I’m a big believer in travelling to find some vitamin D the colder months so I was very excited for our Winter Sun holiday to Lanzarote with Jet2holidays. This post is in collaboration with Jet2holidays.
I’ll be honest in saying that Lanzarote and it’s other neighbouring Canary Islands are not somewhere I’ve ever considered travelling to before, so I was very excited to see if I was going to go cuckoo for the Canaries after our 4 night break on the island.We’ve usually been tempted by the azure blue seas of Greece and Turkey, and even heading to the Caribbean in the winter months but with travel a little more limited at the moment we decided to give them a go for a little bit of Winter Sun in November with Jet2holidays to catch the last rays of 2021.
The beauty of Lanzarote is that there are almost daily flights with Jet2 making it a really accessible place to travel to.
Whilst there are various islands to choose from, after some deliberation we did decide on Lanzarote with it being one of the more adventurous of the islands. Not only that but it offers a multitude of stunning hotels and flights directly from Leeds Bradford Airport with Jet2holidays. It seems the perfect option to enjoy both a little bit of R&R and lots of fun outdoor pursuits.We had conflicting advise about the weather from others who had been, but we checked our apps and it was beaming back at us with a nice toasty 23 – 26 degree Celsius range for our stay. We are very lucky to say we had the most glorious weather (and we only had to pull a Cardigan or jumper on late at night!)I have to start by saying we travelled when we only had to fill out two forms, provide our Covid pass and on our return do a day 2 lateral flow test and it was all relatively straightforward. As a advise is rapidly changing regarding travel, please do check out this link and the directgov site for more information.
WHERE TO STAY ON LANZAROTE?The beauty of travelling with Jet2holidays to Lanzarote is that there are so many different accommodations to pick from. From self catering apartments, right up to the luxury collection 4 & 5 star hotels that ooze sophistication.When travelling to the Caribbean we always go on all inclusive holidays, so we opted for the 5 star H10 Rubicon as part of a Jet2holidays package.The hotel itself is stunning. Set right on the rugged, volcanic cliffs of Playa Blanca it served up the most relaxing spot on the island. On arrival we were greeted with a large glass of crisp Cava which set the tone perfectly.
The lobby area was vast, with a real vintage vibe – with dark woods, quirky taxidermy and a bar that wouldn’t look out of place in a very stylish speak easy.
With a huge pool at the centre of the resort, (and various smaller, quieter pools dotted out of sight around the priority suites available) there were plenty of sunbeds on offer, especially as it was November! If you perched yourself in the right spot you have direct access to the pool and a glorious view of the sea as well.As we were all inclusive, it included premium spirits throughout, along with the buffet restaurants, plus 1 a la carte option during our 4 night stay. Due to the Covid restrictions, you now book your restaurant reservations for a set time to limit how many people were in each restaurant at certain times.The food and drink were unbelievably good. If you tasked the staff with making a cocktail that wasn’t on the menu, they would make it for you (thank you for the Disaronno sours!) the house Rioja they serve is delicious too. Perfect for sipping every balmy night whilst we sat outdoors eating our dinner. Every night we headed up to the terrace near the lobby bar for drinks after dinner, a perfect spot to while away both an afternoon and evening!
Whilst the Asian restaurant was good, we much preferred the wide variety that the buffet restaurants offered – including the platter of large King prawns every night (to. die. for.) Plus the breakfasts catered to everyone, with different stations for pancakes, waffles, continental, bacon, sausages, fruits and lots more.I say, that if the food and drinks good, you’re on to a winner! And the H10 Rubicon Palace ticked that box for us!
Moving on to the rooms, they were bright, airy and impeccably designed. What I loved most was that they weren’t that typical sterile, run of the mill Spanish style hotel. They had character! With white wooden panelling, gorgeous prints on the walls and herringbone flooring – it oozed seaside chic coolness.The beds were huge and very comfortable as well. Every night we had the most amazing sleep!We managed to snag a sea view room too which was lovely to wake up to.There were so many toiletries on offer, along with the water replaced every day. We also loved the Eco friendly vibe here, by paying 6€ you could get a refillable thermal flask for water.
Overall we were so impressed with the hotel that we are already planning a trip back to the H10 Rubicon Palace with Jet2holidays.
WHICH RESORT ON LANZAROTE?Being that the Canaries was a totally new destination for us, we were really lead by two things 1) the hotels we were choosing between and 2) recommendations.Lots of people recommended Peurto Del Carmen to us, but the hotels weren’t stand out contenders for us so we decided (after many hours of deliberation) to go with Playa Blanca.We knew that Playa Blanca was a little further south of the island, thus giving us a longer transfer of around 30 minutes (on a good run) so in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t actually too bad on the way to the hotel as we were the first drop off. Sadly though, the way back to the airport was a different story – we were sat on the transfer for nearly 2 hours picking up every man and his dog at various hotels in the area. By the end of the transfer I felt so travel sick (the roads on Lanzarote are extremely bumpy!)My one tip is to book private transfers if you’re down in Playa Blanca, these can be booked with Jet2holidays as part of your package, but standard coach transfers are included in your package holidays to Lanzarote.There’s a working harbour in Playa Blanca and a large shopping plaza in the centre of town, but our hotel was a good half and hour to 45 minute walk to the centre.This actually suited us right down to the ground as the gorgeous sea front walk was a perfect afternoon activity for us when we got bored of laying by the pool.
We headed up to Playa Flamingo beach which is a man made, sandy beach which took about 25 minutes. There would have been plenty of space for us to get sat down if we had brought our deckchairs with us. If we’d have been there longer we would have definitely spent a day here.Along the seafront walk there’s plenty of bars and restaurants to stop at if you need refreshments.We noticed a lot of the hotels along the way which we had shortlisted and we decided we were really happy with the H10 Rubicon as it had a much more private element to it compared the others we saw.THINGS TO DOThe beauty of Lanzarote is that there’s actually a lot of activities to do on the island – especially if you’re the outdoorsy type and love surfing!The ever-changing landscape of this volcanic island never stopped surprising us as we motored along.During our 4 night stay we hired a Can Am Spyder (a cross between a snow mobile, motorbike and a quad!) it was only 1 of 2 available on the island so we felt pretty “rock star” to be driving around on it.We were out and about on a guided tour for a good 3 hours and in that we managed to take in a heck of a lot of Lanzarote.
We travelled to some stunning locations. We stopped at an amazing surfing spot with cute surf style cafes, it definitely isn’t somewhere you’d get to if you didn’t hire a car or transport around the island.Of course no trip to Lanzarote is complete without a visit through the infamous Timanfaya National Park – it is a must see. Did you know that the island has an active volcano? The preserved area is from an eruption that happened over 200 years ago which created a vast space of lava fields. Its such a phenomenal sight.
We also headed to the green lagoon in the coastal village of El Golfo, the lake that has formed in the crater of a volcano turns green from the algae in the water.
As the island is volcanic, most beaches are black sand so there’s a mixture of man-made beaches and natural beaches along the coast.
Our best advice to give to you is to hire some form of motor to get around the island to explore it’s moon like landscape and to leave the busier resorts behind for a day or two to experience a more authentic side of the island.
WOULD WE GO BACK TO LANZAROTE?
The short answer is a resounding yes. The island completely transformed my view of the Canary Islands, especially with the standard of hotels on offer and we would definitely return here for some more Winter Sun with Jet2holidays in 2022!
Have you ever been to Lanzarote? Which is your favourite Canary Island to visit?
