La Geria Or El Grifo: Which Bodega Should You Visit First?
Two names dominate Lanzarote's wine country: La Geria and El Grifo. One sits in the heart of the ash-pit vineyards with volcano views, the other is a 1775 estate with a museum and a tourism award. Here's how to choose between them.
Short answer
El Grifo is the pick for a structured, museum-rich tasting with an audio guide or guided tour from €15, while Bodega La Geria offers a free-entry bar-cafeteria, volcano panoramas, and a wind-in-the-vines walk‑up feel. If you only have time for one, El Grifo's guided Wine Lovers experience (€50) is the deeper dive; if you want a quick glass with a view, La Geria is the stop.
Bodega La Geria Vs El Grifo: Which One Should You Visit?
If you have time for one winery, choose El Grifo for a structured museum tasting with a guided flight, or Bodega La Geria for a casual glass on a terrace with volcano views. Both sit on the LZ-30 inside the protected La Geria landscape, and both are named as structuring bodegas in the 2026 advance of the island's new landscape plan, so neither is a wrong answer.
The two wineries are about a ten-minute drive apart, but they feel like different propositions. El Grifo, in San Bartolomé, is a destination: a 1775 estate with a covered wine press, a museum, and a tasting room that runs on a timetable. Bodega La Geria, in the municipality of Yaiza, is a working farm with a bar-cafeteria that opens onto the vines. At El Grifo you book a slot; at La Geria you can walk in.
The decision matters because a tasting flight in La Geria will not leave most people comfortably under Spain's drink-drive limit of 0.25 mg/l in breath. A guided tour that includes transport solves that, and several of Lanzarote Wine Tours' top-rated options stop at one or both of these bodegas. But if you are driving yourself, you will want to pick one and settle in.
The Setting: Volcano Views Versus Historic Courtyard
Bodega La Geria's main draw is its terrace: wooden tables on a deck looking straight across ash-pit vineyards to Timanfaya National Park. El Grifo's setting is inward-facing: a traditional Canarian courtyard, a cactus garden, and a wine museum housed in the original 18th-century press room. Both are photogenic, but La Geria is the one you visit for the landscape, and El Grifo is the one you visit for the building.
La Geria's terrace sits at kilometre 19 of the LZ-30, roughly halfway between the Monumento al Campesino and Uga. The bar-cafeteria is open to the road, and on a clear day you can sit with a glass of the estate's Malvasía Seco and watch the sun drop behind Montaña de Timanfaya. There is no museum, no guided circuit unless you book one (and tours are released only 12 days ahead), and the winery warns that its tour "is not accessible for people with walking difficulties". The experience is essentially a wine bar in a vineyard.
El Grifo, by contrast, is a self-contained estate. The courtyard is shaded by old palms, the museum holds bottles dating back to 1881, and the wine press bears a 1775 inscription that the winery uses to date its founding. The estate closed its 250th anniversary year on 31 October 2025 with an official visit by the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, and in 2026 it won two gold medals at Mundus Vini. It also received the Canary Islands Tourism Award for Tourist Excellence 2025, which is a wine-tourism award, not a wine award, and that matters for this comparison: El Grifo has invested heavily in the visitor experience, and it shows.
Tasting Formats: Guided Flights Versus Casual Glasses
El Grifo offers a choice of timed, guided flights (from a 45-minute audio tour with two wines to a two-hour Wine Lovers experience), whereas Bodega La Geria keeps things casual with wine sold by the glass or bottle from its bar-cafeteria, and no published tasting menu.
El Grifo's entry-level €15 audio tour includes the museum and a tasting of two wines, and children up to 17 enter free. The €50 Wine Lovers tour is the one that appears most often on third-party listings, and it is the experience that El Grifo Winery is best known for: a walk through the old press room and barrel hall, a stop at the 19th-century Moscatel vines, and a seated tasting of six wines with local cheese. The €95 Wine Lovers & Gastronomy option adds a 90-minute lunch at the El Grifo Restaurant in Mozaga, a few kilometres away.
| El Grifo Experience | Duration | Wines | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio-guided visit + 2 wines | 45 min | 2 | €15 | Free for children up to 17 |
| Guided tasting of 5 wines | 35 min | 5 | €30 | Adults only |
| Wine Lovers tour + cheese | 120 min | 6 | €50 | Max 12 people, adults only |
| Wine Lovers & Gastronomy | 120 min + 90 min lunch | 6 | €95 | Lunch at El Grifo Restaurant Mozaga |
La Geria's bar-cafeteria is open daily from 10:00 to 19:00, and the winery's own site describes it as a place for "wine by the glass with panoramic views of the volcanoes of Timanfaya". The guided tours, when they are available, cover the vineyard and the winemaking process, but the 12-day booking window and the lack of a published price make them harder to plan around. If you are driving the LZ-30 and want a spontaneous stop, La Geria is the obvious choice; if you want a confirmed tasting at a fixed time, El Grifo is the safer bet.
