Relaxing trip with sun early October

testtech05

Hi All,

Myself and my GF (29yo and 31yo) are looking to head away for a few days in early October but we are confused as to where would be a good place to go.

We are mainly looking for somewhere where the weather would hopefully be still nice/warm with beaches etc and nice bars and restaurants.
We would enjoy a few drinks/dinner in the evening but wouldnt be huge on clubs etc as we just want a few nice days relaxing.

I was wondering if anyone here might be able to point us in the right direction. We are open to suggestions, so far I have thought of the usual ones below:

• Lanzarote
• Albufeira
• Majorca
• Malaga

As it is a 1st for both of us I thought some of the more knowledgeable travelers on here might have some experiences/suggestions to help us choose or give us an alternative. I am hoping to book this weekend.

Thanks in advance!!

TheMilkyPirate

The canaries are your only bet that time of the year. I've gone twice in October and it's still mid 20s and hardly ever rains. I'd recommend the south of gran canaria you're almost guaranteed good weather. Amadores is lovely but a bit quiet

jester1980

Purto Del Carmen in Lanzarote would be perfect for you, good weather, on the beach and has a lovely strip and an old town 10 mins from each other. Old town has beautiful restaurants and the strip has lovely bars(and loads of restaurants too). Nightlife is all geared towards live music and no clubs or anything. I think there might be 2/3 places a good bit down the strip that are disco bars but well hidden.

We go every year in November

Google an apartment complex called El dorado, not saying stay here but the location is basically 4 mins walk from old town and 2 mins from start of strip, look for somewhere near there for best of both worlds.

stargazer 68

Gran Canaria is our favourite. We stay in the maspalomas/melonaras area. Lovely restaurants and bars around there.

BailMeOut

How many days do you have? A good alternative would be the Caribbean but you'd lose most of a day travelling both directions.

testtech05

BailMeOut wrote: »

How many days do you have? A good alternative would be the Caribbean but you'd lose most of a day travelling both directions.

We would be looking at going on Saturday and back Wednesday so I think the Caribbean might be a bit too long of a journey?

BailMeOut

testtech05 wrote: »

We would be looking at going on Saturday and back Wednesday so I think the Caribbean might be a bit too long of a journey?

OK - for guaranteed sun in Oct you just need to get as south as possible and Canaries will be your closest and best bet. You can get very lucky with closer (and nicer) places like Malta, Sicily, Cyprus or Crete but no weather guarantees.

grimm2005

I was in Albufeira one December some years ago and the weather was warm and pleasant so you'll definitely be okay for October. The place was very quiet and a bit boring in December mind but you may catch the end of the season before most places shut in October.

killbillvol2

Weather in Malaga would be perfect in October and it has far more to offer culturally than any of the other places you listed. It's a beautiful city and can be pretty much covered on foot. It's also cheap and has a much wider variety of restaurants than the more touristy spots.

It'll be lively at night, especially at weekends whenever you go with locals and Spanish visitors.

Easy and cheap train link from the airport is another plus. (I sound like I work for the tourist board!)

HeidiHeidi

Malta.

You'd be vey unlucky to get crap weather, Ryanair flies direct. The old town is absolutely gorgeous, resorts north of there not so much (imo)

otnomart

From your selection I would go for Palma in Majorca.
I also second the above recommendation for Malta.
Would also recommend Seville: not on the beach, but still warm and sunny, could get a hotel with a rooftop swimming pool.

Mike3549

Went to majorca twice in oct.
First time was early oct stayed in port d'alcudia/ can picafort area. Most days were warm 25-30deg, couple days were cloudy/windy.
Next time stayed late in oct, came back with the last ryanair flight for the season. Stayed close to palma nova. Weather was great, not too hot 20-25deg. Went to magaluff one day and it was completely empty, just like walking on a set of "walking dead" or "28 days later".
Everything was closed: hotels, shops, bars.
There was 1 italian bar/pub/restaurant open, 2 irish pubs and 3 british. There were still plenty pubs and restaurants open in palma nova. It was a short 3day break, cheap plane tickets, harder to find an accomodation, but in the end it was worth it.
Also +1 on malta, coincidentaly went there 3 years ago in oct. Nice weather, get some snorkeling gear and swimming shoes especially if you plan to go to blue lagoon.

bobwilliams

Nerja would be a good shout

testtech05

Thanks so much for all the recommendations guys.

