Lanzarote

Curlz24

Did a search and want more up to date answers.

So I won a holiday,Going soon enough,Week in a 4 or 5* in Puerto Del Carmen?

Could people tell me of their experiences there please,

The do's and donts of the place.


Many Thanks.

Peyton Manning

I was there 2 years ago for Christmas and am going back again this year. Had a great time tbh, spent most of my days relaxing on the beach.

There's a zoo called Rancho Texas which is a great day out (make sure you check out the bird shows, there's two of them afaik, one outdoors and one indoors. The indoor one is brilliant and really funny). If you have kids, they'll love it, but feck it, Im 22 and I loved it myself!

We also visited a volcano where you can take a camel ride which was pretty cool. The night life is great craic, there'll be loads of Irish and British people there. I wouldn't buy any electronics though on the strip, their well dodgy. Some really nice restaurants there too.

rsta

Nice one! I wouldn't mind winning a holiday.. Congrats to you

Well, I've been there a few times and its a gorgeous island. Rent a car for a day and take a spin around the island.

Puerto del Carmen is a busy little town. There is the old town and the new town. Most of the bars and clubs are in the new town along the strip. The old town is quieter, but has some cool little bars.

A lot of the shops bake fresh bread every morning, its very tasty and the smell coming out onto the streets is seriously tempting If you self catering, I'd recommend getting it!

The main beach is great, long and sandy, plenty of sun loungers which you pay to rent per day. I can't remember how much but its cheap enough.

There is plenty of duty free shops too, selling perfume, beauty products, drink, cigs etc. And the usual touristy stuff.

I love it there, I'd recommend it all!

Well except for Titty trollopes 'comedy' show in the Music tavern along the main strip. It was sooooo lame. It was just a bunch of old men in drag miming to a load of songs. The jokes where so poor. Total waste of money.

I do recommend Cafe La Ola on the beachfront. Its open day and night. Has those nice 'day beds' where you can lay and relax in the sun with a cocktail! They do have a restaurant part too and the food is really nice.

Curlz24

Some great info there guys,Thanks so much:)



What about night life? Whats to do?

Whats the cost of hiring a car?
Can you hire mopeds?

Any nices places to eat we need to know about?


Tell me everything:p

xzanti

I was there for a week last Summer and loved it.. Weather is always smashing but it does cool down quite a lot at night time compared to the other Canarie Islands and it gets quite breezy, so be sure to bring a cardi with you if you're heading out..

Nightlife's not the best I've seen, clubs were very quiet when we were there but there is craic if you look for it, Ceasars is probably the biggest of the clubs and the busiest but there's loads of bars with drag shows and all that jazz if that's what you're into.

Food wise, there are loads of nice restaurants, Lani's are a chain of restaurants in the resort, you'll see them everywhere but the nicest is Lani's Canteena in the New Town, they do Tex Mex and the food is gorgeous, there's also a lovely place along the sea front called Sunset Beach, we ate lunch in there almost every day, it's dirt cheap and the food is really nice..

Excursions, I would highly recommend the Catamaran trip, it's about 60 quid but well worth it, you get lunch on the boat and a free bar (if you go on the adults only one, there's a family one aswel) they take you out to a lovely secluded beach in Fuertavenura and there's jetskis and snorkeling on offer, all inclusive in the price.. I really enjoyed the day..

You won't go short of things to keep you amused anyway, you'll have a ball

Offside

xzanti wrote: »

I was there for a week last Summer and loved it.. Weather is always smashing but it does cool down quite a lot at night time compared to the other Canarie Islands and it gets quite breezy, so be sure to bring a cardi with you if you're heading out..

Nightlife's not the best I've seen, clubs were very quiet when we were there but there is craic if you look for it, Ceasars is probably the biggest of the clubs and the busiest but there's loads of bars with drag shows and all that jazz if that's what you're into.

Food wise, there are loads of nice restaurants, Lani's are a chain of restaurants in the resort, you'll see them everywhere but the nicest is Lani's Canteena in the New Town, they do Tex Mex and the food is gorgeous, there's also a lovely place along the sea front called Sunset Beach, we ate lunch in there almost every day, it's dirt cheap and the food is really nice..

Excursions, I would highly recommend the Catamaran trip, it's about 60 quid but well worth it, you get lunch on the boat and a free bar (if you go on the adults only one, there's a family one aswel) they take you out to a lovely secluded beach in Fuertavenura and there's jetskis and snorkeling on offer, all inclusive in the price.. I really enjoyed the day..

