Last Updated on sixteenth March 2023 by Sophie Nadeau
Fuerteventura, a Spanish vacation spot and the second largest Canary Island, gives a panorama resembling the moon, with huge sand dunes and colossal volcanoes. The cities, paying homage to occasions passed by, add attraction to the area and also you’re certain to be considering of them within the years to return. Here’s your information to the greatest issues to do in Fuerteventura, in addition to what to know earlier than you go.
If you’re seeking to spend time in Fuerteventura, be sure you try our prompt Fuerteventura itinerary.
Where is Fuerteventura?
Fuerteventura is the second largest of the Canary Islands and is on the eastern-most a part of the island group, which means that one of many lighthouses on Fuerteventura is the closest level to the japanese coast of the mainland (Morocco in northern Africa). The closest island is Canary. If you may’t determine which island to go to, be sure you try our comparability of Lanzarote vs Fuerteventura.
What is Fuerteventura recognized for?
Thanks to its breathtaking seashores, pristine waters, and dependable winds (which additionally imply that you must all the time be sure you have a jacket with you, even through the summer season), Fuerteventura has turn out to be a well-liked vacation spot amongst water sports activities lovers.
The island can be famend for its expansive sand dunes, rugged terrain, and distinctive plant and animal life. In reality, there are some vegetation which solely develop on Fuerteventura (making them distinctive on the planet). This contains
Thanks to its standing because the oldest of the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura boasts a very distinctive historical past, with proof of prehistoric settlements and well-preserved historical fortresses.
Its conventional cities are equally charming and value exploring. Furthermore, Fuerteventura is a meals lover’s paradise, with mouthwatering native dishes that showcase the island’s recent seafood and Canarian delicacies.
Best issues to do in Fuerteventura
Relax in Corralejo
If you enter Fuerteventura from Lanzarote, Corralejo, an enthralling port city, is probably to be your first cease on the Canary Islands’ oldest island. With its vibrant nightlife and pastel-colored buildings, Corralejo is a must-visit vacation spot on Fuerteventura.
I recommend selecting Corralejo as your base throughout your travels because it gives quite a few eating choices for the evenings and a well-connected highway community for exploring the remainder of the island. For extra inspiration, try the greatest issues to do in Corralejo.
Soak up historical past in Betancuria
Betancuria is most well-known for being Fuerteventura’s former capital (the capital is now Puerto del Rosario), in addition to its non secular centre. The city is within the coronary heart of the countryside and is just about as distant from the ocean in Furteventura because it’s potential to get.
The city additionally operated because the capital of the Kingdom of the Canary Isles (the vassal state lasted from 1404 to 1448). The city was established in 1404 and is known as for its founder, Jean de Béthencourt, who was a Norman conqueror. Visit Betancuria as we speak and also you’ll discover an attractive
Explore the small cities
From its pristine seashores to its wealthy cultural heritage, this sun-drenched island additionally boasts plenty of stunning settlements price visiting. The largest cities are Corralejo and Puerto del Rosario, although there’s not an enormous quantity of actions exterior of eating places and the seashore at Puerto del Rosario.
Some of my favorite cities in Fuerteventura embrace El Cotillo (which additionally occurs to be top-of-the-line spots on the island to see the sundown) and Las Playitas, an enthralling little fishing port.
Marvel on the Cuevas de Ajuy
Located on the western aspect of the island, the spectacular sea caves of Ajuy are recognized in Spanish because the Cuevas de Ajuy and are a few of the oldest and most spectacular geological formations on Fuerteventura.
Comprising of deep swimming pools, towering rock formations (some over 40 metres excessive), and complex tunnels, in addition to consolidated sand dunes, and oceanic sediments, they’re a few of the oldest geological formations within the Canary Islands.
Indeed, the strangest thriller is that whereas elements of the Ajuy Caves are thought up to now again 100 million years, Fuerteventura itself is believed to solely be 30 million years previous! Ajuy itself is fairly touristic so doesn’t really want greater than an hour or so to discover.
Visit the Salt Flats and Whale Skeleton
There isn’t an incredible deal to see at Las Salinas del Carmen, nevertheless it’s an attention-grabbing level to cease off at in case you’re already heading to the north of the island and also you’ve already been to close by Pozo Negro.
As effectively as some of the well-known whale skeletons of Fuerteventura, there’s a salt museum detailing the historical past of the salt flats of the island, in addition to a bit of church.
See the chipmunks
While exploring the island, together with on the fringes of Corralejo and on the best way to the ocean coves of Ajuy, you’ll discover that there are a great deal of cheeky chipmunks. The chipmunks aren’t really chipmunks however are Barbary Ground Squirrel.
This is a species from Algeria and Morocco that was launched to the Canary islands within the Nineteen Sixties. Be certain to not feed the chipmunks you see as their ever-growing inhabitants is already damaging the natural world.
