Thank you to everyone that reads my reviews. I will always try and return a rate. If you read me but...
Thank you to everyone that reads my reviews. I will always try and return a rate. If you read me but I seem to be missing your reviews then please do drop me a note in my private guestbook xxx
Member since:08.09.2004
Reviews:244
Members who trust:352
LANZAROTE.
Whilst browsing through our trusty Thomson holiday brochure we came across a section for Lanzarote. We knew of the name but had no idea where it was or what it was like and so looked it up on the internet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Where is it? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lanzarote is the most easterly of the Canary Islands and is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, just 70 miles off the coast of Africa. The Canary Islands are classed as a part of Spain and are the result of volcanic eruptions. Lanzarote is just 37 miles long and 12 miles wide.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The view? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We knew the Island was going to be Volcanic but hadn't anticipated quite how spectacular it would look. During our transfer from the airport we got a taster of what the Island was like and we couldn't tear our eyes away from the rocky, stark, fascinating landscape. Most of the Island is rock and sand, with very minimal grass (I was highly amused by the 'keep off the grass' signs which were stuck in the gravel!) Everywhere you look are Volcanoes (the island has over 300 of them!) Many areas of the Island appeared to be just miles of rock and volcano with minimal or no building and very few roads. As we came into the town areas we were told by our rep that there are strict regulations on development on the island to prevent it being spoilt. Buildings, including hotels etc have to be low in height (houses no more than 2 storeys and hotels no more than 5). All buildings have to be painted white and the trimmings, doors etc can be either green or brown. There is also no billboard advertising allowed on the Island which makes it very pleasant on the eye. The little white houses look quite pretty against the backdrop of the stark rocky volcanoes
and the lack of roadside advertising makes a huge difference.
Our plane landed fairly late in the afternoon and luckily the airport wasnt very busy at all so we promptly made our way through passport control and through get our luggage. The airport was nice and spacious and very clean. The luggage claim belts were a decent size so there wasn't too much pushing and shoving while people collected their luggage! We walked outside the airport to get onto the coach and were hit by the wind! We had read that Lanzarote is quite windy as it gets the winds blowing off of the desert. Many reviews we had read had complaints about the wind but although it was a shock to start with, it cooled us down in the hot sun and kept us at a comfortable temperature. Our transfer to the hotel was smooth and only took 40 minutes from the airport of Arrecife to the resort of Playa Blanca where we were staying. We arrived at our hotel, the H10 Lanzarote Princess and were very pleasantly surprised as it was a very attractive hotel both inside and out. The lobby was immaculately clean with beautiful plants and attractive chairs and tables. The reception team were very helpful and spoke fantastic English. We had our dinner and went to bed for an early night after the days travelling.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Beach. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Our hotel was just a few metres walk from the beach Playa Dorada which was a fairly small but very pretty and clean cove. Our initial thought was that to spend a day at the beach we would have to get there very early in order to get sunbeds, although we were very surprised to arrive at 10.30am and find plenty of sunbeds still available. We spent a few days at this beach during our holiday as it was clean, relaxing and safe for my 7 year old brother. The water was very clear and there were hundreds of fish swimming around, scary looking ones and beautiful ones! There were some rocks sticking out of the water about 300 metres out to sea which my dad, brother and granddad swam out to on numerous occasions as there were amazing fish by them, there were also huge sea urchins which looked very sharp!!! There were various other beaches which we looked at, all seemed very pretty and clean as well as being surprisingly not overcrowded! Perhaps the most famous beach on Lanzarote is Papagayo beach which is a series of beaches left entirely in their natural state. There are no venders, no sunbeds, no advertising, nothing other than pure beach which is incredibly pretty. Our entire experience of the beaches in Lanzarote was a fantastic one, we couldn't fault them, although applying regular suncream was a must!! The other nice thing about the beaches that they were sheltered enough from the wind that you didn't get sand blown in your eyes every five minutes!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Places to Eat and Drink. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Scattered in the town, along the promenade and in the harbours are plenty of places to eat and drink, a few are Chinese, English, Italian etc places but we tended to stick to those owned by locals. There are so many little cafes that if you decide to stop for a drink its almost impossible to choose one as they all look so nice!! Most of them have very nicely shaded outside areas and the waiter service was fantastic wherever we went. The locals were all incredibly friendly and in general the prices were very reasonable for both food and drink. We quite often stopped in a little café for a drink or two and a snack and it was very enjoyable. Nowhere seemed too overcrowded either, despite being quite busy. For our breakfast and evening meal we ate at the hotel and the food there was amazing, by far the best we have had on any holiday.
