Tenerife, Lanzarote or Fueteventura?

T.Watson

I'm looking for some opinions on which of these might be the best place to go this April? We can't seem to decide between them at the moment! I don't think there's much of a difference temperature wise so the main things myself and my friends are looking for in the holiday (after sun!) is somewhere low cost, nice beaches, laid back (not filled with millions of families/kids - looking for more of a 20's/30's crowd) and nice restaurants. A bit of nightlife nearby would also be good.

I've read Tenerife is kind of a boozy or tacky place (has a reputation for binge drinking foreigners?) but on the other hand has volcano/whale watching activities. Not sure if that former statement is in anyway true or just some person's once off bad experience so any information from people who have been to any of these places would be handy. I've also read Lanzarote and Fueteventura are quite windy and that Fueteventura has an older type of crowd and parts of it are a bit dead? Again this could all be rubbish so I figure this would be a good place to ask for people's opinions and maybe help with the decision! Thanks

Assassin saphir

I would def recommend Furteventura. Corralejo had excellent restaurants, and the nightlife is good without being too wild, no drunks running riot (and i'm not past it). Good mixture of bars, we found good music, friendly locals, and places in the old town where you can just watch the world go by. The main beach about a mile from the town is one of the most beautiful i have ever seen, white sand and sparkling clear blue water. Great place to watch windsurfers, kitesurfing etc. If you get bored you can get the ferry from the harbour to Lanzarote which you can see across the bay. I have been to all of the Canary islands except Tenerife and would def go back to Furteventura, its perfect for chilling out.
Hope this helps. Enjoy:)

slave1

Been to both Tenerife and Furteventura.
Furt is less developed than Ten in my opinion, yeah some good towns but pales in comparison to Ten.
Been to Ten 5 times and going back again this year to Los Cristanos which is adjacent to Playa La America which is the main 'nite-life' on the island. Quiet place but still very close to nite life, two water parks within 10 minutes, an older Aqualand and superb new Siam Park (have a search on the web for it).
Done the whale trip, bit of a bore being honest, not worth it.
Been to the volcano area loads of times, drive through a pine forest on the way and can get very hot up there but interesting place to me and you can get a cable car pretty much to the summit of it (you need permission to 'hike' to the very top). Half hour drive from Los Crist to volcano area.
Place is very cheap to eat out, beaches are artificial but very big, you'll always have space.
Capital is about an hours drive, lots of shopping, some good centres to get in out of the sun for a day.
Island never gets unbearably hot due to sea breeze.
Car hire is cheap, I get a Saxo with AC for around €300 for 2.5 weeks.
Flights cheap with RyanAir from Dublin, Shannon or Knock.
Accommodation cheap also, I use holidaylettings.co.uk.
Was there in Jan/April/July/August, weather in April was like a really good Irish summer's day, very pleasant indeed.
Airport to Los Crist is about 15minute drive, circa €20 in a taxi.

listermint

Been to all 3,

In summation Tenerife and Lanzarote are best for the age range you are looking for, however Tenerife is not as 'classy' as it would have been a number of years back. Lanzarote wins this one as it has not allowed the crazy amount of bar niteclub development as occured in tenerife.

Fuertaventura while nice can be very quiet and is VERY family orientated. It also is breezier (my opinion) than the other two in part to the fact that is doesnt have as high mountanous ranges.


For my money it would be Lanzarote based on your criteria, also rent a car its great for exploring.

rossie1977

there is more to see and do in tenerife than lanzarote, once you get out of the booze spots tenerife is a beautiful island and has contrasting landscapes from the desert of the south to the lush green mountain valleys of the north, lanzarote landscape is all very similiar. lanz is nowhere near as built up as tenerife though, island is still very unspoiled for the most part outside the capital and puerto del carmen, can be very windy on lanz down by the sea and even more so in Timanfaya National Park

never been to fueteventura

T.Watson

Thanks for the info so far everyone, much appreciated. Is there much of a difference price wise regarding food/drink/accomodation between them or is it relatively similar?

chalkitdown

Mostly similar, all three Islands mentioned have good value restaurants and bars if you search them out.
My personal preference is for Lanzarote. You will get hassled a lot less than the other Islands by reps trying to get you in to their various pubs ect.
Puerta Del carmen has the most going on in Lanzarote in the off season.

T.Watson

Thanks chalkitdown. Has anyone done the boat trips between Lanzarote and Tenerife before by any chance? Do they take very long? Would they be worth doing?

Any recommendations in relation to cheap n' cheerful accomodation in either Lanzarote or Tenerife? Thinking of cheap but decent self-catering apartment near a nice beach and near the main towns but in a less crowded area?

nnulk

Like you have said Tenerife is the most happening. But if you are looking for some peace i recommend Lanzorate...

CDfm

Been to Furt and it is very windy

The Hotels are very nice but it was very boring and aimed at an older age group

taxis are very cheap

slave1

T.Watson wrote: »

Any recommendations in relation to cheap n' cheerful accomodation in either Lanzarote or Tenerife? Thinking of cheap but decent self-catering apartment near a nice beach and near the main towns but in a less crowded area?

Here's the site I use the whole time, I've already narrowed it to Los Cristianos, just slot in your preferred dates. I'm reasonably familiar with the area so if you slim your choices down post back for specific advice.
Here it is on Wikimapia

HooterSnout

T.Watson wrote: »

I've read Tenerife is kind of a boozy or tacky place (has a reputation for binge drinking foreigners?)