See the popcorn seashores
You can can discover the popcorns seashores located on a again highway in direction of the southwest of Corralejo. They gives the prospect to see a reasonably cool pure surprise of the Canary Islands due to the truth that the seashores are lined with small items resembling popcorn as an alternative of sand.
The popcorn-like options are literally the results of lifeless rhodoliths, that are a species of crimson coralline algae. These rhodoliths comprise calcite that causes them to rework from crimson to white upon demise. To study extra about this distinctive attraction and the way to plan a go to, check with our article on the popcorn seashore.
Relax on the seashore
Whether you like to discover the ocean through the water (within the type of windsurfing, paddle boarding, or browsing), or through the land and on the seashore, due to its standing as a reasonably large island, there’s an unlimited variety of seashores in Fuerteventura.
One of my favorite off the overwhelmed path seashores is in Pozo Negro. A speck of a settlement comprising of little greater than a handful of fishermen’s huts and a sprawling volcanic black pebble seashore, Pozo Negro is considerably off the overwhelmed vacationer monitor on the japanese coast of the Canary Island of Fuerteventura.Â
Go mountain climbing
The otherworldly landscapes of the Canary Islands are well-known the world over due to their lunar-like landscapes and volcanic formations which appear to be they’ve been plucked straight from one other planet.
And top-of-the-line methods to get a chook’s eye view when visiting Fuerteventura is to go mountain climbing so as to get a greater lay of the land. And certainly one of my private favorite hikes on the island, which leads you to a hermitage, is mountain climbing el tanquito.
Barranco de los Enamorados
Barranco de los Encantados is a hidden gem in Fuerteventura, primarily as a result of it stays comparatively unknown and boasts a historical past courting again over 135,000 years.
The fossilised sand dunes that line the banks of the canyon have been shaped throughout a marine regression, when the ocean receded and uncovered the sand banks. Visitors can now stroll by means of the banks and marvel at their distinctive options.
The entrance to the ravine which you’ll attain by a traditional automobile is near El Cotillo and so it’s the right likelihood to go to this off the overwhelmed path earlier than the ultimate cease of the day. For details about the ravine, try our Barranco de los Enamorados information.
See the lighthouses
All over Fuerteventura, there are a variety of lighthouses, which have guided ships away from harmful rocks and sea swells over the centuries. The greatest lighthouse on the island to go to is undoubtedly the Faro de la Entallada, which is near Las Playitas.
There has been a lighthouse on web site since 1955 when the construction you see as we speak was lastly accomplished. From the outset, the mission proved to be formidable because of the distant location and excessive elevation on the cliffs.
Today you may admire the structure of the lighthouse and revel in unimaginable views of the ocean from a close-by viewing platform. Just bear in mind that the highway to the lighthouse is fairly steep and scary to drive!
La Atalayita
The Poblado de la Atalayita is a traditionally vital archaeological web site situated near the fishing go to of Pozo Negro. During our journey to Fuerteventura, we have been really the one folks to go to the location throughout our go to!
This web site is believed to have been dwelling to the indigenous Canarians and the reconstructed ruins can now be visited free of charge. There is a small interpretation centre on the web site, although this was sadly closed throughout our go to and the opening occasions appear a bit erratic. Nonetheless, you may nonetheless spend an hour or so wandering this historic web site.
Arco de las Peñitas
If you’ve spent any time taking a look at photographs of distinctive rock formations on Fuerteventura, then little question you’ll have come throughout Arco de las Peñitas, which is situated to the West of the island.
The pure archway has been carved out of the rock by the solar, wind, and rain over hundreds of years and is now some of the standard picture spots within the Canary Islands. For data on the way to go to, try our information to Arco de las Peñitas.
Admire the windmills
All over Fuerteventura, there are numerous windmills. They are both often known as Molino or Molina, with Molino being the masculine phrase for windmill and Molina being the female type of windmill.
The gender is given to the windmill in query dependant on its measurement, with the bigger being molino and the smaller known as molina. Windmills on Fuerteventura have been first begun as easy constructions to assist native farmers in harnessing the wind energy to allow them to extra simply mill grain (specifically corn).
Of all of the locations to see windmills in Fuerteventura, high of the checklist is Tefia, which is a bit of settlement inland in the midst of the Canary Island. There are literally two windmills at Tefia, although admittedly one is extra spectacular than the opposite! Unfortunately each can solely be admired through their exteriors.
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Sophie Nadeau loves canine, books, journey, pizza, and historical past. A fan of all issues France associated, she runs solosophie.com when she’s not chasing after the subsequent sundown shot or consuming one thing candy. She at present splits her time between Paris and London. Subscribe to Sophie’s YouTube Channel.