Anyone been to Lanzarote?

[jackieloveswine]

Hi all,

I was just wondering what Lanzarote is like in general? I've never been to the Canaries.
DH and I usually like quite extravagant exotic holidays and we want to make the most of it before we have children. We usually go to Maldives, Mauritius, Caribbean etc.

Is there a specific area that's more adults only for a relaxing but fun time? Good food and drink?
Do you need to go all inclusive? Or is it best to just pay as you go?

Thanks!

It's nice. But Tenerife is much nicer.

Nicest in the canaries I've found is northern Tenerife, around Puerto de la Cruz. It feels much more green and tropical. Parts of Tenerife and Lanzarote are a bit of a concrete jungle.

I might not be the best person to advise as the way we holiday is a bit different, but we have been to Lanzarote several times and we love it!

However, we don't stay in resorts and we actively dislike the typical touristic places, included bars and restaurants - which are frankly a bit cheap and sad on the island.

If you want to go and discover the island, there are amazing little villages with little restaurants where locals go to and gorgeous views of the ocean far from the crowd.

I would recommend booking an airbnb somewhere north and rent your own car, but as said I know mine is not the way most want to enjoy their breaks!

Anyway, feel free to ask me any questions:)

We have - we did a last minute winter sun holiday and there wasn't much accommodation left, and it was between a bog-standard apartment in a resort and a much more expensive villa in the middle of the island. We decided to splash out on the latter and thank god we did - the resort towns are generally pretty horrid, though the island as a whole is nice and there's some amazing architecture by Cesar Manrique, all of which is worth seeing. If going to the volcanic park, turn up first thing as there are huge queues otherwise!

thanks everyone!

So which parts of Lanzarote would you go?

@VHSappy where in Tenerife should I look then?

I would recommend Puerto de la Cruz in Northern Tenerife. It's green and leafy and looks tropical. From some of the mountain overlooks it looks more like Costa Rica than the Canaries!

We had lovely food in a restaurant overlooking the Puerto del Carmen harbour, really nice.

The only not so nice bits of Lanzarote are the new part of Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise. That's where the 'Brits on the piss' crowd generally go. Playa Blanca is nice but seeing as you can drive the whole length of the island in little more than an hour, it's easy to see a lot of it.

I wouldn't go all inclusive unless you just want a sunbathing holiday. I much prefer to go for lunch and dinner while out and about and also have some quiet evenings on the terrace with BBQ or just snacks and drinks

I really like the look of here and we've had a small villa from here.

I’ve been to Lazarote a few times and I love it there but we tend to not stay in the parts that are ‘too touristy’. I’d stay away from puerto del carmen. Last time we went we stayed just outside Costa Teguise and it was lovely. Quiet where we stayed but we could jump a bus to the town were there were some shops and restaurants and the beach.

We have been, stayed in Playa Blanca and I'm afraid gave it the nickname Lanzagrotty. We were in a 4* adults only place, so didn't skimp. If I was going again, it would defy be self-catering or BnB. We managed to find nice enough restaurants quite easily beyond the tourist strip (although we also had a fab curry right on the tourist strip too!)

We struggled to fill our time (a week) as the landscape wasn't very interesting and was quite uniform everywhere we went. If you want a relax by the pool holiday, then it would be good for that though: that's what most of the other holiday makers seemed to be doing.

Does anyone know if this hotel is in a nice area?
www.laislayelmar.com/en/index

Last holiday we had pre children was to Playa Blanca, Lanzarote.

I'm not a massive fan of the Canaries (have been to them all over the years as they are cheap winter sun and relatively close) but i was pleasantly impressed with Playa Blanca.

We stayed out of the main harbour but it was a lovely seafront walk to all the bars and restaurants.

Very nice holiday!!

We went for 5 days, which was enough as it is small and we don't like to just hang around pool/ beach. That's enough time to see all the interesting stuff.

