- Introduction:
- About Lanzarote:
- Why we chose Lanzarote:
- Flights from the UK:
- Where we have stayed:
- Accommodation:
- Car Hire / Transfers:
- Costa Teguise:
- Playa Blanca:
- Cuisine:
- Things to do:
- Cesar Manrique:
- Jameos del Agua:
- Cesar Manrique Foundation:
- Timanfaya National Park:
- La Geria:
- Beaches:
- Other Attractions:
- Why visit Lanzarote?
Introduction:
Are you are considering a holiday to Lanzarote? This blog is about our DIY holidays to Lanzarote and outlines the highlights of Lanzarote to help you make the most of your time on this fantastic island.
About Lanzarote:
Lanzarote is one of the Spanish Canary Islands situated off the north coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It is an incredible and unique destination where you can see volcanoes, amazing landscapes, beautiful beaches, distinctive art and architecture AND it has year-round good weather! It has an average 300 days of sunshine a year and only 125 -150 mm of rain.
Why we chose Lanzarote:
We decided to visit Lanzarote originally because my son had wanted to see a volcano. My parents recommended we go there, having visited the country a few times themselves.
Flights from the UK:
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We have flown to Lanzarote twice with Ryanair, in the summer holidays and off peak. You definitely need to book early if you are flying in the school holidays to get the best prices. We flew on midweek days to keep costs down – this saved us over £200 per person. Flights out of peak times are extremely cheap, especially with Ryanair – a third of the summer prices. Check out Skyscanner to find search for the cheapest airfares:
SEARCH FOR FLIGHTS ON SKYSCANNER
Where we have stayed:
We have stayed in two areas of Lanzarote: Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca. Personally, I much preferred Playa Blanca because the weather was warmer and less windy but we did like Costa Teguise. We thought it was more lively at night than Playa Blanca, especially in the central square.
Accommodation:
The first time we went to Lanzarote, we booked an apartment in a hotel complex in Costa Teguise which was under £1000 for the week for 5 of us. We then spent a few days in Playa Blanca in a villa complex.
The second visit, we stayed in 4* Hotel Elba in Playa Blanca. We thought this hotel resort was excellent. All the accommodations are suites which include a terrace and solarium. The pools are beautiful and in keeping with the volcanic landscapes of the island. There was a kids club and evening entertainment everyday. We enjoyed the food and wide choice and themes. You can walk to the nearest beach or take the free shuttle bus to Playa Dorado. See the link below to search for availability:
Accommodation in Lanzarote is plentiful, with hotels, villas and apartments and there are places and prices to suit most tastes and budgets.
Car Hire / Transfers:
We hired a car the first time we stayed and I booked an airport transfer the second time. We used www.rentalcars.com for car hire and I booked the airport bus transfer on www.shuttlelanzarote.com
Hiring a car is great because the island roads are easy and you can explore the highlights of Lanzarote. If you don’t hire a car, there are lots of coach trips available and there is a good bus service.
Costa Teguise:
Costa Teguise is the windiest area of Lanzarote and at times we were quite cold. On the day we visited the water park it actually rained! It has sandy beaches, restaurants, bars, shops a lively town square and a water park.
We had a pleasant stay there but we did find it a tad too windy for our liking. Sunbathing on the beach was a particularly strange experience; trying to relax with sand being intermittently blasted into our faces.
Playa Blanca:
We found the weather in Playa Blanca to be far more comfortable. Playa Blanca is a vast but laid back resort with a marina, shopping centre, 3 beaches and plentiful restaurants and bars.
Cuisine:
The food in Lanzarote consists mostly of Spanish or Mediterranean dishes but there is also Canarian food, such as Canarian potatoes with Mojo sauce, which is red or green. The red sauce is spicy and the green one garlicky and it seemed to accompany all our meals everywhere we went.
Things to do:
We found that there was lots to do in Lanzarote: beaches, water parks, boat trips, and water sports. The highlights of Lanzarote for us were unique attractions such as visiting Cesar Manrique’s creations and Timanfaya National Park.
Cesar Manrique:
One of the reasons why Lanzarote is so special and unique is because of Cesar Manrique; a famous artist from Lanzarote who had a huge influence over Lanzarote’s tourist development. He persuaded locals to preserve the island’s traditional architectural design and his amazing works that harness the natural landscape and fuse with his architectural designs can be seen on the island today. His works are definitely the top highlights of Lanzarote.
Jameos del Agua:
There are lots of Manriques’s exhibits to see; we opted to visit Jameos del Agua and his house at the Cesar Manrique Foundation. Jameos del Agua is an auditorium converted out of a series of collapsed and partly flooded volcanic caves. As you walk out of the caves you come across a vibrant blue swimming pool that only the King of Spain is allowed to swim in.
Cesar Manrique Foundation:
At the Cesar Manrique Foundation, you get to see Manrique’s house which was partly built in volcanic bubbles. The rooms are linked by passages cut into basalt rock and the pool has a lava bridge over it. The contrast of white walls, black volcanic rock, red leather sofas and the turquoise blue swimming pool is stunning.
CESAR MANRIQUE FOUNDATION INFORMATION/ OPENING TIMES
Timanfaya National Park:
Another one of the ‘must do’ highlights of Lanzarote is Timanfaya National Park. The park is 51.07 square km, covers a quarter of the island and has one active volcano there. It is where you can see a spectacular volcanic landscape that resembles Mars. Lanzarote’s dry climate has preserved the landscape and it has hardly changed in 300 years from when the eruptions happened.
There are strict regulations of how to visit the park and walking on the volcanic land is not permitted in order to preserve the landscape but also because the soil is still hot.
For this reason, we opted for a coach tour excursion but you can drive to the restaurant there and get on the official bus to travel inside the park. Once you are at the park a bus takes you across where you can see striking views of the volcanic landscape and craters.
There are also geothermal demonstrations where they pour water into holes and it shoots out like a geyser and they place clumps of straw into holes in the earth which burst into flames after touching the rocks. The restaurant even cooks the food geothermally too!
BOOK TRIP TO TIMANFAYA NATIONAL PARK
La Geria:
Our coach tour also included a camel ride and a visit to the vineyard, La Geria, which has very unusual methods of growing grapes, due to the scarcity of water on the island.
Beaches:
As well as volcanoes, amazing landscapes and art, Lanzarote has beautiful beaches, with white, gold and even black sand.
Papagayo beach is one of the best and very popular with tourists.
My favourite beach is Playa Dorado which is the main beach in Playa Blanca. The water is so clear that it looks like a swimming pool and you can swim in its calm waters to a big rock in the centre of the bay.
There are a few black sand beaches but we did not visit any while we were there. Another place I have yet to visit is Los Charcones, which is a set of natural water pools close to Playa Blanca, where you can go swimming and snorkelling.
Other Attractions:
Other attractions include a submarine ride, a western style theme park and dolphin boat cruises.
Why visit Lanzarote?
Lanzarote is an incredible island which offers far more than your average beach holiday. The contrasting volcanic landscapes and Manrique influenced architecture make it aesthetically pleasing and a place that you cannot forget. With airfares by Ryanair as cheap as £80 return and abundance of reasonably priced accommodation, it is definitely a destination worth checking out.
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