Canary Islands March 2016

[AliceMum09]

Hi,

Looking for some ideas for next March, school breaks up on Friday 18th March and I was wondering about going to one of the Canary Islands for a week or 10 days. But it's somewhere I've never been!

Can you recommend an island or resort? Probably not Tenerife because there is a chance my in-laws will be at their apartment there and I don't want to have to see them!

Open to any board basis, family with three children who will be 10, 7 and 3. I'm not keen on 'Brits abroad' type places, or resorts that have endless English pubs and restaurants with kids menus of nuggets and chips etc. We're going to Puerto Pollensa in just over 3 weeks, we've been there many times so that's my benchmark! Some form of kids club would be good, my children are all really sociable but also tend to argue non-stop with each other so if I can split them up and find other children for them to play with that would be a bonus!

Many thanks for any input! I've tried looking online, but it's hard when you have no idea what's what.

Hi there, we have holidayed on Gran Canaria many times, love the climate and we are creatures of habit so once we find somewhere we like we tend to return!

We have stayed here a few times:

www.lopesan.com/en/hotel-lopesan-costa-meloneras-resort_1l5.html

and here a few times

www.lopesan.com/en/hotel-lopesan-villa-del-conde-resort_1l4.html

we loved both of them and last year we stayed here

www.cordialcanarias.com/en/hotel_holidays_mogan_playa.html

absolutely loved it, totally different vibe in Mogan but beautiful all the same. We had a family suite which was basically 2 large bedrooms with a hallway inbetween, 2 huge bathrooms, two balconies etc it was perfect for us.

HTH.

Sorry meant to add, a good idea is to search on Trip Advisor. Pick an island and then narrow your search to meet the criteria you're after. Then read the reviews.

I also think that Gran Canaria is the safest bet weather-wise at that time of year.

Lucky ducks! Enjoy

Look at Lanzarote - Old town (west) end of Puerto del Carmen or Playa Blanca.There are some British pubs, but there are also plenty of local and international places too. Mumsnet favourite is Princess Yaiza in Playa Blanca.

Lovely beaches, easy to travel around the island, volcano park, caves, boat trips to neighbouring islands, fantastic snorkelling. In Lanzarote there's lots of Bungalow complexes, which is what we tend to use, but they might be too small for a family of 5. We're hoping to go again early next year, by which time, they should have finished the underwater sculpture park.

The sea might be a bit cold that time of year, but it's hit and miss - our experience of the Canaries in various years have been:

January, Tenerife - hot and sunny all week, sea warm enough to swim in
Tenerife, May - hot and sunny all week, sea warm enough to swim in
Tenerife, April - half a week stormy, half a week quite warm and warm sea.
Lanzarote early February - cloudy but dry and sometimes sunny - sea cold but fine in wetsuits but the locals said they had just had the worst winter in years.

We've been to Gran Canaria which we loved. It was October half term though so it sure how the weather compared. We stayed in Amadores which was gorgeous, not at all Brits abroad.

Been to Lanzarote four times in last 4 years in March. Have always stayed in self catering villas outside of resort areas - if you are happy to hire a car for shopping, beach and sight seeing then it's a good way to escape the Brits abroad phenomenon. Loads to see, family friendly everywhere, sea will be chilly but DS and DH went in wearing wetsuits with no problems. Can send you links to villas we've stayed at if you like but bear in mind they are 'remote' by resort standards so if you prefer to have amenities on your doorstep you might b better of in Playa Blanca or Costa Teguise (Puerto del Carmen is awful).

Great, thank you for all the pointers!