It's certainly in the nicer end of PDC and the more traditional old town bit. As you look at the sea, you probably only want to turn right, not left.

Playa Chica beach is a nice little beach, we've used the diving centre there a few times.

Also well placed for visiting the vineyards, volcano park and el Golfo, which is a little fishing village, nice to have a walk around, eat and drink and look at the black beach and green lake.

We really like Lanzarote, but it depends what you want I guess.

We hire a car and do day trips.

We stay in Puerto del Carmen as it is more central, but Playa Blanca is nicer (have stayed at the Princess Yaiza there) Both have loads of eating places, I think all inclusive is a bit of a waste, but it depends what you like I suppose.

Can be quite windy.

We went here twice:-

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/lanzarote/melia-salinas/index.htm?esl-k=sem-google%7Cng%7Cc474424584601%7Cme%7Ckmelia%20salinas%20lanzarote%7Cp%7Ct%7Cdm%7Ca109914178683%7Cg11245903151&&gclid=CjwKCAjwsn8BRBrEiwAnUGJDpMthiz98E5wgkBFraWbjb5mm6-w69nh0ee-wQaueyqZsKt9JQdAhoCIaEQAvDDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's definitely adult friendly, lovely rooms and pool areas. Some of the pool areas are for adults only. Very luxurious. It's in Costa Teguise. The area is nice. However, we are the type that just go to a resort and stay there and relax, so we didn't do much exploring.

I absolutely love Lanzarote...I love the artist's work who is from the island Cesar Manrique. The buildings in resorts can only be 2 storeys high. Buildings can only be painted in pastel colours. Timanfaya national park is fascinating. There's Jameos del agua, mirafor del Rio.
Hire a car to visit the interior of the island. Local cuisine is good, the locals are friendly.

I find it less developed and busy than gc and tenereife but much more interesting than fuerteventura.

I could quite easily live there!

Lanzarote is nice (less rain than tenerife for a start). Good for a quiet holiday in the sun. I think I prefer tenerife and gran canaria as theres more to do. But it depends what you want.

Puerto del carmen has always been a chill holiday for me.

Puerto del Carmen here too, we hire a villa rather than stay in a hotel. I like it, weather is usually always nice.

We went to puerto Del carmen and found it completely dull and boring. Wouldn't go again.

We do Lanzarote a lot. It’s cheap, warm, and great for cycling. Playa Blanca definitely feels a bit more grown up and classy compared to Puerto Del Carmen but there are some really nice bits of Puerto Del Carmen around the harbour. Puerto Calero is nice to and you can walk there along the coast from PDC or get a boat.

What to do:

• up Timanfaya & lunch at top (or arrange an evening to see sunset up there), same day can also ride camels
• evening at Rancho Texas
• Puerto Calero, go on a yellow submarine, nice lunch
• drive up to North of island, Mirador del Rio, Jameos del Agua
• go to see the splashy waves in the South & lunch in Playa Blanca
• walk up the strip in Puerto del Carmen, go to the tourist shops, have a coffee/drink and watch the world go by
• go to the national park information centre and learn about the geography & history of the islands
• day trip to Fuereventura
• Cesar Manrique centre

Playa Blanca twice. Not a hotel, villa both times in January & February. Lovely places to eat out. Friendly locals.
We didn't do a great deal of sightseeing or trips so couldn't comment on that side.

Would go again but not for a while until the children are a lot older.

Tenerife was about 15 years ago, one of the worst holidays. Hated it. Might be different now though.

We would be going to just chill, read a book, and unwind. Eating and drinking. We have a week off but I think we would only go for 5 nights as I might be a bit restless otherwise.

We like to have a walk around and see different things, but are the type to just chill out.

Good food and drink are the priority!

I like Lanzarote but found it a bit chilly at Christmas, although we were in the North of the island. If you want winter warmth you may want to be further south.

Ive not been to lanzarote but I LOVED northern Tenerife. We stayed on a banana plantation there. It was amazing