Lanzarote: Playa Blanca or Puerto del Carmen?

[OMGitsnotgood]

Looking for some winter sun. Fancying Lanzarote. Have been recommended either Playa del Carmen or Playa Blanca by different friends. Only adults, no children.
We don't need clubs but want it to have a bit of a buzz, don't want it too quiet. Need good restaurants and a nice town to walk around of an evening.
We like being by the sea but don't spend time on the beach.
What are the pros and cons of each resort? Or any others we should consider?

Whilst this will largely be a 'chill in the sun' holiday, we wouldn't spend the whole time by the pool and would like to visit lovely towns and villages/ sights etc so any recommendations would be appreciated (not water parks)

Thanks

Well it took until 23:26, but this is the most nonsense I’ve read today.
PDC is fine if you explore the beach / town and avoid the bars etc

Thank you, some great suggestions. Very happy with self catering, even if we stay in hotels we only ever do B&B, trying different restaurants is important to us, local cuisine & seafood are our favourites.

We stayed in Playa Flamingo which was about a thousand times nicer than Playa Blanca or PDC (well we only drove through PDC but there was litter everywhere). From Playa Flamingo though you can walk the promenade down to Playa Blanca for your fill of bars, Brits abroad and tourist tat. We liked going down for a bit, but we loved coming back.

Bungalos Velasquez. We stayed there 4 years ago, absolutely stunning. They are in the centre on the seafront but actually down on the rocks, almost invisible from the promenade. Beautiful views and steps away from the sea.

Hi @Sybila can you tell me the names of your recommendations in PDC - looking for upmarket/authentic/Spanish restaurants rather than Indian/Chinese/Italian etc

I’ve stayed a few times and I think I prefer Costa Teguise. It’s closer to the amazing cesar manrique sites for exploring. The north coastal villages and Teguise itself is lovely. CT has lovely beaches and good restaurants. I do like the Marina at Blanca though.

Costa Teguise is lovely. So many different appartments with budgets to suit. Same for restaurants.

Join the FB group - it's super helpful!

Also @Copperoliverbear @OMGitsnotgood @HappiestSleeping @Roselilly36 @dreamingofsun @Hyacinth1000 @Usernamen @Dentalpainsucks @TM1979 @Pippu @Deathbyfluffy

Would love to hear your personal favourite authentic quality restaurants in PDC (or in Lanza) happy to drive for something good / off the beaten track - going next week - can’t wait.

Staying in Puerto Calero for the second time but didn’t rate any of the restaurants there that we tried. Maybe we missed one? Our favs on the island are El Risco and Caleta Famara in Famara and a couple in Arrieta

We go a good few times a year to Playa Blanca.
Puerto del Carmen is a ' strip" of bars/ restaurants and tat shops with a very long beach.
Playa Blanca is spread out over 6 miles with various areas and 3 beaches.
Starting at the south end with Faro Park.. with a few lovely restaurants and a community.
You then come to Flamingo beach area.. gorgeous beach.. more restaurants and hotels..
Further along is Playa limonnes with the ferry port ( catch a ferry to Fueterventura) its very new in that area now.. a complex with more restaurants.
Then you come to the main town.. with a front where you can walk along with loads of restaurants and shops and a precinct and more up market than Peurto del Carmen..
Then the papaygo centre with a stunning beach .
Then the Rubicon marina .. with its stunning yachts.. upmarket shopping centre and the " best" restaurants.
We always hire a villa or a bungalow with communal pool.. ( we have been in hotels in the past). We always hire a car from airport ( Autoreisen.. a Canadian firm.. book on line pay at airport.. price you see is price you pay.. no hidden. Extras).
Been going 20 years.
Ask me anything.

I agree with this. One of my best holiday memories was at PDC old town on a Friday night, sitting by the harbour, eating, drinking and watching the world go by.

I like Playa Blanca too. I'd happily go back to both.

porkfest - we have been to a number of local ones around the verde apartments in PC old town. You could walk there from your resort along the cliffs. We also like some in playa blanca harbour area. and an irish pub just PB side of the airport - good for people watching and the planes. we also like standing under the flight path of the planes as they land. but none of these are really upmarket/authentic type restaurants that you would travel to - just good value well cooked food.