We spent a fair few of our days just relaxing by the pool as it was such a lovely hotel and my youngest brother spent 90% of his time in the water! All of the hotels in Lanzarote have their own daytime entertainment, ours had various leisure facilities including a free gym,
Pictures of Lanzarote (Spain)
camels
mini golf, play park, pool tables, daytime activities such as rifle shooting etc and many activities for the children to do. We booked up for a few excursions with Thomson's which we were very impressed with. One was a day at the Baku waterpark on fuerteventura which was fantastic as we got the ferry over to fuerteventura (another one of the canary islands) and then it was only a 5 minute coach journey to the waterpark. It was a great day, and although a fairly small park, it had plenty to do with lots of scary slides and some nice pools. I would recommend doing this trip near the end of your holiday when you have already built up a tan so that you don't burn quite so badly!! We also went on an excursion called southern sights where we got the chance to look a various volcanoes, have a camel ride, go wine tasting and go into the TimanfayaNational Park to drive through the volcanoes and see some geothermic demonstrations. There are many many watersports available at reasonable prices and also boat trips on catamarans etc. One of the most exciting trips we did was going on a yellow submarine in Puerto Calero. The submarine goes under the Atlantic and out past some old shipwrecks, we saw hundreds of fish, including a shark! Once the submarine stops on the ocean floor, a diver goes down from a nearby boat and swims around the submarine feeding (and thus attracting millions of!) fish. It was an amazing experience and great for all the family. We booked an evening excusion to The Music Hall Tavern, a drag show in Puerto del Carmen. My dad, brothers and Grandad were a little bit unsure about the whole thing to start with, especially when we got there and it seemed sooo crowded!!! However, it truly was the funniest and most definitely the best show any of us had ever watched. It was utterly fantastic and we have been raving about it non-stop since!!! If you go to Lanzarote, make sure you go and watch the show, it is brilliant!! We booked an evening with a basket meal which was chicken and chips and then dessert and it was very very good.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Evening Entertainment ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Most evenings we stayed at our hotel and either watched the evening entertainment (the only thing about our hotel that was a bit of a let down) or spent the evening in one of the fantastic bars having a drink and playing cards. We went to a couple of local bars and a nightclub, all of which were nice although places did get quite crowded. We found that evening was a really nice time to walk along the seafront as it was a lovely temperature and everything looked very different by night. As mentioned above, the most fantastic evening entertainment we had was the drag show at the Music Hall Tavern and is an absolute must. The evenings were never boring and we generally just lazed around as we were tired after a long day in the sun!!
There are buses that run between the main resorts although there are a fair few places that they don't stop so the best way to get around is by hired car, Taxi (which are reasonable prices), bicycles or by foot. Taxis are on metres so there is no need to haggle the price!
We were incredibly impressed with our hotel and everything was perfect other than the evening entertainment. There are many hotels to choose from as well as villas etc. Everywhere looked very clean and so I would say that the best thing would be to work out what resort would be most suitable for you and then pick a hotel that takes your fancy.
We had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday, everything went smoothly and we had a really great time. The sun was hot but the pleasant breeze took away its harshness. There is plenty to do on the island and the beaches and volcanic areas are beautiful. It is an island great for all ages as i went with my grandparents, my dad, my 16 year old brother and my 7 year old brother. It is a 4 hour flight from Gatwick airportin the UK but once you arrive there is no long travelling as everywhere is fairly close. We have enjoyed many holidays in the past and normally look for somewhere different to go each year but Lanzarote is definitely somewhere we would consider going back to in the future. Although not what you could describe as being particularly 'pretty', the Island is certainly breathtaking and fascinating. I would definitely recommend it as a holiday destination.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I'd be a definite for the submarine experience having never been a submariner, it would shut up some of my old navy mates who were 'sardines' as I called them ! LOL.
Craigshadow12 25.07.2007 03:45
Very well writen! i take my hat off to you:) Great review! Craig
gizmogizmo 08.12.2006 07:30
A very helpful and informative review/ Sounds like an interesting place to visit. Linz
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
We propose some unforgettable holidays in "El Capistrano Villages", in Nerja, the privileged balcony of the Costa del Sol. "El Capistrano Villages" is, possibly, the most beautiful and exclusive Urbanisation on the Costa del Sol.
Advantages: Good legroom, Surprisingly good inflight meals, wide selection of entertainment, friendly crew Disadvantages: As flying in Premium I went into Economy and it looked cramped, although I can not properly say!!!
LukeyBoy 16.08.2006 (18.09.2006)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Monarch Airlines
Sep 22nd, 2006
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (92%):
helpful by (1%):
