Pretty Hot in Lanzarote

October can be such a difficult month to know where to go if you’re looking for guaranteed sunshine.

The Mediterranean is a bit of a lottery, so unless you’re going to the other side of the world, the Canary Islands is a pretty safe better.

I’d been to Tenerife in the 1980s and thought the flight was 4 ½ hours, but ours, from Birmingham to Lanzarote, only took 3 hours 40 minutes, partly because we went on a 787.

We usually prefer an early flight, even if that means getting picked up at 3am – I just want to be lying on a sun lounger next to the pool as early as possible.  With that in mind, we always put a swimming costume/pair of shorts and flip flops in our hand luggage, so we can do a quick change once we’ve checked in.  During the week, we saw so many people waiting for their room to be ready so they could unpack their pool attire.  Not us.  We were sunning ourselves and sipping cocktails by 1pm.

Normally, we’d opt for self-catering or bed and breakfast as we like to get dressed up on a night and venture out to a restaurant in the resort.  However, this time we went all-inclusive as the difference in price was negligible.  Although the food was of a high standard, you do get fed up of the buffet every night, so we still went into the town to mix it up a bit.

We stayed at the H10 White Suites Boutique Hotel in Playa Blanca.  We booked a room with a ‘garden view’ but had a whacking great palm tree in front of us, so the only garden we saw were palm leaves, but we’ll overlook that.

Otherwise, we really liked it there.  The staff were helpful and pleasant, the other guests were friendly, the entertainment was decent, and the facilities were more than adequate.  The weather was mostly sunny with an odd cloud, but every day it was around 27/28° C.  Just right!

The main resort is only a short walk away and we went to the marina one night for a paella and a jug of sangria and on another night, we found an Irish Pub (every good resort has one), as I wanted to watch the England v Wales game.

In the middle of the week, we walked to a really nice restaurant (La Colina De Colacho), which I’d booked before we flew out, as it only opened four nights a week, so I wanted to make sure we got a table.  We both had the taster menu, which was as good as Michelin Star food, although the price was similar.

Playa Blanca itself doesn’t have much of a beach – there is one, but when we walked past one of the days, it looked very small and crowded.  However, there is one just two miles away called Papagayo.  We heard it was lovely, but ran out of time to try it ourselves. Maybe next time.

Two days before we came home, we hired a car to get a look at the rest of the Island, as it’s only around 35 miles from top to bottom, so you can see quite a lot of it in a day.

We did the obligatory visit to a volcano – at 22 Euros per person, I wouldn’t bother, but the views were pretty good.  Then we headed up to the Cesar Manrique Museum, which was a bargain at 10 Euros.  For those not familiar, Senior Manrique was Mr Lanzarote, helping to shape the island into what you see today.  He was an artist, a visionary, a bit of a playboy and a force of nature.  It’s like being transported back to the 70s for a cocktail party with Omar Sharif and Sophia Loren – you get the picture.  I can’t begin to tell you how amazing his house/museum was, but for me, it’s worth going to Lanzarote just to see it.

If that wasn’t enough, we then popped across to Jameos Del Agua, which was every bit as breathtaking as the Museum.  This attraction has a unique volcanic tunnel & caverns featuring an underground concert hall, restaurant and a salt lake. Think Black Country Museum on speed.  There’s also a volcano exhibition which is an extra cost, but well worth it.

On the way back to our resort, we stopped of at Costa Teguise and Playa Del Carmen, which both looked nice, but couldn’t see that they had anything more than Playa Blanca.  All much of a muchness.

The trip home was pretty uneventful, except for us bumping into our lovely neighbours from two doors down (Kev & Jane), who were on the same flight as us – small world and all that.

Getting back to a cold, dreary Birmingham in mid-October isn’t the best, but it just encourages us to book the next adventure.  Italy in December and a cruise in February are next, so the thought of those two will keep us going.

Would we go back to Lanzarote?  Yes, probably, but we’d like to try Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura, so who knows.

We booked with Co-op Travel in Codsall and travelled with Tui.