Lanzarote, no idea!

[wowwhydoesmybackhurtwaaah]

Looking for advice/opinions on Lanzarote for end of June....

I've never been to Lanza or anywhere even like it. We've usually taken the children to the South of France, the Italian lakes etc, in mobile home parks, plus a couple of AI type resorts in different places.

We're on a small enough budget this year and people keep recommending Lanzarote, specifically puerto del carmen? I'm told that apartments can be very reasonable and eating/drinking/activities are pretty cheap.

We are two adults, two teens, and twin 6 year old girls. Any advice/experience of Lanzarote that time of year and prices would be great.
Thanks

I hated Lanzarote. We went to Costa Teguise last August and stayed in the Barcelo Active resort. Hated the island, hated the hotel. It was too windy, not warm enough in the mornings or evenings - very cloudy. All the kids moaned about being cold constantly. It was still 25-28 degrees but felt cooler.
Nothing much to see around our hotel. Hotel itself was awful for an AI and lots of complaints were made from others as well as us.
All in all, I'm glad my dad took us and it as his money because I'd have been furious if we spent 5k on that holiday.
We have previously done AI in Mallorca at the same time of year and had a much better time. Hotel was much better, and the island itself much nicer. Weather was hot but not unbearable.
I'd go to Tenerife over Lanzerote for a cheap and cheerful AI holiday. I used to go every year when I was younger with my dad. Weather was good, not particularly windy. Lots more to do, and found it much more picturesque than Lanzerote although I haven't been for about 16 years so perhaps it isn't as nice as I remember!

We went to Costa Teguise in late August. It was very sunny for us and the breeze was nice. We had a 2 bed apartment (newly refurbished so brand new inside) in a quiet resort with 4 pools. The beach was 5 mins walk away and there is a smaller beach a slightly longer walk away where kids were snorkelling. There’s a huge selection of restaurants, some catering to Brits but others higher in quality. There is a water park which the children 13, 10 and 6 really enjoyed. I found it very chilled and glad we didn’t go to PDC. I would go back and normally I’m quite fussy usually go to California or FL with the kids. Simple but nice. We booked it last
minute and weren’t sure what to expect.

Been numerous times with kids and without. Puerto del Carmen is my favourite resort as it’s pretty, the beach is lovely and the old town is good to eat in and the antithesis of brits abroad. All the Manrique stuff is stunning, the old capital Arricefe is like something out of the Wild West and the new Arricefe us a good electric scooter hop from PdC. Just avoid the bingo and the Sunday dinners and explore the area, it’s bloody lovely!

We absolutely love lanzarote and Puerto del Carmen in particular. I would echo the poster quoted.
We have been going since 2001 when my kids were at primary school, probably been 25 times in total. Already booked twice for this year. My ‘kids ‘ now go with their partners and several times we’ve all been together. If I could afford to buy a place it would be here and when we were allowed to travel again after the pandemic it was the first place I returned to. We go all over on holiday but rarely return to places except here.
Re the weather in June, there is always a breeze, it will seem cooler than the stated temperature which will in itself be lower than mainland Spain. The UV will be off scale tho and over the years we’ve seen people burnt because “it’s not hot “.
Resorts : Costa Teguise is the windiest, lovely beach, nice selection of restaurants
Playa Blanca, nice prom and Marina, more hotel based, restaurants seemed fewer and more expensive. Couple of nice beaches.
Puerto del Carmen, this is a long resort encompassing Matagorda and Playa Pocillos. Over 6km of beaches. Loads of apartments sleeping 6. Lovely shopping centre, proper working harbour, outdoor cinema, bowling, crazy golf, bike hire and proper non traffic bike lanes. Loads for kids to do. Over 350 restaurants from proper fine dining to chips and egg! It is so not Benidorm, there is one tiny bit that’s not great but easily avoided Eating out is much much cheaper than at home, we tend to sick to the higher end restaurants and for 5 adults it was coming in around 120 quid in total, including steaks and wine. Good buses to have a day in Costa Teguise, Playa Blanca and Arrecife. Lovely boat ride available to Puerto Calero but can also do a cliff top walk. Can walk or cycle to end of runway and watch planes about 30ft above your head, your kids would love that. Harbour end is hilly but as you get nearer to Pocillos it gets flatter. If you want quieter but the option of busy I would stay Pocillos or Matagorda end.
It beats Tenerife hands down for me

I've stayed in Puerto del Carmen at Suite Hotel Fariones. The beach here is great, but the smell of curry and fried breakfast wafts across which was abit off putting.
There's a great fish restaurant on the old harbour side. My 6 year old loved feeding the fish swimming in the harbour with bread while waiting for the meal. The water is so clear and the fish are quite big and fast! The food, feeding the fish and the atmosphere was so good we went several times.
We also enjoyed the submarine at Puerto Calerto, we saw garden eels - my favourite marine animal!

