Holidays in Lanzarote (Canary Islands)

Resorts: Costa Teguise Puerto del Carmen Playa Blanca

The stunning volcanic scenery, fabulous climate, golden beaches and affordable prices make Lanzarote the ideal family holiday destination. The bonus is that it is only a four hour flight from the UK and Ireland.

Local artist Cesar Manrique made sure that the island embraced tourism but was not spoilt by it. Many of his sculptures can be seen around the island and his house in Tahiche, just outside Costa Teguise, is well worth a visit.

Eating out is relatively cheap in Lanzarote which is one of the reasons why so many families enjoy a self catering holiday on the island. Local supermarkets are also reasonably priced and stock everything needed for a relaxing BBQ by the pool in your villa.

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Resorts in Lanzarote

Costa Teguise

Costa Teguise has an excellent selection of restaurants from the traditional Canarian restaurants serving fresh fish and wrinkly potatoes (a local delicacy) to a handful of pricier establishments serving international cuisine.

As you would expect from a resort which has been popular with the British for over 20 years there are also plenty of places to get a fry-up and watch the football. Costa Teguise has restaurants to suit all budgets, but it is generally slightly cheaper than Puerto del Carmen or Playa Blanca.

The great thing about Costa Teguise is that the self catering holiday accommodation is side-by-side with the hotels and nightlife. Many developments of villas with private swimming pools in Costa Teguise are situated just a five minute stroll from the shops, bars, restaurants and beaches.

Costa Teguise is a great place to pick up a bargain if it's perfume or electronic goods you are looking for. The Friday night market is a great place to buy souvenirs and gifts to take home. The nightlife in Costa Teguise is aimed more at couples and families rather than the 18 - 30 crowd. As well as hundreds of restaurants there is also an excellent selection of bars, many of which have live music and stay open well into the early hours.

Costa Teguise is very popular with windsurfers. Las Cucharas beach in the heart of the resort is a Mecca for windsurfers and is only a couple of minutes' walk from several of Villas2Go's villas and apartments. The are several scuba diving schools in the resort which offer one-day trial dives and longer courses to holiday makers. Costa Teguise is also the location of Lanzarote's only golf course and water park.

There is a regular bus service from Costa Teguise to the island's capital, Arrecife, and also to the other resorts of Puerto del Carmen and Playa Blanca.

Puerto del Carmen

Puerto del Carmen is the longest standing resort in Lanzarote and first became popular with the Norwegians way back in the 1960s. At the heart of Puerto del Carmen is the old harbour or "Old Town" as it is often called. Fishermen still bring their catch into the harbour and fresh fish can be bought at the local fishmongers. It is also the location of many popular restaurants and late-opening bars. As well as the usual selection of British and Irish bars which seem to be everywhere these days, there is also an excellent choice of local fish restaurants and places offering a more international menu. The "Old Town" end of Puerto del Carmen is quite hilly which means many of the villas and apartments have excellent sea views. Just a five minute walk from the harbour there is a pretty, coved beach called Playa Chica. As well being very popular with families this is also the starting point for many scuba diving schools.

Los Mojones is an exclusive residential area nestled about a ten minute walk from the harbour and is where many of the most luxurious villas in Puerto del Carmen are located. Many of the villas in Los Mojones are set in their own grounds and offer a good level of privacy for holiday makers.

Shopping in Puerto del Carmen is mainly along the Avenida (locally known as "The Strip") and the relatively new Biosfera Shopping Centre. "The Strip" is a five kilometer long street which has the sea on one side and a long row of shops, bars and restaurants on the other. It is said that you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in a different establishment everyday for a year and still not have tried every restaurant on "The Strip"! Again, perfume and electronic goods are popular purchases with tourists. Biosfera Shopping Centre opened a couple of years ago and is the home of a handful of popular Spanish clothes stores such as Zara and Mango.

Most of the self catering holiday accommodation in Puerto del Carmen is located either in Los Mojones, The Old Town, Matagordaor on streets running parallel to the "The Strip". At the other end of the town to the old harbour is a long golden beach called Los Pocillios which is just by the San Antonio Hotel. This end of the resort is very flat which makes it easy to get around. Within a five minute walk of Los Pocillios beach there are several developments of apartments, bungalows and villas with private pools.

Matagorda is a relatively new area of Puerto del Carmen and has its own commercial centre, beach and a selection of restaurants. It is connected to the main part of Puerto del Carmen by a pretty seafront walkway.

There are four main beaches in Puerto del Carmen - Playa Chica, Playa Matagorda, Playa Blanca (not to be confused with the resort) and Los Pocillios. All of these are golden, sandy beaches which are relatively safe for bathing. Sun beds and parasols can be hired for a few Euros a day. Jet-skis and banana rides also operate from these beaches.

The nightlife in Puerto del Carmen is lively but not over-the-top. As well as the numerous restaurants there is also an excellent selection of late-opening bars, many of which have live music. Centro Atlantico is the area to head for the nightclubs, but even this is more subdued than other resorts in mainland Spain or the Balearics.

There is a regular bus service which runs along the seafront and also goes to the island's capital, Arrecife, and the other resorts on the island.

Playa Blanca & Marina Rubicon

Many luxury hotel groups have seen the potential of Playa Blanca and there are many four and five star hotels located in the area. At the heart of Playa Blanca is the harbour which is the starting point for several excursions such as sea fishing and trips to the uninhabited island of Lobos. It is also the departure point for the ferry to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.

Just outside Playa Blanca, towards the world famous Papagayo beaches is a new marina. Marina Rubicon opened two years ago and is a chic development of exclusive boutiques, restaurants, select real estate and the Melia Volcan five star hotel. Many of the villas and bungalows in this area have private swimming pools and all are within a couple of minute’s walk of the marina. Playa Flamingo beach is only a ten minute walk from the marina and is easily reached by walking along the pretty seafront promenade.

Other areas of interest in Lanzarote

As well as the three main resorts of Playa Blanca, Costa Teguise and Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote has a lot of other places of interest for holiday makers. Cesar Manrique left the island with a legacy of a good selection of art galleries and stylish tourist attractions such as the Mirador del Rio observation point and Jameos del Agua concert venue. As with all of Manrique´s work, these tourist attractions are designed to make the most of their natural surroundings.

Teguise (not to be confused with Costa Teguise) is the ancient capital of the island. Six days a week it is a sleepy town with cobbled streets, but on a Sunday it is transformed into a huge street market. It’s a great place to pick up souvenirs and a few bargains, but it can get crowded.

In the north of the island is Playa Famara beach which is the longest natural beach in Lanzarote and is very popular with surfers and kite surfers.

The wine growing region of La Geria is worth a visit to see the unusual method of growing vines in volcanic “pits”. Finally, a holiday to Lanzarote isn’t complete without visiting Timanfaya, the volcanic area of the island which is now has national park status.