To think the canary isles are tacky?

[YaWeeFurryBastard]

Lighthearted and I’m definitely open to having my mind changed!

I’ve been to what my family call Lanza-grotty as a teenager and there were some nice volcanic bits. I did notice there was a lot of places serving full English/curry etc. and a very brits abroad vibe. I get the distinct impression that Tenerife/grand canaria are even worse and when people I know go there, they seem to be aiming to max out on the beer/all inclusive and return to the same place every year. There doesn’t seem to be much culture or things to do that aren’t very geared towards British tourists (banana boats etc.)

In my mind I group the canaries in with Benidorm/Tunisia/Cape Verde I.e. places I would not want to go. However I can see how they’d be good for an off-season bit of sun and now we have a baby on the way it’s going to be more challenging to go long haul in winter.

Am I being a judgy bitch and actually missing out on a perfectly nice destination?

I’ve been to Tenerife and Gran Canaria and stayed in the capitals of both islands. Both cities are great places to stay and there’s none of that Brits and Irish abroad horror whatsoever.

La Palma, especially the north is lush and green with amazing walking. You can get owners direct and avoid the touristy bits.

I don't do beach holidays. They bore the tits off me. Mainly because I burn so easily and this doesn't really lend itself to lying on a beach for a week. I also am very petite so can't hold my drink so this also rules out hours in bars getting pissed on terrible beer.

We had a great holiday in Tenerife a few years back. We stayed away from the tourist bit. Went to a restaurant in the hills where they didn't speak English (was amazing), went to the villages in the north of the island, went to the capital and enjoyed a festive vibe, went to the volcano. Drank local wine. Fabulous.

It wasn't my first pick as somewhere to go because of the reputation of the island. But by habit I always look up what's on and what else you can do wherever you go on holiday. A little bit of time researching where you are going has always done me well. Well, I think Tenerife scored my best hit on why doing this is worthwhile. As it went we were really lucky as the week we were there, had a holiday in the North of the Island and there were loads of cultural events in the villages that day. This isn't something you'd be told by a tour rep.

My attitude is that there is cultural stuff everywhere you go. It's up to you to seek it out and it's not for the locals to advertise it (if they do, it ceases to retain it's culture as it's commercialised for tourists).

Tenerife is a particularly good example of tourists being short sighted and ignorant rather than the island being a tacky shit hole. It's really really not.

The OP actually echoes this issue rather than making an effort to find out about Tenerife.

Do your homework. People live on Tenerife 365 days a year. It's actually pretty insulting to them to say the culture is just geared up to tourists. Why do you think there has been a backlash against over tourism?

Just like every single place on the entire world, there are awful nasty parts and there are very lovely, very expensive luxury parts. If you don't know what the nice parts are, maybe you're tacky.

Any place that is a tourist trap is going to have its share of tackiness.

A friend goes to the Canary Islands but she and her DH speak basic Spanish and get on the local buses to go exploring the surrounding countryside and visit local restaurants and points of interest. They have a great time and no 'English pubs' in sight.

Cape Verde is nothing like the Canaries!

It's not 'brits abroad' at all.

I've just got back from Abama Tenerife which is a far cry from your perspective OP.
I did the Tenerife and Lanzarote you have described when I was much younger. It's a small part and isn't representative of the entire region.

You can choose how you wish to experience these countries.
I took my sons (8 & 5) to Cairo this year which was an amazing cultural trip seeing the Pyramids and historic Egypt. We stayed in a very nice hotel which is also part of how I prefer to travel with children.

We did Lanzarote over the Easter school holidays and I did choose a more affordable family option which wasn't the 'real' Spain but the children enjoyed which was the main objective.

Well I do agree with you so I choose to not go to those type of holidays again (I’ve been to the Canaries, Tunisia, Benidorm etc). But I have actually been and then made my decision to not go back which I think is fair enough.

They are good for family holidays with children but now I’d prefer to experience countries as a whole (rather than a beach/hotel resort) - like Japan, Iceland or South Korea.

@YaWeeFurryBastard I actually remember when I went to Lanzarote the hotel I stayed in was about 70% German and 30% British. The restaurant had a vast choice of food but the breakfasts were definitely more German style (lots of cold meats and cheese). There was a self service tea machine and toast machine in the corner. It wouldn't surprise me if it was known as the "British Corner" or something 😂We did a tour and the guide did most of it in German and just a quick translation into English.
Although this was almost 30 years ago so I have no idea if it's still popular with German holiday makers.