Lovely island to drive around! No high rises, I like peace and quiet so puerto calaero is where I like to stay. If you want a little more livelier you can get a water taxi to Puerto del carmen.
Love all the Cesar manrique places: cactus garden, mirador del Rio, Jameos de aqua, cesar manriques house, his monuments as well.
I also liked Costa teguise when I went last year and nice square on an evening, enjoyed a stroll along the sea front.
It is windy, but I like how the wind cools us down.

But on the other hand, we've had lots of cultural and, for want of a better word, middle class holidays and I'm looking for cheap and cheerful sun sea and sangria type holiday with waterparks and snorkeling and cheap but nice food.
This is what we wanted, and actually it was more than fine, I keep remembering other things we did, had some delicious steaks too. PDC is more Brits abroad than any of the other resort locations. If you like cultural and don't mind driving, see my posts above there's plenty to choose from. As I said I wouldn't go back time and time again but we did have a nice holiday there and it was very reasonable. Water sports in Costa teguise are good if your teens are that way inclined. I also found lots of multi room apartment type accommodation in resorts rather than just a hotel room, which with children is ideal

I forgot to put earlier, amazing snorkelling or scuba at Playa Chica in Puerto del carmen. Also parasailing, jet skis etc

We stayed here as well October last year. Really liked it

Puerto del Carmen is the Blackpool of the canaries, it's very brits abroad/Irish sports bar.

Playa Blanca is slightly better.

We much preferred Tenerife. Parts of northern Tenerife feel more like Costa Rica, very green and tropical.

Puerto de la Carmen feels a bit like a nicer Great Yarmouth with more sun but the same amount of wind and deep fried food smell.

Puerto Del Carmen is nice but it'll be very hot I think.

No need to go so far. Cyprus maybe?

Personally I think Correlejo in Fuerteventura is nicer .There’s a beautiful long white sandy beach within walking distance. A lovely little town , port and harbour to walk around in the evening. .
I went last year to Lanzarote for the first time and was underwhelmed really. .

Lanzagrotty

Not heard that since 1992!

Loved Puerto Del Carmen but that was 30 years ago, not sure what it is like now. X

I like it. Plenty to do. Clean. Safe. Not as bad as other brit resorts at all

We went to Lanzarote in October, we were a few km away from Puerto del Carmen. I thought it was fine, but then a holiday is what you make it.
Tenerife also has a lot of Brits abroad type resorts and is more expensive.
In Lanzarote DH bought a multi ticket for 6 attractions and we pre hired a car for a few days and saw those. It's not Tuscany but for a beach holiday I think it would be fine.

Puerto del Carmen has a good range of eating places. Yes it has many 'Brits abroad' places, but also Canarian, Italian, Chinese, Tex-Mex etc.
It also does have those annoying people trying to get you into their establishment. When DD1 used to come with us we got her to reply in good Spanish which sometimes confused them.

We're booked for Costa Teguise in August, so fingers crossed. When I last went I was shocked at how nice Lanzarote was in general.
Puerto del Carmen was my least favourite place we visited but from my research pre-booking it seems to be a very marmite place.

The western end of PDC near the marina and Old town is a lot nicer than the 'strip' bit.

Playa Chica is a nice little beach and don't go any further east than there is my recommendation.

The other thing I'd say OP is you may well have missed the boat for cheap flights, so you might find that a package deal ( we like Jet2) is no more expensive than booking your own flights and apartment.

Our DS likes having a gym and spa on site and usually at hotels the pool is heated, unlike apartment complexes.

I'd price it up and see what it looks like. Also if budget is one of your main factors you can sort by price on Jet2 holidays, or if you want to do flights separately look at skyscanner- you might end up with something completely left field but wonderful.

If it was February then I can see why you would pick it- as it's June I can't see why you wouldn't just look for a budget deal in Majorca/menorca or even Greek islands- much nicer in my opinion and all those places have budget food options too or do an apartment go to the supermarkets and eat in a few nights if necessary.

Tbh I wouldn’t go to the Canaries in summer - there are far better options across Europe. The Canaries’ USP is that they are warm in winter and therefore offer a short haul ‘winter sun’ option.

I’ve been to Lanzarote twice, both times in December. Good weather, very laid back. PDC is fine - just stay by the harbour and avoid the strip.
I can recommend specific restaurants (incl. vegan/gluten free) if you decide to go.

@Usernamen I’d love any gf recommendations for PDC please.

We really liked plays blanca and the restaurants were great with the kids.