We did some looking around last night and in the end booked flights to Lanzarote with aer lingus. Between a couple of recommendation here and both of us hearing good things about it at work.

There were a few places mentioned I never would have thought of though so these have definitely been added to the list for next year and beyond.

Thanks again. As usual boards never let's ya down for stuff like this!!

Gardner

Just back from a week in Lanzarote and stayed in Puerto Del Carmen and its very average!

Puerto Del Carmen itself for night time entertainment is defo geared towards the piss and biscuits brigade (over 60's).

In my late 30's myself and i'd like to still consider myself somewhat young but the only entertainment that was geared towards our age group was the island bar (Rory leaving next week) and the scots corner just down the street. the rest of the 'irish pubs' would geared towards the over 60's and the ****e country and western / folk music to the same back drop beat. now speaking of irish pubs..... there ****ing everywhere and there all the same. my worst experience was in the Brian Boru. the guy who came on stage stated the following " if you wear orange and like to walk up and down streets, get the **** out of the pub..... if you have an english accent get the **** out of the pub.... if your an old **** who sits on 1 or 2 drinks for the night get the **** out of the pub.

if your a bit of a foodie like my partner and i then its decent enough spots in PDC. id recommended Mario's, My Kitchen by Julius, Restaurante Casa Parmigiano and Asia Delicious.

If i was to go again i wouldn't base myself out of PDC. Hire a Car spend a night or two close to Playa de Papagayo, Caleta de Famara and spend the last few nights around Costa Teguise as they dont have the tack of PDC. go to Habana 6 restaurante in CT.

testtech05

Gardner wrote: »

Just back from a week in Lanzarote and stayed in Puerto Del Carmen and its very average!

Puerto Del Carmen itself for night time entertainment is defo geared towards the piss and biscuits brigade (over 60's).

In my late 30's myself and i'd like to still consider myself somewhat young but the only entertainment that was geared towards our age group was the island bar (Rory leaving next week) and the scots corner just down the street. the rest of the 'irish pubs' would geared towards the over 60's and the ****e country and western / folk music to the same back drop beat. now speaking of irish pubs..... there ****ing everywhere and there all the same. my worst experience was in the Brian Boru. the guy who came on stage stated the following " if you wear orange and like to walk up and down streets, get the **** out of the pub..... if you have an english accent get the **** out of the pub.... if your an old **** who sits on 1 or 2 drinks for the night get the **** out of the pub.

if your a bit of a foodie like my partner and i then its decent enough spots in PDC. id recommended Mario's, My Kitchen by Julius, Restaurante Casa Parmigiano and Asia Delicious.

If i was to go again i wouldn't base myself out of PDC. Hire a Car spend a night or two close to Playa de Papagayo, Caleta de Famara and spend the last few nights around Costa Teguise as they dont have the tack of PDC. go to Habana 6 restaurante in CT.

Thanks Gardner, we have booked now and heading next week so will just have to try and make the most of it I guess.

In case anyone is interested I will post back in here afterwards just for anyone who might find themselvesin a similar situation sometime.

Gardner

testtech05 wrote: »

Thanks Gardner, we have booked now and heading next week so will just have to try and make the most of it I guess.

In case anyone is interested I will post back in here afterwards just for anyone who might find themselvesin a similar situation sometime.

how you get on?

testtech05

Gardner wrote: »

how you get on?

Hey sorry totally forgot to reply to the thread.

You were right on a couple of your points there was a mainly older crowd around which I guess may be related to the time of year when we went and apart from the island bar the entertainment was aimed at the older crowd.

We were only really there to chill out and enjoy a few drinks here and there so we had a great time as the apartment we stayed in had access to a pool which was almost always just the 2 of us there which was fantastic.

There are some great places to eat in the old town area too which meant we didnt have to go to far for food. Took a day trip out to the markets in Teguise but apart from that we just chilled out by the pool in the sun and had a few drinks and food in the evening.

For what we wanted to just chill out and relax it was ideal if maybe lacking a small bit of atmosphere/craic in a lot of the bars in the evenings.