I'm going to Tenerife in early April with the missus. Hope this isn't true.

neilthefunkeone

skittles1981 wrote: »

I would def recommend Furteventura. Corralejo had excellent restaurants, and the nightlife is good without being too wild, no drunks running riot (and i'm not past it).

Couldn't agree with that more!! Went last summer with my girlfriend for a week.. Was brilliant.. Wasn't too busy but wasn't empty.. The old part of the town has some great cocktail bars that you can sit outside and relax and watch the world go by!

We went surfing for a day with a surf school and hit the little water park for half a day.. Sure you can take day trips to lanzarote.. its really close!

rossie1977

HooterSnout wrote: »

I'm going to Tenerife in early April with the missus. Hope this isn't true.

stay out of playa de las americas and you will be fine, in particular the area around veronicas strip/starco. i actually stayed just up the road from those places and heard nothing at night, the problem was walking around at night, in that area you are annoyed at every corner by african men selling sunglasses, jewellery, asian women selling toys and reps trying to pull you into the bars/clubs, they manhandle you, gets old after the 5th person does it

HooterSnout

rossie1977 wrote: »

stay out of playa de las americas and you will be fine, in particular the area around veronicas strip/starco. i actually stayed just up the road from those places and heard nothing at night, the problem was walking around at night, in that area you are annoyed at every corner by african men selling sunglasses, jewellery, asian women selling toys and reps trying to pull you into the bars/clubs, they manhandle you, gets old after the 5th person does it

Thanks for the advice. As for the sellers, I'm used to that from Thailand minus the african men though.

stephendevlin

Tenerife all the way!

if your 18 and looking for HO's and alcohol go to playa las americas

if your older and want a nice resort los christianos very nice.

Great water park in playa las americas. 5 mins from los christianos

Loro park is about an hour away visit there too its amazing.

scout353

Just back from Tenerife and it was magic. Hadn't been there for ten years and stayed in Las Gallettas which is about 10 mins from the airport in the south.

Weather was fantastic and while the village is small and quiet, there was plenty to do!

Booked online through Alpharooms and got an all inclusive for €200 pp.

As other posters have mentioned there is a lot to do in Los Christianos and Playa De Las Americas (not for the faint hearted!) but each is about 20 mins by bus and cost is €1.30 each way. They run every 20 mins until midnight!

Having been in Lanzarote the last two years where weather was poor and also been to Gran Canaria, I will be heading to Tenerife in future!

T.Watson

Thanks again for all the comments and feedback everyone.

Just in relation to flights and getting good deals, if flights on Ryanair are going up pretty high (they seem to be a crazy price around the Easter time probably because loads of people are off) are they likely to keep getting higher or do they ever go down on special offer again or anything? I was looking a flights there towards end of April and they seem to be edging towards 400e return on Ryanair going to Lanzarote which is fairly expensive and not much cheaper for Tenerife. Aer lingus is around the same/slight higher.

Is it better to wait sort of last minute to book flights to see if any deals come along or does that time of year mean the flights are only going to keep sky rocketing? Any thoughts/experiences? Thanks

slave1

I track RA flight costs a fair bit and they never dip at the last minute, they start at their cheapest around 8 months ahead of the flight, when the first layer of cheap seats sell the price goes progressively up and up. The odd time with 2/3 months to go the prices do occasionally drop.
You will not get cheap April flights, if they coincide with school holidays the prices are always high, you need to fly out mid-week outside school holidays.
Also, separate your booking into two separate bookings, it's cheaper for one adult and one child on one booking and one adult and two children on another booking compared to two adults and three kids on one single booking!!

df1985

I spent 3 summers working in Tenerife and as a reult of friends still living there I go regularly on holiday. While there is the busy area full of drunks (starco centre-where I worked!) its easily avoided. Plenty of more relaxed bars around, fantastic restaurants and lots to do. A good place to stay would be between las americas and los cristianos down by las vistas beach. Las vistas beach is probably the nicest beach in the area. The main shopping district known as the safari centre is close by which has tonnes of shops, and where some of the best restaurants are.

Los cristianos begins at the other end of las vistas beach, has an older crowd and a more spanish feel than las americas.

Siam Park is a brilliant day out-best waterpark ive ever been to, including the big ones in florida. Loro parque is also pretty good, owned by the same people-bit like seaworld. The island tour which includes teide national park (the volcano) is a good day out too.

If ye need any specific advice on hotels in tenerife you're looking at, or restaurant recommendations and the likes send me a PM.

Im off to tenerife for paddys day-gets rowdy!

Just on the flight prices, have you tried Aer Lingus? They can often be cheaper than Ryanair.

I went to the Canaries for the first time last year, didn't really mind which island, but we found a good deal on flights to Gran Canaria. Stayed in Puerto Rico and I really liked it, its lively if you want that (commercial centre) but I preferred the restaurants and pubs down by the beach which were nicer and more relaxed. The boat trip to Mogan is nice, as is the walk to Amadores beach (much nicer than PR beach). Not sure if Gran Canaria is an option for you but I'd recommend it.

sgb

Having been to all the islands many times I would probably opt for Tenerife somewhere on the south west of the island.In April it's going to be the best bet wheather wise

T.Watson

On a slight side issue - I heard there might be airport strikes in Spain sometime in April. If stirkes went ahead would that affect the Canaries as well? Not sure what the craic is with that. Bit of a spanner in the works if it does happen!

Clareboy

I have been to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, but not to Tenerife. Fuerteventura has some of the best beaches in the world and is very laid back. Lanzarote has unique volcanic landsacpes, with pristine white villages standing on black volcanic soil - truly unfotgettable.