Lanzarote - Sands Beach Hotel
 

Just back from our second visit to Lanzarote and the Sands Beach Hotel in Costa Teguise for a blast of winter sunshine. Came back to Dublin to find just as much sunshine here!

Still, enjoyed the holiday in Lanzarote and enjoyed our second stay in this very pleasant hotel which is brilliant for athletes and very good for families. Costa Teguise itself is a quiet purpose built resort, with some great restaurants and some truly terrible ones.

There isn't much interest in Lanzarote or the Canaries in general on this forum, so I am not going to write a trip report, in any event we did so little it would not be much of a report! I am however posting this just to say that I was there, and if anyone is interested and has any questions just let me know.

Jane

I think you should do a TR. It might spark some interest in the Canaries.

I agree with Robert2533, otherwise its the same old same old - there is far too much focus on the same places on the Forum and there is only so much you can write or read about them ie you would think there was no other Greek Island other than Santorini. I went to Fuerteventura recently, it wasnt really on my "to do list" but my goodness am I glad I went.

Ps did you go anywhere other than Costa Teguise and where would you recommend a visit to or where would you recommend you stay?

On this trip we did very little travelling, having "done" Lanzarote on a day trip from Fuerteventura some years ago. We did revisit one spot that we had liked previously, a cave (really part of a lava tube through which the lava travelled to the sea thousands of years ago when the volcano erupted).

The canaries to my mind is worth a visit if, like us, you are northern europeans in search of sun at Easter, within a flight time radius of 4 hours or so. In fact it's about the only place that fits those parameters.

The nice aspect of the Canaries is that the buildings are almost entirely low rise, and the fact that Lanzarote is a volcanic island adds some interest, and the national park on the site of the volcano is well worth a visit.

My favourite place in the Canaries is Corralejo on Fuerteventura - pretty little town, nice restaurants, good beach. Is that where you were Steve?

However the complex we stayed in on Lanzarote both this year and last year is a really good one for kids, and there isn't anything similar in Corralejo as far as I know, so really this visit for us was about the hotel rather than the resort. I wouldn't pick Costa Teguise per se as a resort, but having said that I haven't seen any other resort on Lanzarote that I would recommend as a destination in itself either.

There isn't much by way of cultural interest on the Canaries (I am sure someone will shoot me for saying that!), it's more about the sports, and the volcanic scenery, and on some islands a few pretty towns (e.g. Puerto Mogan in Grand Canaria) that might be worth visiting for a lunchtime trip.

Last year we took a short submarine trip in Lanzarote on one of those touristy submarines, which was fun and something to do to amuse a 7 year old.

In short, it's really just a sun holiday destination with not a lot else to offer, but if that is what you want I can recommend Sands Beach as a hotel, and a number of other restaurants in Costa Teguise (have either reviewed or am in the course of reviewing them on Trip Advisor).

jane

Yes Jane it was Corralejo, which I adored. I am following the weather patterns there at the moment as I would not go back in the winter and April/May seems a good time. Shame that Corralejo doesnt cater for young ones - I got the impression they have a lot of all inclusives and just thought they would be suitable for families. I have yet to do all inclusives only bacuase I like variety (hence why I dont keep going back to Santorini)and eating at various places. That said, I am going back to Skiathios and do keep going back to Costa del Sol. Good luck with your travels this year.

One of the problems is that Fodor's, in their wisdom have the Canaries under the Africa forum, which is plain daft. Yes geographically they are Africa, but culturally they are definitely Spanish.

I haven't been to Lanzarote, so I'm not sure there would be enough to keep me amused for a week, since I am not a sun, sea and sangria type of person.
We love La Palma, with it's scenery, walking and year round good weather. It has a couple of interesting museums, an active volcano, a couple of nice beaches, old towns, and easily enough to keep us happy for a week or two, even though we've been several times.

Thanks Steve. Next destination for me is Santorini, my favourite place in the world! No offence taken :-)

But I won't be going all inclusive, I don't do those either. Local food is my holiday highlight especially in Greece. The chateaubriand in a couple of the restaurants in Corralejo was to die for, although on a number of occasions they were surprised that we wanted "warm" red wine instead of cold with it. Don't know if you experienced that too!

Skiathos is on the list, along with a few other Greek islands I had hoped to get to this year but will have to hold for another year. After Santorini we make our way to Crete and ultimately fly home from Chania thanks to RyanAir, who put on the Dublin-Chania route this year.

Whoops - never thought to look under Africa, thanks hetismij. Had a look now and there isn't much there anyway. La Palma sounds good.