Timanfaya National Park is the volcanic heart of Lanzarote: a raw sweep of black lava, red cones, cinders and ash created by eruptions in the 1730s. It is not pretty in the conventional sense, and that is exactly the point. The landscape feels freshly made, as if the island has not quite cooled down yet.
Most visitors see the park on the controlled coach route from Islote de Hilario, because walking freely across the protected lava fields is not allowed. The route is still worth doing. The road curls through craters and frozen lava rivers, with almost no vegetation to soften the view, and the silence beyond the bus windows is part of the drama.
Go early or late if you are driving from Playa Blanca or Puerto del Carmen. The entrance queue can be slow at midday, and the colours are better when the sun is low. Nearby, El Golfo, the Janubio salt flats and the wine fields of La Geria make a natural loop through the island's southwest.