Janubio Salt Flats

From the road, the pans spread below the lagoon in a grid of shallow squares laid out like a chessboard, each a slightly different shade of white, cream or pink, with black lava and the Atlantic behind them.

The lagoon is itself a piece of volcanic history: lava from the 1730 eruptions built its walls, and salt has been made beside it since 1895. The guided tour gets you far better angles on the pans than the roadside viewpoint does. It ends at a table where Janubio salt goes onto local tomatoes, served with cheese and local wine. Migratory birds use the lagoon and the pans, so binoculars earn their place in the bag.

• Tasting: the tour ends with Janubio salt on local tomatoes, cheese and local wine, plus a small gift. If you are driving, skip the wine.
• Shop and terrace without the tour: the salt is sold in several packs, including gift sets, and the terrace serves coffee and ice cream over the pans.
• Payment: cards and contactless are accepted, and there are toilets at the visitor centre.
• No shade: the pans are bare, open ground and the white salt throws back the sun. Bring a hat and sunglasses.

Janubio Salt Flats lie on Lanzarote's west coast, about 9 km north of Playa Blanca. Do not navigate to the visitor centre pin in Google Maps: it leads to Janubio beach (Playa de Janubio). Take the Salinas de Janubio entrance instead. Flags mark the turn, and it leaves the road earlier than the map shows.

The free gravel car park sits about 80 m from the visitor centre, and from there you walk over to the terrace. By bus, the nearest stop is Rotonda La Hoya, about 370 m away. For an overview without the tour, the roadside viewpoint looks straight down over the pans.

Best: morning or late afternoon, when the sun is low; spring and autumn if you are coming for migrating birds.

Avoid: the middle of a summer day.

Low light brings out the colours and the grid of the pans, while at midday the white salt throws back the glare and nothing shades the open ground.