Am I being a judgy bitch and actually missing out on a perfectly nice destination?

No, I just think you're nasty to wake up this morning and wonder how you can piss all over the holiday choices of probably thousands of MNetters and their families.

What's made you like this that you get off on making others feel a little bit shit?

I'd save any holiday money you may have put aside and spend it on therapy if I were you.

Become a nicer person and then you'll enjoy yourself wherever you go.

Having just booked a holiday to Lanzarote 2 days ago I’m reading this through my fingers. I think I’m pretty relaxed though so hopefully it won’t be as bad as you make it out to be.

You're basing your notion of a whole group of islands on a couple of big resort towns. It's like saying the UK is tacky because you've been to Blackpool and Skegness.

No, not judgy.
Any foreign resort providing 'english food', pubs and a shop to buy the Sun orxFaily Dail is tacky.
As are all inclusives.
Go to Nice, Antibes or Menton in south of france. They speak English if required, and not topless fat-gutted men wandering around pissed at 9am

You need to take note of your own post.
Or are you do as I say not as I do?

Georgie Lanzarote is lovely! If you search on other threads you will get tips. The cesar manrique sites are amazing. The marina is excellent. Hire a car and explore the villages. Lovely island

Just got back a few weeks ago and had a great time, beautiful island, lovely weather.

Actually I just recall there was a sports bar just up from our hotel regularly full of Brits with their shirts off watching football and drinking pints of Carling but we simply didn't go in, so it had absolutely zero impact on our holiday.

I’ve been to Gran Canaria and although there was a lot of 70s concrete, there were lovely walks and places to visit. I’ve never been anywhere that didn’t have nicer parts. YABU and snobby.

Christ, obviously hit a nerve. You ok hun? Odd and rather telling that your mind leaps to wanting to make others feel like shit as opposed to being open to having my mind changed 🙄.

I’ve seen loads of horrible comments on mumsnet about things I like doing/places I like going and I honestly don’t give a shit. Everyone is different and I can think of a few things I do or have which others no doubt consider extremely tacky. That’s life I’m afraid.

Is it? The black pudding reference sounds like a dig at northerners to me.

That was my impression of the Canaries until I went. Tenerife was absolutely lovely. Wasn’t full of high rise hotel tower blocks, the hotels seem to fit in with the landscape. I thought it was absolutely lovely and would go back in a heartbeat as it was so pretty and scenic.

How does my post piss all over the holiday choices of probably thousands of MNetters and their families?

The OP clearly woke up full of nastiness and thought she'd try to make others feel like shit over how they spend their hard earned money on their families.

That and the ignorant xenophobia is why she needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.

I went to Lanzarote a few years ago, and while I didn’t love it, I did enjoy the holiday and it certainly wasn’t “tacky”

I’m not going to claim I didn’t come across any ‘Brits abroad’ places, although it wasn’t Brits causing issues to be honest, it really wasn’t hard to avoid the main touristy areas.

We hired a car (but the bus service was brilliant anyway) and explored. Found some amazing restaurants, beautiful beaches, pretty towns and villages, little markets with local sellers, boat trips, went up the volcano, “The Cracks”, etc.

Sounds like your family are a bit chavvy OP 😂 Sorry couldn't resist. Yes there are bits like that, but there's other bits too!

We went to Tenerife, it wasn't my favourite ever, but there is definitely lots of nice little villages with plenty of culture, if you're willing to get off the beaten track - hiring a car definitely helps. We went to Pascua Florida in Guia de Isora (hope I've spelt that right!), absolutely beautiful floral festival they do at Easter. I didn't hear any British accents that day - possibly because of the terrifying drive there....

There's also Mount Teide of course, really interesting landscape.

You often don't even need 'very expensive luxury' to go to the nice parts.

We've been to the Alpuljarras areas a few times (mountains between Malaga and Granada).

Just about everything is quite cheap - accommodation, restaurants, public transport, especially if you use the local bus app. Nice accommodation starts at about £50 a night, for 5 euro you can get a couple of beers or glasses of local wine that come with free tapas (real food like a slice of tortilla or pork steak on crusty bread) that are enough for lunch and for a euro or two you can go on the bus to all the little villages up in the mountains. Lots of marked hiking trails so you can go for walks from the villages for free. Plus there's loads of natural springs which feed fountains in villages so you can get as endless mineral water for nothing.

Well aren't you just better than everyone else?