You won't go short of things to keep you amused anyway, you'll have a ball

I was there in late January. Beware that at this time of the year its not that busy and the nightclub reps will literally hound you, by the end of the week I was getting very annoyed. Casears won't be open it's only open in the summer but there are plenty of places open till 4 am and then Club 928 is the late night club.

Cataraman trip is very good, would also reccomend it.

For food me and my friends found an amazing place called Maritoni's, it's on the strip in the new town and doesn't look like much from the outside, but noticing it was absolutely packed every single night we decided to go for it, 20 minute wait for a table and the best food I've ever had in lanzarote, for far more decent prices than some of the crap the restaurants there can feed you. We ate there every night after this, can't reccomend it more!

xzanti

Offside wrote: »

I was there in late January. Beware that at this time of the year its not that busy and the nightclub reps will literally hound you, by the end of the week I was getting very annoyed. !

Oh God yes, this really got on my nerves, we even tried crossing the street and walking along the promenade so they'd leave us alone but they would just follow us over, they are the most agressive reps I've ever come across, I ended up just telling them they were ruining our nights out but they don't give a sh1t and they'll tell you 'I'm just doing my job' etc etc, even if you've told them to feck off the night before, they'll still come up to you and try crack some smartar5e joke about you being in bad form the previous night.. I don't think there's any way around it though tbh, short of just staying in, this was probably the only bad point to the Holiday, for us anyway..

Sundew

Oh you lucky thing. I usually go to lanzarote for a Winter break.
Don't go to P.D.C without visiting the old town.
It's lovely walking down around the harbour early on a sunny morning when nobody is about.
One of my favourite places to go for a bite to eat is this spot overlooking the harbour called El Ancla.

During the day we always pop in and order tapas and beer and it's nice in the evening too!
http://elancla-lanzarote.com/page/
Had some pretty bad experiences in the various Lanii chains which are dotted around the place.

We have rented a car for 2/3 days and the island is very easy to drive around. Like a previous poster mentioned you have to visit the Timanfaya National Park.
I also would recommend paying a visit to the Jameos del Agua
http://www.lanzarote.com/jameos-del-agua/
and these caves which are nearby
http://www.lanzarote.com/cueva-de-los-verdes/

You can also take a short boatrip from the old town to Puerto Calero and have eats there and a walk around the marina before heading back again.
If you want to get away from the strip there is also a sweet little rocky cove (Playa Chica) near the old town. It's great for snorkling and learning how to scubadive

muckety

I'd agree that the Lani restaurants aren't up to much - we had some really nice meals in the old town, the restaurants overlooking the harbour do good seafood and are not very expensive.

Moanin

El Tomat in the old town is a great eating house (A bit pricey but worth it).

2qk4u

As said above, rent a car and go exploring. Its easy to find you way around the island. We spent 3 days driving around the island and had a great time. We visited the volcano's and the markets aswell as having a root around the towns even had a look around Ikea. Best thing about it was we did it at our own pace.

Curlz24

Whats the best way of travelling to the volcanos?

Is there a dirtbuggy event you can do,Thought someone said something of this?

And again folks

Whats the cost of hiring a car?
Can you hire mopeds?



Oh,Is it expensive eating out?

rossie1977

Curlz24 wrote: »

Whats the best way of travelling to the volcanos?

Is there a dirtbuggy event you can do,Thought someone said something of this?

best way to visit the national park is via one of the many coach tour companies in PDC, cost is about 30euro per person and it includes lunch. i cannot remember the name of the company i went with but they had numerous tours to suit yourself, we did the full south day tour and that included couple of hours in the national park, you were free to ride the camels (for a fee), then onto the main area of the park where they show demonstrations and the bus took us around a narrrow road (inaccessible to public vehicles), after that we did the wine region, they brought us to the coast to see how lava had formed it and finally we went to the el golfo and its green lake http://www.teguise-lanzarote.co.uk/el-golfo/images/el-golfo-green-lake.jpg great day out even though i was very sick that day

Curlz24

Excellent info from all:D


Has anybody flown with SpainAir?

xzanti

Curlz24 wrote: »

Whats the best way of travelling to the volcanos?

Is there a dirtbuggy event you can do,Thought someone said something of this?

And again folks

Whats the cost of hiring a car?
Can you hire mopeds?



Oh,Is it expensive eating out?

We took the South Tour, they bring you up into the 'fire mountains' by bus, they take you on a camel ride, then you go wine tasting and then you go up to 'Timanfaya' which is the biggest of the volcanos, there's a cool restaurant up there where they use the heat from the volcano to cook the food, it's quite fascinating.. Oh you get a light lunch aswel included in the cost, I think we paid around 30 for it.. I'd recommend it..