The guided Wine Lovers tour is the most popular option and sells out quickly, especially during the harvest months of July and August.
Check availability for the El Grifo cheese-tasting tour, which includes the two-hour Wine Lovers experience, capped at 12 on the winery's own tour and 10 on the listing.
Price And Value: What You Will Actually Spend
A tasting at El Grifo costs between €15 and €95 per adult, depending on the depth of the experience. At Bodega La Geria, you pay for what you order at the bar, and since the winery publishes no prices online, check at the counter what a glass of the estate's Malvasía Seco or a bottle for the terrace costs.
Neither winery charges an entry fee for the grounds. El Grifo's shop and museum courtyard are accessible without a ticket, though the museum interior and the tasting room require a booked experience. La Geria's terrace and bar are open to anyone who walks in, and the winery does not push a minimum spend.
If budget is the deciding factor, a third option worth knowing about is the vineyard tour with wine and chocolate tasting, which starts at $28 and includes a guided walk and an artisan chocolate pairing. It is not at El Grifo or La Geria, but it delivers a structured tasting at a lower price point than either.
| Winery | Entry Fee | Tasting Price Range | Walk-in Tasting | Booking Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Grifo | Free (courtyard & shop) | €15–€95 | No | Yes, for all tastings |
| Bodega La Geria | Free | Not published; shown at the bar | Yes (bar-cafeteria) | Only for guided tours (12 days ahead) |
Crowds And Timing: When To Visit Each Winery
El Grifo is busiest between 11:00 and 14:00, especially on weekdays when the cruise-ship excursion coaches arrive. Bodega La Geria's terrace fills up in the late afternoon, roughly 16:00 to 18:00, when the light is best for photographs and the day-trippers from Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca stop for a sundowner.
El Grifo's guided tours run on a fixed schedule, and the Wine Lovers tour is capped at 12 people, so it rarely feels crowded even when the courtyard is busy. The audio tour is self-paced and can be started at any time during opening hours (Monday to Friday, 10:00 to 17:15 last entry). La Geria has no capacity limit on the terrace, and on a sunny Saturday in August it can be hard to find a table. The winery does not take reservations for the bar, so arriving early is the only way to guarantee a seat.
Both wineries sit on the LZ-30, which was resurfaced between Teguise and Mozaga in 2025 under a €1.33 million contract. The road is in good condition, and the drive from Puerto del Carmen takes about 17 minutes, from Playa Blanca about 25 minutes. Parking at both wineries is free and on-site.
Museum Versus Terrace: The Experience Beyond The Glass
El Grifo has a real wine museum, housed in the original 18th-century press room, with bottles dating back to 1881 and a collection of old winemaking equipment. Bodega La Geria has no museum, but its terrace is the best place on the LZ-30 to sit with a glass of wine and watch the light change on the volcanoes.
El Grifo's museum is included in every tasting experience, even the €15 audio tour. It covers the estate's history, the three families that have owned it since 1775, and the evolution of winemaking on the island. The winery also holds a library used to research its historic Canari and Glas wines, and César Manrique, a family friend, designed the label for the Malvasía Semidulce and the Monument to the Griffin Bird at the entrance.
La Geria's terrace is the experience. The bar-cafeteria serves local cheese and simple snacks alongside the estate's wines, and the view takes in the entire sweep of the protected landscape, from the zocos in the foreground to the rim of Timanfaya. There is no guided circuit unless you book a tour, and the winery's own site is upfront that the walking tour is not suitable for people with mobility difficulties. For many visitors, that is fine: the terrace is the point.
| Feature | El Grifo | Bodega La Geria |
|---|---|---|
| Museum | Yes, 18th-century press room, bottles from 1881 | No |
| Terrace / View | Courtyard, cactus garden | Open terrace with volcano panorama |
| Guided Tour | Audio tour (€15) or guided (€30–€95) | By appointment, 12-day booking window |
| Bar / Café | No on-site bar | Bar-cafeteria, wine by the glass |
| Accessibility | Museum and courtyard accessible | Tour not suitable for walking difficulties |
Which One Do The Tours Include Anyway?
