Lanzarote with a baby: what works and what you can skip

With a child under two, the list of things to do on any island shrinks fast, and Lanzarote is no exception. The difference lies in what’s left – and here that’s more than you’d think, because the island is flat.

The underrated advantage: no mountain

Anyone who has pushed a pram around Funchal or the north of Tenerife knows the problem: slopes, steps, kerbs with no dropped edge. Lanzarote’s highest point is just over 670 metres, and the resorts all sit on the water, on flat ground.

The seafront promenade in Puerto del Carmen runs for kilometres, level, paved the whole way. In Playa Blanca, the promenade runs from Playa Dorada to Marina Rubicón, just as flat. Costa Teguise is smaller but equally level. That sounds trivial, but with a pram it’s the single most important thing about this island.

Timanfaya: the time-slot trap

The national park costs €30 to enter; children under 7 pay nothing, so a baby goes free too. Inside, you sit for 35 to 40 minutes in a bus that doesn’t stop and that you’re not allowed to get off.

The real catch is a different one, and it’s new: since 2026, tickets are only sold online in advance, for a fixed time slot. Nothing is sold at the gate, and arriving outside your slot means an invalid ticket. With a baby, that means deciding weeks ahead exactly when your child should be awake, fed and changed.

In practice, this only works with an early slot – shortly after opening at 9.30am, right after breakfast. Book an afternoon slot and you’re fighting nap time on the bus. The guided Timanfaya tours with pick-up don’t solve this for you – they just add transfer time on top. More on what else the park requires is in What to see in Lanzarote.

The three you can leave out

Cueva de los Verdes. A fifty-minute guided tour, one kilometre through a lava tunnel, uneven ground, steps, dim lighting and acoustics that amplify every sound. No pram, and no quick way back – the group moves as a group. With a baby in a carrier it’s doable, but for most parents it’s still not a relaxed outing.

The submarine in Puerto Calero. An hour in a closed vessel, 30 metres below the surface. It’s a fantastic trip – but there’s no way outside if a child starts crying.

The speedboats. The short dolphin-watching trip from Puerto del Carmen lasts just 1.5 hours and costs €35, but it’s a rough, splashy ride with little shade most of the time. That’s not built for a baby. Which boats fall into which category is covered in Boat trips with kids – what’s the minimum age?.

And on the age question generally: of the 206 activities on this island, exactly one states a minimum age of its own accord, and that’s a buggy tour. For everything else, the conditions sit on the operator’s booking page, and that’s where you check beforehand.

What does work well

Jameos del Agua. Unlike Cueva de los Verdes, this is open, bright and walkable without a guide. There are stairs down, so a carrier rather than a pram, but you decide yourself how long to stay. Below is a saltwater lake with tiny white crabs you can watch from the railing. Together with the rest of the Manrique buildings, this is the most baby-friendly cultural stop on the island.

The ferry to La Graciosa. About 25 minutes from Órzola, €29 return. Short enough that a miscalculation isn’t a disaster. On the other side, though, it’s sandy tracks rather than roads – a pram won’t get far there. The island and its surroundings are covered in What to see in North Lanzarote and in Day trips to La Graciosa.

The flat beaches. Playa Dorada near Playa Blanca and the town beaches of Puerto del Carmen shelve gently and sit out of the wind. In the north, just before Órzola, the coves of Caletón Blanco have calm, knee-deep pools. Famara is the wrong place – open Atlantic, currents, surf.

Shade and wind: the two real issues

Almost nothing grows on Lanzarote, and as a result there’s barely any natural shade on the beaches. Whatever sunshade, pop-up tent or umbrella you don’t bring, you won’t get for free on the day.

The trade wind blows almost all year round. It makes the heat bearable, but it also masks how strong the sun actually is – and a wet child cools down faster in the wind than the air temperature suggests. On sun protection for babies, we deliberately say nothing specific here: that belongs with a paediatrician or a pharmacy, not on a comparison site.

The short transfer

The airport sits near Arrecife, in the middle of the east coast, and all the resorts lie within easy reach of it: around ten to fifteen minutes to Puerto del Carmen, about twenty to Costa Teguise, and a good half hour to Playa Blanca.

After a flight with a baby, that’s the difference between arriving and facing another two hours on a coach. On the larger neighbouring islands, the distance between airport and hotel is often much greater – here, the transfer is the smallest problem of the day.

When the villages close

In the resorts, everything runs continuously. In Haría, Teguise and the small inland towns, it doesn’t: shops and many kitchens close over lunch, and dinner is served late. If you’re travelling with a baby and need something warm at half past six, it’s best to plan around the coastal towns – or bring what you need.

Two practical points

Infant carrier in the hire car. The island is hard to get around without a car, and child seats need to be booked in advance. Don’t count on one being available at the counter.

Shopping. The resorts have supermarkets with the usual range. On La Graciosa and in the northern villages, it’s a different story – anyone heading there should bring what the day requires.

The honest conclusion

With a baby, Lanzarote is an island for two or three booked activities over two weeks, not a full calendar. The rest is promenade, beach and terrace – and that’s not a fallback here, it’s actually good.

Once the child can walk, the picture changes: what’s possible then is covered in Lanzarote with a toddler, and the overview across all ages is in Lanzarote with kids. Everything bookable is listed under Things to do in Lanzarote.