One Week in Fuerteventura

We decided to go to Fuerteventura without knowing much about it, and we discovered a beautiful island.

We picked up a car at the airport and drove pretty much everywhere: first the north, then the south.

Here is a small map of where we went. Every stop has a link to Google Maps, in case you want to save them.

Trip details

• When: September
• How long: one week
• Where we stayed: Corralejo in the north, then the south
• Getting around: by car

Starting in the north

We had chosen the north as our starting point, and Corralejo is probably the most touristy part of Fuerteventura. I wouldn’t say it is the most authentic or wild part of the island, but I actually liked it.

We were there in September. There were people around, but it never felt too crowded, and in the evening there was enough going on to make it enjoyable: restaurants, bars, places to have a drink, people walking around. After spending the day outside, I liked coming back to Corralejo, having something to drink and just walking around without much of a plan.

We really enjoyed all the Spanish food. Breakfast couldn’t start without pan con tomate, and honestly, it was good everywhere. Literally everywhere. We especially loved the one at a café called Sommes.

Still, I wouldn’t spend the whole week there.

The further we drove, the more I liked Fuerteventura.

A day on Lobos

If you’re staying in Corralejo, I would definitely give Islote de Lobos a full day.

It’s a small protected island just off the coast, and you can get there by boat from Corralejo. You do need to arrange permission in advance, as the number of visitors is limited.

One thing I’d definitely suggest is bringing your own food. There isn’t much on the island, which I actually loved. We packed a few things with us and spent the day walking around, swimming, and stopping wherever we felt like it.

The sea was beautiful : incredibly clear and exactly the kind of blue that makes you want to get in immediately.

We also walked up to La Caldera, the volcanic cone in the middle of the island. It’s not a difficult walk, and since we went in September, when the weather wasn’t unbearably hot, it was actually quite pleasant.

If you have time, I’d also add some snorkelling. We spent about an hour in the water around the island. It’s a little touristy, since you’re doing it from a boat with other people, but I thought it was absolutely worth it. The water was so clear, and we saw so many fish that I was very happy we did it.

One thing I would skip

We also did a dolphin and whale-watching trip from Corralejo.

We saw nothing.

Of course, these are wild animals and there is no guarantee, so I can’t really blame the company for that. But even apart from that, I didn’t particularly enjoy the experience. It was expensive, felt quite touristy, and I didn’t feel like there was much to it. They also served us paella afterwards. My boyfriend is from Valencia, so I realise I may be slightly biased here, but let’s just say it wasn’t the highlight of the trip. If I had to choose again, I’d spend the money only on Lobos and snorkelling.

Volcanoes, goats and squirrels

There is so much volcanic landscape around the north of the island, and you don’t always need to plan a serious hike to enjoy it.

One of my favourite little excursions was Calderón Hondo.

It’s an old volcanic crater and the walk is quite easy. We went towards sunset, which was beautiful, but honestly, the crater wasn’t even my favourite part.

The squirrels were.

They run around everywhere and come surprisingly close to you. There are goats too, and somehow we ended up spending almost as much time watching the animals as looking at the volcano.

They are wild animals, though, so don’t feed them.

It’s a really easy thing to add to a day. We went before dinner, walked around, watched the sunset and then went back to eat. No complicated planning required.

The dunes

The Corralejo dunes are one of those places I think you should see at least once.

They are huge and beautiful, and standing there with the sea next to you makes the landscape feel almost unreal.

The dunes are very windy. At first, I thought the wind might make the beaches less enjoyable, but after a while I actually loved it. It makes the island feel wild and completely untamed : like nature is very much doing its own thing and you just have to go along with it.

The Corralejo dunes are beautiful. You can walk for ages with the sand, the sea and nothing much else around you. It gives you this incredible feeling of how big and powerful the landscape is.

There are also so many beaches and little places to stop around the north. Caleta del Marrajo is one option, but some of my favourite stops weren’t planned at all. We would be driving, see somewhere that looked interesting, stop the car and get out. Sometimes we were completely alone. And honestly, those moments were some of my favourite parts of the trip.

And then there is Popcorn Beach

You’ve probably seen it online.

The official name is Playa del Hierro, but it became famous because parts of the beach are covered in little white formations that look like popcorn. They are actually rhodoliths, formed by algae over a very long period of time.

It is quite strange to see in real life. And yes, it is pretty.

Just leave the popcorn where you found it.

Go out of Corralejo for dinner

I liked Corralejo, but I wouldn’t eat there every night.

One evening we drove to Restaurante Al Horno, in a smaller place outside Corralejo, and it ended up being one of my favourite meals of the whole trip.

It felt genuine, the staff were lovely, and the food was really good without trying too hard.

I still remember the pimientos de Padrón.

And we liked it enough to go back. For me, that’s always a much better recommendation than saying somewhere is “the best restaurant.” If I like a place enough to return to it during the same trip, that’s a very good sign.

Then we drove south

After a few days in the north, we started driving south.

And this was when I really started falling for Fuerteventura.

The landscape changes quite dramatically. It is still volcanic, but there are more enormous cacti and aloe plants, fewer tourists, and much more of that feeling of being somewhere completely open and wild.

There are little places along the roads selling aloe products, and obviously I had to stop. I bought some hand cream and a face mask. I’m still using them and they’re actually very good.

A tiny cheese museum

On the way south we stopped at the Museo del Queso Majorero.

It is very small, but I liked it. There is a little exhibition about Majorero cheese, a cactus garden and the possibility of tasting some cheese. What stayed with me was the attention to detail. Everything felt carefully put together, even though the museum itself is tiny. Of course the cheese was also very good :)

The south was my favourite

The south felt completely different from Corralejo.

Much quieter. Much wilder.

We started stopping at beaches without really planning what we were going to do. Sometimes we would just park, walk down to the sea, swim and stay there for hours.

If you’re going to Fuerteventura for a week, I wouldn’t try to fill every single day.

Leave some days empty.

Drive somewhere. Find a beach. Stop for lunch. Swim. Take the long way back.

Some of the best parts of our trip happened because we didn’t have anything planned.

Oasis Wildlife

One place in the south that surprised me was Oasis Wildlife.

I’m generally not a big fan of zoos, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about going.

But it is also a rescue and conservation centre, and many of the animals have been rescued from trafficking, abandonment or bad conditions. There are also conservation and research programmes connected to the park.

What I liked was that the animals didn’t feel like they were simply there for people to look at. In some areas, you can get quite close, but it depends on the animals and their behaviour.

I suggest to go in the morning, when it is not too hot or crowded.

What I took from Fuerteventura

The thing I remember most isn’t one particular beach or one particular place.

It’s the feeling of driving through the island and watching everything change.

Corralejo and its restaurants and bars. The volcanic landscape around the north. Lobos and that incredible water. The dunes and their ridiculous wind. The little beaches we found by accident. And then the south, which felt much quieter and much more like the Fuerteventura I had imagined.

I think that’s what I liked most about the island.

You can plan your trip, and you should. There are things worth booking and places worth making time for.

But leave some space too.

Take a road you didn’t plan to take.

Stop because something looks interesting.

Stay longer than you expected.