Black or yellow sandy beaches, volcanoes, camels, crabbing and plenty of swimming: this was the program for our fun-filled days in Lanzarote. Going on holiday to a very popular destination doesn't have to mean you have to do the same as everybody else! During our week there, we managed to avoid all themed and often costly attraction parks. While we have nothing against them, water parks and other themed attraction parks are everywhere in the world and we much prefer to show our daughter, 3, the animals, the rocks, the mountains, the fruits, or the sand of the place we are visiting.
Lanzarote, part of the Spanish Canaries, is a volcanic island off the coast of Morocco. The weather year round averages in the twenties during the day, making it a very attractive destination when it is winter in the rest of Europe. While we fully expected a dry and volcanic island, what struck us the most about the landscape (especially in the South) was the lack of any vegetation beyond a few cactus or aloe vera plants. Locals must come up with ingenious ideas to grow anything (mostly potatoes or vine grapes).
We stayed in the touristic south of the island, not far from Playa Blanca. While we may not have chosen this destination during the higher summer season, it was quite pleasant, busy yet not overcrowded in the low season.
While the beaches are not as large and easily accessible as those of the neighboring island of Fuerteventura, Lanzarote has plenty of smaller schecluded beaches with either yellow or black sand, perfect for entertaining a child (and her dad for a few hours).
Apart from that, there are no great monuments or museums to visit. But there is still plenty to see and do. We loved the wild empty beaches and the various rocky landscapes.
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left: Arrecife, top: salt marshes, bottom: the green lagoon at El Golfo |
Apart from that, there are no great monuments or museums to visit. But there is still plenty to see and do. We loved the wild empty beaches and the various rocky landscapes.
1. Punta del Papagayo
2. Playa Blanca
3. Salt marshes and black sandy beaches of the south
4. El Golfo
5. Timanfaya national park
6. Mirador del Rio
7. Wild beaches of the North
8. Arrecife city
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top left: Timanfaya National Park, top right: vineyard, bottom right: the south west black beaches, bottom left: windy north beaches |
Our best addresses are listed on Everplaces too.
We had a wonderful holiday in Fuerteventura when Schmoo was small. Like you, we tried to stay off the tourist trail and ended up in a fabulous (and totally empty!) art gallery with beautiful modern installations that were fascinating for all of us. The weather and beaches and food were all fabulous too :-)
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention it, we hesitated a lot between the two! Thanks for the tips.
ReplyDeleteWe visited Playa de Papagayo twice and both times we were impressed with it. The beach itself is located within a National Park. The first time we walked from Playa Blanca where it took us around 1.5 hours to get there. The second time we drove here (There is a 3 euro entrance fee to enter the national park by car, this allows you access to the car parks as well).
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