Hi there. In the old town we loved
Mardeleva - set high but great view. English woman host married to Lanza boat owner, amazing fish - prob have to book

El cangre rojo on harbour, up stairs ask for window seat to people watch. Old school Spanish with good menu and lovely staff. Looks a bit old fashioned but is just lovely

rooftop cocktail bar - 4 Dutch women run this - the absolute best cocktails

on the strip we liked Sebastian’s Atlantic lounge - amazing views and nice food.

also there’s a beach bar called ancla if it’s still there. It’s near Sebastian’s at the bottom of a building that looks derelict- you climb down the steps to the bottom and there’s this amazing place where they host flamenco and music and fo pizzas and lovely food. It’s right on the beach - shuts early but if it’s still there it is fantastic especially on a weekend

We always go for the views as you can tell! Some lovely places so have a great time

@Porkfest It's 5 years since I was in PDC but the two that stand out were the Himalaya Restaurant on the prom somewhere past the casino and Pizzería Capri where they did a fabulous prawn linguine.
Sadly our favourite music bar shut down. The Island bar was an experience.

I am currently in a quandary about which to book too. We have narrowed our search for accommodation in January to two places. The accommodation option in PDC is nicer but I’m not sure about the area being so close to the airport. Are the planes close enough to be noisy?

I've been to PDC many times and never noticed the planes.
I'm surprised you think the accommodation is nicer, are you self catering? If so then I agree but there are very few 4/5* hotels in PDC, you have to go up to the next resort.
Bungalows Velasquez are fabulous.

We love Playa Blanca! We stayed at the Sandos Papagayo hotel last year, my DC enjoyed the foam party in the pool one afternoon, I liked the sunset cocktails on the terrace every evening 😍

We hadn't been back for a while (we used to go a lot pre-dc) and we did notice that the main strip looked a bit run down compared with ten years ago, however the marina has grown a lot and is pretty smart.

I've only been to Playa Blanca but really enjoyed it - lots of nice eating out places. I agree with the PP about the Rubicon Marina area but was so annoyed we only found it on our last day.

However, I almost had my bag snatched by some guy coming up slowly behind us on a moped.

Where in PDC? The western end of PDC (around marina, old town and Playa Chica beach) is a good few miles from the airport and is a much nicer area anyway.

However, PDC stretches eastwards for some distance and is less nice and is increasing closer to the airport, so might be affected by aircraft noise, it would depend on the flight paths - look at Flight Radar if you're interested to see which way the planes take off/land.

What you have to remember is that Matogorda , playa Pocillos and PDC itself is counted as PDC in brochures. Only the matagorda area will have airport noise. We stayed there recently and it was really noticeable on day one but after that it didn’t bother us at all. Also Matagorda is quite far from the town so it’s a long walk or a taxi to central PDC

Hi any great suggestions of where to stay? Thank you

Hi any suggestions of where to stay bungalow with shared pool? Thanks

PDC is much nicer and has more to do. Playa Blanca is very built up with lots of hotels and rather touristy

It depends on which part of PB and which part of PDC as both have quiet and built up parts but in my experience it's PDC that's more touristy especially east of Playa Chica beach.

@girgirlboy we stayed here between Playa Blanca and the (beautiful) Papagayo beaches.

There were a couple of restaurants locally and a nice independent supermarket (there was also a small shopping/restaurant complex designed to look like a Spanish White village but sadly it was mostly empty but this was a few years ago I don't know if it's picked up). But it was a 30-40 minute walk along the front to the PB marina area.

PDC hasn't been our place of choice since the mid 80s when it became way to busy for us. Moved on to PB and have returned there whenever we go to Lanzarote. However, it too has become very busy, particularly since the massive Barcelo hotel opened at the Marina Rubicon so we stay well off the front in a villa with a pool.
We do go down to the prom most days and there are dozens of restaurants and bars along the front. A new Lidl has just opened making it easier to shop without going out of resort for a large supermarket like Mercadona.

We have just booked at the Alondra Villas. Can’t say what it’s like yet but the reviews look ace.