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The Canary Islands in Winter

i never posted what I thought of the place.

Had a lovely time there back in 2010 over xmas and nye. Very easy to avoid drunken Brits. Didn't see any of that to be honest. Very interesting place and mental, volcanic landscape. Beautiful un developed beaches. Beautiful market town (teguise).

I'd go again and have recommended it to friends who've had great holidays there too
 
Lanzarote in January was absolutely brilliant.
Went out Boxing Day and came back NYE and I preferred it to Lanzarote in July. Warm enough instead of mental hot, no crowds and hardly any other Brits (except that one evening I was stupid enough to venture to PDC because my daughter was homesick for a curry and there were no Indian takeaways open in Arrecife).
 
We're trying to figure out which area to stay in on la Gomera... Hermigua and Valle Gran Rey both looking good at the mo...
 
Thinking of going to La Palma in February/March. Anyone been? Any tips?

Don't get the islands confused and go to the wrong one.

Las Palmas is the main town of Gran Canaria.

La Palma is an island on its own, airport is Santa Cruz Palma.

A lot of people fuck it up.
 
Thinking of going to La Palma in February/March. Anyone been? Any tips?
Yes, we went in March 2020, just before lockdown.

We stayed on the western side of the island, at La Palma Princess. It was very isolated, but we were there to relax rather than party. Lovely sunsets. Not much else going on in the evenings though. Most of the Brits at the hotel seemed to go out hiking pretty much every day. I think most hotels are between Santa Cruz and the airport on the east coast. No sitting outside the bar with a drink watching the sun go down. At our hotel, the sun didn't rise over the mountain until about 10.00am. I dare say the sun sets quite early on the other side.

The hotel is still there - the last eruption was further north. There's only one beach nearby and that has black sand. We did a couple of trips - one to the capital city, one a tour of the northern bits - Roque de los Muchachos is well worth a visit. I'd have liked more time in Santa Cruz as there were some interesting looking bars and local beers I'd have liked to get to know better. The whole island is, of course, a volcano, and there is little in the way of flat bits. It takes forever to get anywhere as the roads wind down the slopes.

We were in our late 50s at the time. There weren't many people at our hotel who were younger than us. It is not an island that youngsters (or anyone else) go to for a party. Which was fine by us for that holiday.

Can't think of anything else to say - we wanted a relaxing break, and that's what is was.
 
Don't get the islands confused and go to the wrong one.

Las Palmas is the main town of Gran Canaria.

La Palma is an island on its own, airport is Santa Cruz Palma.

A lot of people fuck it up.
The holiday rep who met us at the airport actually asked us "Is there anyone here who was expecting to be in Las Palmas?" and was visibly relieved when no-one put their hand up.
 
Yes, we went in March 2020, just before lockdown.

We stayed on the western side of the island, at La Palma Princess. It was very isolated, but we were there to relax rather than party. Lovely sunsets. Not much else going on in the evenings though. Most of the Brits at the hotel seemed to go out hiking pretty much every day. I think most hotels are between Santa Cruz and the airport on the east coast. No sitting outside the bar with a drink watching the sun go down. At our hotel, the sun didn't rise over the mountain until about 10.00am. I dare say the sun sets quite early on the other side.

The hotel is still there - the last eruption was further north. There's only one beach nearby and that has black sand. We did a couple of trips - one to the capital city, one a tour of the northern bits - Roque de los Muchachos is well worth a visit. I'd have liked more time in Santa Cruz as there were some interesting looking bars and local beers I'd have liked to get to know better. The whole island is, of course, a volcano, and there is little in the way of flat bits. It takes forever to get anywhere as the roads wind down the slopes.

We were in our late 50s at the time. There weren't many people at our hotel who were younger than us. It is not an island that youngsters (or anyone else) go to for a party. Which was fine by us for that holiday.

Can't think of anything else to say - we wanted a relaxing break, and that's what is was.
Thanks for the info. Am thinking that La Palma is too quiet and too hilly for us.
 
So here's what we're looking for:

Somewhere by the sea, preferably with a nice beach.
Somewhere with a few bars, restaurants and shops, but not party central, and not over-developed.
Somewhere with some places nearby to explore either on foot or on cycles.

Any recommendations welcome.
 
Thanks for the info. Am thinking that La Palma is too quiet and too hilly for us.
Probably a good call then. La Palma is very, very hilly. The west coast of the island is certainly very quiet. You might be OK on the east coast, but La Palma is not a party island.
 
So here's what we're looking for:

Somewhere by the sea, preferably with a nice beach.
Somewhere with a few bars, restaurants and shops, but not party central, and not over-developed.
Somewhere with some places nearby to explore either on foot or on cycles.

Any recommendations welcome.
We "did" Cabo Verde about that time of year, a few years ago. Really lovely, enormous beach but very windy. Doesn't sound like what you are looking for either, tbh.
 
From memory Playa Blanca in Lanzarote seemed fairly chilled..

If you're more adventrous La Gomera is excellent - Valle Gran Rey on the west coast though not sure how easy it is to get to... think they stopped the ferry.
 
So here's what we're looking for:

Somewhere by the sea, preferably with a nice beach.
Somewhere with a few bars, restaurants and shops, but not party central, and not over-developed.
Somewhere with some places nearby to explore either on foot or on cycles.

Any recommendations welcome.
Saw a recommendation for Puerto de Mogan in Gran Canaria on another thread. Sounds like the kind of place we are looking for.
 
Saw a recommendation for Puerto de Mogan in Gran Canaria on another thread. Sounds like the kind of place we are looking for.

Stayed in a lovely little apartment there a couple of years back, just round the corner from the marina.
Really enjoyed it. Lots of nice places to eat and the place had a nice relaxing vibe
:)
 
E49EAF4A-FBDB-4DEB-A308-F740F8E3A015.jpegD5399717-2E9C-4067-843F-5E2259A95222.jpegOver Easter this year we stayed at the Royal Sun hotel in Los Gigantes, Tenerife. Was a quiet town, enough bars and restaurants, but none busy or rowdy. The hotel was astonishingly good value, we had a three bedroom suite with full kitchen and massive outdoor space with jacuzzi overlooking the sea, over Easter, £250 a night. The one bedroom places were closer to £130 a night.
 
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