Lounging in Lanzarote

Oakham, United Kingdom

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:50:00 +0000

And we are safely home!! Day 18 Loose Ends We have headed home today. The travel home day is always a long day, no matter which airport you fly to. We are on an afternoon flight to Gatwick, which gives us time to have a fairly leisurely morning. Instead of driving directly to Arrecife airport we have chosen to go the long way round by the Janubio salt flats and El Golfo. The salt flats, Salinas de Janubio, are one of Lanzarote’s most captivating natural attractions. Located not far from Playa Blanca on the island’s southwestern coast, these historic salt flats are a remarkable sight and offer a unique glimpse into Lanzarote’s agricultural past. Salinas de Janubio are Lanzarote’s (and the Canary Islands) largest and oldest salt flats, dating back to the 19th century. These expansive salt pans are still in operation today, where traditional methods of salt extraction are employed. The visual contrast between the white salt beds, the turquoise sea, and the dark volcanic landscape makes for breathtaking views. We had a short pit stop at Janubio and bought 2kg of rock salt to take home. I hope no one thinks that it’s some illegal bags of white powder!! Then on to El Golfo which is a bay on the west of Lanzarote. It was formed by the eruption of a volcano under the sea. There are some restaurants and cafes on the cliffs overlooking the bay and along the shoreline. El Golfo village itself is surrounded by craters, volcanic rocks, and lava fields, creating a dramatic landscape that is unlike anything else in the world. One of the key attractions in El Golfo is the famous green lagoon, known as Charco de los Clicos. This lagoon is a stunning bright green colour due to the presence of algae and minerals in the water. El Golfo is also known for its fresh seafood and the village has a number of restaurants serving up delicious dishes made with local ingredients like fish, octopus, and squid. It's the perfect place to indulge in a seafood feast (which I am not allowed today). Then on to the airport via the car rental drop off. We have driven 500km while on Lanzarote which seems a lot considering the size of the island. But we do get about. At the airport we join one of the many queues for check in hoping for a quick and efficient process. But British Airways ground agents here have a surprise for us. A surprise that is maybe a little bit Spanish, not very logical but certainly a bit annoying. It seems that although BA encourage you to be at the airport between two and three hours before the scheduled flight time, the checkin process and timings in Lanzarote are different. There are the two normal business class and economy lines which usually start checking in at the same time. Not in Arrecife. The economy class passengers get to watch the business class passengers check in, while they wait for the check in clerk for Economy to show up. I enquired why and I was informed that it makes more sense to them to start the checkin for the 40 business class seats 30 minutes before the check in process for the 170 economy passengers who are waiting in line. Maybe so that the business guys can have more preflight time in the lounge. We travel a mix of business and economy and I’ve never seen this approach before. But hey ho. We are in Spain and I’m happy to be flexible. A super flight home and then a train from Gatwick to Corby. Lanzarote to Gatwick flight time four hours. Landing at Gatwick to home by train and taxi, four hours. Happy Days.

Yaiza, Spain

Sat, 24 Jan 2026 14:50:00 +0000

Alto del Carmen, Spain

Sun, 18 Jan 2026 14:50:00 +0000

The Wright Stuff Days 5-12. Carmen After four days of all the inclusive relaxation dispensed by H10, its was time to move on to chapter 2 of this Lanzarote trip. It’s refreshing to escape the magnetic all inclusive draw so that we can hope to enjoy something a little more Spanish. For stage two we are relocating to Puerto Del Carmen and meeting up with Martin for seven days. As we are Lanzarote virgins we have no idea what PDC has in store for us. We know it to be a busy vibrant place and we have chosen to rent a sea view apartment right in the centre of the town where all the action happens (allegedly). After some difficulties actually finding and then accessing our new digs, we got checked in and got our luggage installed. I then headed off to the airport to collect Martin. Our new apartment sits high, high up in our development overlooking the main town beach of PDC and has a terrific view over the bay. It’s also high enough above the promenade, which is a busy, busy place, and leaves the thrum of enjoyment firmly at ground level. A negative however, is that we have a number of ramps and 54 steps to navigate to get from the avenue to the accommodation. Challenging especially after a few sherries. Puerto del Carmen has had a big impression on me, but has not inspired me in any really Spanish way. The strip along the Avenida de las Playas is a maybe 2 km promenade of fun, food, music and unusually, quite a smattering of Celtic charm. I have never been anywhere which has such a concentration of Irish bars and restaurants (apart from Ireland of course). I did some digging and I think there are 112 Irish establishments in PDC. Maybe unique and certainly amazing. We spent our days dipping in and out of this unexpected Irish experience with some day trips to Arrecife and other local Spanish towns for some light relief. To nourish us along the way, we always had the possibility of Irish stew and a full Irish breakfast readily available, as were lots of other cuisines (including Scottish and English breakfast as and when required). We managed to fit in a super Uruguayan steak evening, a trip to Montmartre in a very French restaurant which was excellent. Two Italian evenings bookended the stay and we fitted in an Irish prawn salad in the middle for good measure. But I remained completely unengaged by Carmen. I felt like I had left Spain and somehow transported myself to an unexpected sunny Irish riviera. I expected something different. Anyway all good Celtic things must come to an end and we dropped Martin back at the airport on Saturday afternoon for his flight home. Steve and I will now head back to Playa Blanca where I have rented a small calm villa for the last days and chapter 3 of this vacation.

Playa Blanca, Spain

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:50:00 +0000

Crawley

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 14:20:00 +0000