Canary Islands – Lanzarote
We went to Lanzarote last week in October with my friend from Prague and her two children (11 years and 4 years). My son could not wait because at the age of 6 it was supposed to be his first flight. Since we went with the children, we decided to go with a travel agency (Canaria Travel) so that it is easier to arrange the trip.
Date – 23.10. – 30.10.2018
Itinerary
Flight from Prague
Costa Teguise Beach
Costa Teguise Beach
Lanzarote Aquarium – Costa Teguise
Full day trip with local travel agency
Volcano Tinaguache
Arrecife
Flight to Prague
Visited places
Transport
We were flying from Prague on 23.10.2018 at 12:00. Although it was a charter flight from Travel Service, thanks to a 5-hour flight hot food and drinks were served during the flight.
Hotel
We stayed at the Nazaret Apartamentos in Costa Teguise (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgAy), and since we were 2 adults and 3 children, we had a 2 bedroom suite and a living room with kitchenette. We had a half board, so we had breakfast and dinner at the hotel and originally we wanted to cook lunch but we did it only once and other days we enjoyed the local cuisine and we were going to restaurants.
The food was good in the hotel, the restaurant was really small compared to the large hotel resorts, there were approximately 12 tables only. We did not go right after opening time of the restaurant, so we were there either alone or there were guests at 2-3 tables. Just the table service was not great. As we did not go right after opening time, there were no cutlery on the tables and the waiter did not even think of setting the table for us, we had to take the cutlery and napkins ourselves.
Nazaret Apartamentos in Costa Teguise – https://nazarethotels.com/en/nazaret-apartments/
Beach
The first two days we spent on the beach, the first day it was 25 ° C and the rest of the week about 22 °C – 23 °C. There are several beaches to choose from in Costa Teguise but we liked Playa de las Cucharas which was also the closest one to our hotel, about 5 minutes away (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgBk) . The beach was very nice, sandy, and for a few days there were even quite big waves, so my son enjoyed it but there was no opportunity to teaching him to swim.
Lanzarote Aquarium – Costa Teguise
The third day it was supposed to rain but I didn’t expect it to rain so much, it was raining all day so we were at home playing games and in the afternoon we went to Aquarium in Costa Teguise. Fortunately, at this time it wasn’t raining so much. Aquarium was very nice, there were also sharks, rays, octopus, crabs, etc. and at the end there were some animals in open pools that visitors were allowed to touch (e.g. starfish, sea urchins, etc.).
Web Aquarium Costa Teguise – http://www.aquariumlanzarote.com
Map – https://mapy.cz/s/3rgBQ
Ticket – 15 EUR (child 10 EUR)
Trip Gran Tour
On Saturday we were going for a trip with a local travel agency. It was the best option to see as many places as possible in one day and also, public transport buses are not going to Timanfaya National Park. On Facebook I found a local travel agency but in the end we chose another one, in Costa Teguise there were enough travel agencies. The offer and prices were practically the same, so we chose from a travel agency just behind the beach that I found when I went for a walk with my son. We chose a full day trip Gran Tour. In the morning we were leaving at 8:25 from the bus stop Pueblo Marinero (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgCy), which we had close to the hotel. Along the way we took more tourists for about an hour and a half, it took a long time in Puerto del Carmen and we got delayed because there was a race in the town and we had to go around the town.
The first stop was in Yaiza where we had time just for a short snack. Then we passed the Salinas de Janubio (https://goo.gl/maps/fGFaFsu14VSCFvx69) a and the beautiful coast of Hervideros (unfortunately we did not stop herehttps://mapy.cz/s/3rgCN)
National park Timanfaya
Then we continued to El Golfo and Lago Verde (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgCU). We went on a viewpoint to take a picture of the surrounding volcanoes and green lake.
Then we took a camel ride (https://goo.gl/maps/3bvQvH8Xe3cRnBKy8) which lasted 25 minutes and cost 6 EUR per person. My son and I were excited, we liked the ride very much. They had to tie the weights on the side of my son to not have the seat too high. During the ride we were moving quite a lot up and down but it did not bother us. Being a bus tour, we did not have to wait in line and we went straight away.
