would rather just look.
The main southern town, with a working port, a long beach and a lighthouse. Boat trips run from here and from Corralejo looking for dolphins and whales - the waters between the islands are rich, though nothing is ever guaranteed.
Also worth knowing
A large wildlife park and botanical garden at La Lajita in the south, with a camel reserve. The obvious full-day option if you are travelling with children who have reached their limit on beaches.
Fuerteventura is a certified Starlight Reserve. Drive fifteen minutes inland away from the town lights, park, and look up. It costs nothing and is one of the best things the island does.
Fuerteventura's goat cheese carries a protected designation of origin and has won world championships. Buy it from a small shop or a farm rather than a supermarket, ask for it semi-cured, and eat it with the local dark mojo.
The ferry from Corralejo to Playa Blanca takes well under an hour. Timanfaya's volcanic landscape and the César Manrique sites make a long but very doable day out. Book the car separately at the other end, or take a tour.
Roads are good, traffic is light and distances are longer than the map suggests. Fuel is cheap by European standards. Watch for goats, and for the wind pushing a small hire car around on the exposed sections.
Warm and dry all year, with mild winters that are the main reason Northern Europeans come in January. Summer is hotter and busier; autumn and winter bring the bigger surf. The wind is a constant in every season.
Ready
One bedroom, a private terrace facing the gardens, and a large shared pool a short walk away. Send us your dates and we will come straight back with a price.