Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Lanzarote, Canary Islands: Travel Recommendation

We recently returned from a long weekend trip to the Canary Islands with our friends Mary and Adam. We flew out of Brussels right onto the island and rented a car (ahead of time.. which is a must in the summer!) at the airport to explore the whole island. While the island is not so much, there is a ton to see (all outside) and definitely worth the trip!

Must-Sees: Playa Famara (gorgeous beach with a crazy cliff background), Mirador del Rio (Northern lookout point onto another, picturesque island), Lago de Verde/El Golfo (green lagoon + black sand beach), Punta Mujere (the most gorgeous water you will ever see + a cute little swimming hole filled with locals), Playa Papagayo (great beach, gorgeous water with a gorgeous lookout point), and their National Park. Worth Skipping: Jameos del Agua and Arrecife.

Playa Blanca: We stayed on the SW corner of the island at Playa Blanca. It was a nice area with lots of seafood restaurants and some tourist-y shopping. Our hotel was called Jardines del Sol and was fabulous. We basically stayed in our own little apartment/villa with a full kitchen, patio, living room, dining room, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms that had just been renovated. Very, very nice. While it is not on the beach, it is close to Playa Blanca (3 euro cab ride) and has it's own restaurant and pool. Perfect if you have a rental car.

Our duration of stay: 3 days. However, EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, responded by saying, "ONLY THREE DAYS?!" as if we were crazy. I'd only go longer if you were wanting to lay on the beach all week.

Rental Car: The island is small, but not small enough that you don't need a form of transportation. Supposedly the bus system is easy and cheap, although we chose to rent a car since there were four of us and it worked out well.

Punta Mujeres - the pictures don't do the water justice, trust me
Lanzarote - a volcanic island
Lago di Verde with the black sand beach
Playa Mujeres
Playa Papagayo - Clear Green/Blue Water

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