Canary Islands Holidays - Lanzarote   by Ian Mercer

in Travel    (submitted 2010-02-18)

Lanzarote is one of the seven main islands which make up the Canarian archipelago. The Canaries are situated in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of North West Africa. The islands were formed as a result of volcanic activity many thousands of years ago. The archipelago contains two of Spain's provinces, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria contains the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, whilst Santa Cruz de Tenerife contains La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro plus of course Tenerife itself. The Canaries were known in days gone by as The Fortunate Islands, this was due to their reputation for having a year round Spring-like climate. This amazing climate is due in large part to the geographical location of the archipelago, it laying close to the Tropic of Cancer. This brings us nicely to the topic of holidays. In this article I am going to concentrate on the island of Lanzarote, I will hopefully get around to covering the other islands in individual, subsequent articles.

Awarded the Biosphere Reserve tag by UNESCO, used for location work in countless movies, a tiny island that is home to over 100 volcanoes, used as a backdrop in some of the most prestigious of ad campaigns, practically covered in lava fields, visited by hordes of "bucket and spade" tourists each year, chosen by many international celebrities as a holiday destination. Lanzarote really is in every sense of the word, an island of contrasts. You either love it or you hate it, seldom do you come accross anyone who says that it is just OK!
Lanzarote has something for everyone, you just have to get out there and find it. Occasionally you will hear Lanzarote referred to as boring and sometimes even "tacky", but this normally comes from the mouths of people who seem to only equate Lanzarote with Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise or Playa Blanca. For the traveller who is prepared to get out and about, Lanzarote can be a magical place. Outside the main tourist resorts and the capital, Lanzarote is still pretty much unspoilt. Sure, there has been development and some would say too much, but it is a developing world that we live in!

Back to the main resorts of which there are three, Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca. Puerto del Carmen is the longest established and remains the most popular of the three. It provides the ideal family holiday destination, catering to every imaginable need. Whether you want self catering apartment, hotel or super luxury, staffed villa, you will find it in Puerto del Carmen. If you want the typical seaside resort with plenty of nightlife and entertainment, along with family eateries it's here, but so are idyllic, peaceful places, and fine dining. With miles of sandy beach, some stretches quiet and some stretches anything but, this really is a great family holiday destination.
Puerto del Carmen also boasts a small marina, a golf course, a theme park and fabulous views accross to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura. Just a short distance (5mins by road, lies Puerto Calero, a luxury marina resort visited by some of the swankiest yachts around. Puerto Calero has a couple of hotels, a good range of shops and restaurants and a number of highly luxurious homes.

Costa Teguise was the second of the main resorts to be developed, it is totally different to Puerto del Carmen in feel. It is not laid out along "the strip", most of it's commercial activities; shops, bars and restaurants etc, are situated in a number of small "centro comerciales". This leaves the coastal promenade comparatively free to be enjoyed by pedestrians and cyclists. Costa Teguise offers several smaller beaches interspersed with sections of rocky coastline. Lanzarote's first golf course is here in Costa Teguise, golfer friends tell me that it is a very difficult course to play. This is mainly due to the strong winds coming straight in from the Atlantic Ocean. The strong winds also make Costa Teguise a mecca for windsurfers from all over the world. In Costa Teguise you will also find a large house which was built as a holiday home for the late King Hussein of Jordan, he gave it to King Juan Carlos of Spain who in turn, as demanded by protocol, gifted it to the government. As a consequence, Costa Teguise frequently has royals and politicians to visit.

Playa Blanca, on the southernmost tip of Lanzarote, is the latest resort to undergo large scale tourist development. Only 20 years ago it was just a small fishing village with a very small number of tourist beds, today it is jockeying with Puerto del Carmen for the number one spot in family oriented resorts. In Playa Blanca you will find Lanzarote's second 1st class marina, plus the harbour from where you can take the ferry to Fuerteventura. This is a very popular day out, and if you take the high speed ferry, the crossing time is only about 20mins, making it quite feasible to pop over for a few hours.

Finally we come to the magic of the real Lanzarote! It is not something that is easy to describe, but if you come to the real Lanzarote you will know what I mean. It could be watching the Sun go down behind the volcanoes, or it could be watching the Sun setting on the ocean, whilst eating seafood on the terrace of a small restaurant in one of the many fishing villages. It could be spending a day on the chutes at the water park or spending a day in a hydrotherapy spa. But then again, it could be hang gliding, surfing, camel riding, eating food cooked over the heat of a volcano, scuba diving, joining in the carnival parade, snorkling, horse riding and I could go on and on, but I am sure you are getting the message by now - Lanzarote is not in the least boring, nor is it tacky. At least, not if you take the time to visit the real Lanzarote, the Lanzarote which lies outside the major tourist destinations.

About the Author

Ian writes articles on a number of subjects, mainly within the travel and health categories. Visit his latest website at http://www.memoryfoambedtopperonline.com/ which helps people choose the ideal memory foam bed topper for their needs.