You'll see statues of 'El Diablo' everywhere up there cause the villagers thought Hell was opening up when the volcanos began erupting all those years ago..

There's a green semi precious stone call Oliveena or something like that, that's mined up there, you'll see loads of it in the gift shop, I got a lovely necklace when I was there.. also Aloe Vera is farmed up there so I stocked up great for skin conditions..

Can't think of any more info off hand..

I flew to Tenerife with Spanair a few years ago and from what I remember I'd no complaints, fairly good airline..

bob50

Hi Everyone thats been to Puerto del carmen

Would any of you recommened going there for a weeks hol on my own

Was thinking of going early may single guy just fancy a week in the sun

Thanks in advance for your help

paddylonglegs

bob50 wrote: »

Hi Everyone thats been to Puerto del carmen

Would any of you recommened going there for a weeks hol on my own

Was thinking of going early may single guy just fancy a week in the sun

Thanks in advance for your help

bob, i don't see why you couldn't head there on your own. You could go self-catering and have a one bed apt to yourself. If you're in the mood to talk to people then there are quite a few bars with both holiday makers and ex-pats. but apart from that there are tours that you can book too.If you want some chill out time on your own then its a great place as the activities etc that you can do doesn't have to involve loads of people. you might want to get a wind-surfing or surfing lesson http://www.surfschoolanzarote.com/ or rent a car and visit the amazing architecture of Cesar Manrique. Maybe go for a hike on the landscape. they great thing about the place is that you can get out of the tourist traps and still have a great time.both http://www.aerlingus.com and http://www.ryanair.com fly there so thats your best bet for a good deal on flights

Carter12

Hi

Just back from Lanzarote and loved it. We have been a few times. Stayed in PDC and we prefer the restaurants in the old town, and if you like your steak go to "Il cascada de puerta" Steaks are gorgeous. I went to El Tomat and I really dont see what the fuss is about. Very average food and service.

This year we found a place called "Quintins". Is on Juan Carlos street and it is just gorge. A bit pricier than other restaurants around the place but well worth it.

We hired a car for one day and it cost us €30, It was a small car but there was just the 2 of us and it suited us fine. We put €30 of petrol into it, but 20 would have been enough. Drove up to the top of the island to a place called "Mirador Del Rio" which has views over Graciocas island. Absolutely amazing. Its €9 each in but you can walk down the side of the ouside wall and get the same views for nothing.

We didnt get to the volcano, we will do that next time.

Shopping is great, dont buy electrical stuff just in case. Stock up on perfume, alcohol and ciggies. Just remember you weight allowance on the way home and your duty free allowance for ciggies is 200 per person. So dont go overboard.

Have a ball.

Im going back in October

Omega28

Hi!

Me and the gf are looking to go to Lanzarote at the end of May, we've never been so what hotels would u recommend? would it be best to go for a package deal, or book things separetly?

We'd be going for 7 nights maybe more, depending on prices, we'd be looking for a nice hotel or apt with 4/5 star facilities, rooms etc

Also whats the weather like at the end of May? What part of the island would u recommend for a young couple in their 20s?!


thanks for all ur help

bob50

paddylonglegs wrote: »

bob, i don't see why you couldn't head there on your own. You could go self-catering and have a one bed apt to yourself. If you're in the mood to talk to people then there are quite a few bars with both holiday makers and ex-pats. but apart from that there are tours that you can book too.If you want some chill out time on your own then its a great place as the activities etc that you can do doesn't have to involve loads of people. you might want to get a wind-surfing or surfing lesson http://www.surfschoolanzarote.com/ or rent a car and visit the amazing architecture of Cesar Manrique. Maybe go for a hike on the landscape. they great thing about the place is that you can get out of the tourist traps and still have a great time.both http://www.aerlingus.com and http://www.ryanair.com fly there so thats your best bet for a good deal on flights

Hi Paddylonglegs thanks very much for your advice ill give it a go

Andrew2000

Hey all! Just wondering how easy it is to hire a moped in Lanzarote? what are the rules regarding licences and what not? any idea of prices?

halfback5

Dylanmc111 wrote: »

Hi!

Me and the gf are looking to go to Lanzarote at the end of May, we've never been so what hotels would u recommend? would it be best to go for a package deal, or book things separetly?

We'd be going for 7 nights maybe more, depending on prices, we'd be looking for a nice hotel or apt with 4/5 star facilities, rooms etc

Also whats the weather like at the end of May? What part of the island would u recommend for a young couple in their 20s?!


thanks for all ur help

Just like to bump this! same as above but thinking end of september!