Most guided wine tours on Lanzarote stop at El Grifo, not at Bodega La Geria. The estate's museum, its fixed tasting format, and its location on the LZ-30 make it a reliable inclusion on a half-day itinerary. Bodega La Geria appears less often on multi-winery tours, partly because its guided visits are harder to book and partly because its terrace works best as a free-time stop.
The three-winery tour that includes transport and six wines across three bodegas typically visits El Grifo as one of its stops, alongside smaller producers. The volcanic wine tasting with a Canarian pairing is a single-bodega experience that focuses on natural wines and is not at either of these two wineries, but it offers a different angle on the island's wine culture.
If you are building your own itinerary, the practical move is to book a guided tour that includes El Grifo, then drive yourself to La Geria for a glass on the terrace afterwards. The two are only ten minutes apart, and La Geria's bar stays open until 19:00, so you can finish a morning tour at El Grifo and still have time for a relaxed stop with the view.
The Verdict: La Geria Or El Grifo?
Choose El Grifo if you want a structured, educational wine experience with a known price and a fixed timetable. Choose Bodega La Geria if you want a casual, scenic stop where you can walk in, order a glass, and sit with a volcano view. The two are not really competitors: they are complementary stops on the same wine road, and the best afternoon in La Geria often includes both.
El Grifo delivers the deeper dive. Its museum, its 250-year history, and its guided tastings make it the winery to visit if you are genuinely interested in Lanzarote wine and want to come away knowing more. The Wine Lovers tour at €50 is the sweet spot: six wines, a small group, and a walk through the old press room. The €15 audio tour is a solid budget option that still gets you into the museum and includes two wines.
Bodega La Geria is the choice for atmosphere. Its terrace is unmatched on the LZ-30, and the lack of a fixed tasting menu is a feature, not a bug: you can order a glass, a bottle or a cheese plate and stay as long as you like, and you can stay as long as you like. It is also the better option for families, since there is no age restriction on the terrace and children are welcome.
If you are booking a tour, Lanzarote wine tasting options that include transport will almost always take you to El Grifo, so you can save La Geria for a self-drive stop. The three-winery tour that covers multiple bodegas is a good way to see both in one day without worrying about the drink-drive limit.
A practical way to plan the day is to put El Grifo first and La Geria second. El Grifo's tastings run on a fixed timetable, so book your slot in advance and build the rest of the afternoon around it. La Geria needs no booking at all, which makes it the natural place to end up once the scheduled part of the day is done.
Budget-wise, the two stops split neatly. El Grifo's options run from €15 to €95 per person depending on the format, while La Geria is entirely pay-as-you-go, from a single €5 glass up to a €25 bottle with a cheese plate. A couple mixing the €15 audio tour with a shared bottle at La Geria gets a full day of wine country for a very reasonable total.
Common Questions About Choosing Between La Geria And El Grifo
Which Winery Is Better For A First-Time Visitor?
El Grifo, because the structured tastings and museum give you a clear introduction to Lanzarote wine without needing to know what to order. The €15 audio tour is a low-commitment way to start.
Can I Visit Both La Geria And El Grifo In One Day?
Yes, and many visitors do. The two wineries are about a ten-minute drive apart on the LZ-30. A common itinerary is a morning tasting at El Grifo followed by a glass on the terrace at La Geria in the afternoon.
Do I Need To Book In Advance For Bodega La Geria?
For the terrace bar, no booking is needed. For a guided tour, yes: tours are released 12 days ahead and sell through the winery's own website. The price is not published online.
Is El Grifo Suitable For Children?
The museum and courtyard are family-friendly, and children up to 17 enter free on the audio tour. The guided Wine Lovers tasting is adults-only, and the €30 tasting of five wines is also restricted to adults.
Which Winery Has The Better View?
Bodega La Geria, without question. Its terrace looks directly across the ash-pit vineyards to Timanfaya. El Grifo's courtyard is charming but inward-facing.
Which Winery Appears On More Guided Tours?
El Grifo is included on most multi-winery tours that run along the LZ-30. Bodega La Geria is less common as a scheduled stop because its guided visits are harder to book and its terrace works better as a free-time visit.