Then we continued to Timanfaya National Park to El Diablo restaurant (https://mapy.cz/s/3rhf2), a restaurant created by the artist Cesar Manrique. In front of the restaurant, we first went through 3 demonstrations of how hot the soil is. In the first one there was a small hole and the man scooped up gravel with a shovel and put a handful in everyone’s hand. It was so hot it was hard enough to hold that handful of gravel. Then we went to the second demonstration, there was a hole in the ground and he put a little of brushwood which began to burn within about 20 seconds. In the third demonstration, the guide poured water into the pipe in the ground and as it was hot inside the grand, steam burst.
Then we got in to the bus, we went for a drive through the National Park with beautiful volcanoes. Even those who rent a car must not go to this part of the national park by car and must also take a local bus. During the ride, the bus doesn´t stop anywhere so that the nature remains intact.
National park Timanfaya – http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/parquesnacionalesdecanarias/en/Timanfaya/
El Diablo restaurant – https://turismolanzarote.com/en/restaurant/el-diablo/
Geria
Then we went to Geria (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgDd).There was a degustation of the local wine. The wine is cultivated in a very special way by making small low wall into a semicircle, making a hole and putting one grapevine in it. At the El Campesino restaurant we also had a lunch for only 8 EUR adult and 4 EUR child (http://volcaland.com, https://goo.gl/maps/t4Uv4Znn3R5oVEAf8 ). Lunch was buffet style so we could choose what we wanted.
Jameos del Agua
We went on to Jameos del Agua, a work of Lanzarote artist Cesar Manrique. There is a lava tunnel with a lake where rare white crayfish live. There is also a cave with a concert hall. There is also a beautiful garden with an artificially created pond with a beautiful turquoise color.
Jameos del Agua – http://www.cactlanzarote.com/en/cact/jameos-del-agua/
Ticket – 9,5 EUR (we had already included the ticket in the package price)
Valle de mil palmeras, Haría
Then we went to Valle de mil palmeras and the town of Haría (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgDo) where we just passed and did not stop. We were supposed to stop later after we drove over Haria hairpin bends but the local restaurant with a view closed 20 minutes early, so we went on.
Teguise
The guide made another stop instead and we had occasion to see the former capital Teguise (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgDt) which we liked too.
Price for trip Gran Tour – 45 EUR (child 23 EUR)
When we looked at the weather forecast, we were a little afraid that we would not bathe anymore because they only reported 19 ° C, fortunately the weather forecast never really fit and it was some 22 ° C, so even the last 2 days we bathed, water was fortunately warm
Volcano Tinaguache – Costa Teguise
On Monday afternoon we decided to go to Tinaguache volcano (https://mapy.cz/s/moserasoha) which is just behind Costa Teguise and it was about 3 km from the hotel. It took some time to my friend and her kids to get prepared, so we were leaving the hotel at 17:00 and when we came to the volcano, the sun was almost going down. Although the volcano is only 226 m above sea level, it was quite big ascent to the peak and we were almost crawling on all fours, not because it was so steep, but rather to make sure the children do not fall because when we were standing, the wind was quite big. Because my friend gave to her 4 year old daughter only sandals, they gave up even before we did. We gave up in a while too because it was still about 500 meters to the top and it was clear that it will start to get dark soon. So we began to descend slowly, again on all fours, to be more certain that we would not fall or the foot would not slip.
After a while we saw a family with 3 children who walked with the same ease as if they were walking on a flat land and the man even had a child about 5 years old in a scarf. When I start to talk to them I found out that they were from France, so I started to talk to them in French. The man asked me where we had the car, so I said nowhere that we were walking on foot from our hotel. So they offered us to go together with them in their car. I replied that we could not fit in such a number. But he said that´s ok that we could squeeze. We said it is ok for us to go on foot. After a while they stopped us anyway with an offer to take us. So I suggested they take my friend with a 4-year-old daughter, and I, my son and my friend´s son can go on foot. They said it is ok to squeeze and that someone can go to the car trunk. They were so nice that they asked their two children to go into the trunk, we got in to back seats – my son was sitting on my knees, my friend’s daughter on her knees and her son was sitting alone. The lady was sitting on passenger´s seat with a child on her knees as well. So we were fully occupied – 10 people in a small car :p . Fortunately, it was only two kilometers, but since it was really dark after the descent from the volcano, we were glad to not have to go on foot.
