Spinola Palace

Behind the white front on Teguise's market square, the rooms open onto an inner courtyard framed by wooden galleries. It is the layout of the houses Lanzarote's ruling families built for themselves centuries ago, and this one belonged to one of the wealthiest of them.

The museum has been given over to the timple, a five-string Canarian instrument about the size of a ukulele, shown alongside stringed instruments from around the world. The displays give a brief overview of the islands' traditions and their music. It is a small museum, and it fits easily into a morning spent in the old town.

• The museum shuts in mid-afternoon and does not reopen later in the day, so plan it into the morning or around midday.
• There are toilets inside the museum, and public toilets about 150 m away.
• The Teguise tourist information office stands about 17 m from the palace, practically next door.

The palace stands on the main square of Teguise, so the last stretch is a walk through the town centre. Drivers have two car parks to choose from: one about 100 m away in a straight line, and a free gravel car park about 190 m away. By bus, the nearest stop is Convento San Francisco, about 150 m away, with Ayuntamiento de Teguise about 200 m away by the town hall.

Best: the morning, combined with a walk round Teguise's old centre. Avoid: late afternoon and evening, when the doors are already shut.

The museum keeps short daytime hours every day of the week, so the visit has to fit in before mid-afternoon; inside, the thick walls of the old house make it a cool retreat from the midday sun.