Arrecife
The next day we went again to the beach, and because the afternoon was not so warm, we decided to visit the capital Arrecife. It was a short bus ride and it cost only 1.40 EUR per person (children have been paying since the age of 4). We were going from the bus stop at the hotel (Pueblo Marinero). Buses are going quite often and the ticket is bought directly from the driver. The driver recommended us to get off at the Intercambiador stop and from there we went along the coast to Castillo de San Gabriel (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgEf) and then to the Castle of San José (https://mapy.cz/s/3rgEj) where the geocache was supposed to be a medium size.
And because the 3 previous ones we found were only micro and not big enough to put there a travel bug, I was hoping we could find this one to get my 5th Travel bug to start travelling around the world. Fortunately, we found the cash in the dark, and although it was not at all a medium size (in the Czech Republic it would still be micro), fortunately it was large enough to get the travel bug in. And the next morning the travel bug was picked up and about a month later it was put to a cache in Belgium, we’ll see where it will travel further.
On the way back we wanted to get on the bus at Ikea stop, so we don’t have to go back to the center. The bus stop to Costa Teguise was there but we were very confused when it was written on the timetable that the particular bus was not stopping there and was just passing through, the same was stated in Rome2Rio app. There was a gentleman at the bus stop, and he said it was stopping there, and fortunately it was stopping there, even though it wasn’t marked on the timetables.
Bus from Costa Teguise to Arrecife – 1, 3, 25, timetable:
https://arrecifebus.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1487&Itemid=224&lang=es
Restaurants
We went to restaurants for lunch, there were a lot to choose from. They were slightly more expensive than in Madeira, the food cost from 11 EUR up. Once we had a pizza and I had shrimps on garlic, then we went ourselves once, I had again shrimps and my son fish, other times we had tapas so we could taste everything (octopus, shrimps, croquettes, mussels, tuna, sardines)
We visited following restaurants:
Restaurant El Pueblo Tapaz – great tapas – https://goo.gl/maps/X3SgL7p5CEWxJkUC8
Flamenco Bar – great tapas – https://goo.gl/maps/rm3R1w2uYcAHwdCF9
Pablo’s Restaurante – https://goo.gl/maps/Bds5rMzToFeEVYiC9
The holiday was great, except for one moment when a cleaning lady lost a plush toy hedgehog, my son´s favorite plush toy. He was given this toy when he was two years old and slept with him every day since then. In the evening after returning from the trip we could not find it, so I went to report it at the reception. They said there was a chance to be found but that the bedding was already taken to the laundry. Fortunately, the next morning we went for something at the reception, so I looked at the shelf at the reception and the hedgehog was already there, it was a really great feeling for my son.
The way back was not very pleasant because we were almost 2 and a half hours late. We were already leaving for the runway but after a while it looked like we hit something, so they told us they had to check if the undercarriage was not damaged and we had to wait for the mechanics to check it. The son was very nice again during the flight and slept for 2 hours.
Links
Busy – timetables – https://www.arrecifebus.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1223&Itemid=224&lang=es
Lanzarote Aquarium Costa Teguise – http://www.aquariumlanzarote.com
Jameos del Agua – http://www.cactlanzarote.com/en/cact/jameos-del-agua/
Hotel Nazaret Apartamentos v Costa Teguise – https://nazarethotels.com/en/nazaret-apartments/
National park Timanfaya – http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/parquesnacionalesdecanarias/en/Timanfaya/
Application Rome2rio –https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rome2rio.www.rome2rio&hl=en
Photo Gallery
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