Hi

As we’re likely to get fed up with winter this year and get bored flying

After a quieter location but with enough for 2 weeks, Active oldsters who like walking , MTBs but not too techie trails, scenery, and facilities like food shops, car hire, buses, bike hire, sights, odd touristy thing – boat trip, museum, architecture, guided walk etc, able to wander down to a not heaving town/ harbour, have a beer and a meal or get a takeaway or drive out to a local scenic village for an evening etc

Ta

For me it has to be Lanzarote. Playa Banca in January is just lovely; quite, safe, a really nice long walk down the coast etc.

Lanzarote itself is stunning-have a read of what the mayor back in the 70’s introduced to prevent the island becoming too spoiled by tourism. It’s worked!

Can’t help with the trails side of things I’m afraid though. Not something I looked into but there’ll certainly be some. And plenty of nice places to visit within easy driving distance.

My default answer and a perfect fit for your requirements would be not the Canaries but Madeira.

And if we’re offering alternatives Cyprus is a similar flight time and I much prefer it over Lanzarote.

And there Cypriots have the common decency to a) drive on the correct side of the road and b) use a proper three pin plug. Makes going there just that bit easier.

Get a nice hotel in Paphos (I highly recommend the King Evelthon) and then take some day trips to the Troodos region for villages and trails.

Only been to Tenerife (and only there once!) but it was great, even the touristy south (which was busy) more full of older people than partying youngsters in the winter! Main reason for recommending is the great MTB guide (although I believe the original owner has sold it on now?) Lavatrax. I believe the north side of the island a bit more traditional/cultured/better for walks etc.

We’ve done all the islands but by far the nicest is Fuertaventura. We go to Caleta de Fuste. Its bloody lovely. Never too busy. definitely appeals to an older crowd, so its nice bars, shops and restaurants and decent hotels rather than night clubs. No high rise and you can set out walking or cycling in any direction and you’re out of the town and into the volcanic moonscape in no time.

Until we went here I’d never got my head around people going back to the same place time after time. We’ve been back there 5 times now, and we were only discussing last night maybe booking again for later this year. Love the place. Gorgeous beaches, and the climate is perfect. mid-20’s in November. Lovely!

We’re now on great terms with Goeff at Caleta Cycles (terrible website, top bloke!). He does tours inland up onto the volcano plateau

or just hire some fatbikes off him and head down the coast

Oh.. don’t ride them through the sea. Me and my mate Seb got a telling off for this picture

We stay at the Elba Sara Hotel. Couldn’t recommend the place highly enough

As a lot of the hotels in the Canaries have taken a big hit with Thomas Cook going bump, there are some bonkers deals to be had at the moment.

I went to Caleta de Fuste ( not on Binners recomendation) and found it pretty awful! different expectations? Just a tourist ghetto. food awful except one restaurant, no old town to explore. Full on caricature of a spanish / canaries resort right down to the man in a man u shirt having a pint of lager with his full english breakfast.

It was very cheap winter sun tho so cannot complain,

Tenerife gives you the best chance to escape the watneys red barrel brigade

Tenerife i think gives the most options of varied things to do. I’ve been to Fuertaventura once and i wouldn’t go back as found it fairly limited in terms of things to do. Second the Maderia suggestion too.

Watneys red barrel brigade?

I found it full of German and Scanndanavian penhsioners, there to play golf

And if youy couldn’t find anywhere decent to eat, you can’t have been looking very hard

Epic hillwalking in La Gomera and a real escape from the real world.

Sorry to say I must have gone to the same Caleta as TJ. Grim.

Went to Puerto Mogan in GC based on recommendations on this forum and really enjoyed it. Only reason wouldn’t go back is closure to coast road which will bugger it up a lot for riding.

Find most of the resort’s much the same, but all the islands are very attractive if you strike out inland and upwards.

Thanks chaps, few places to research further, any self catering links, specific town reports etc etc appreciated, keep em coming.

Sorry to say I must have gone to the same Caleta as TJ. Grim.

+another.

I can’t remember where I went in Fuerteventura but it stands out as being probably the worst foreign holiday I’ve ever been on. It’s twenty years ago so things may have changed…

There was genuinely nothing to see. The biggest local attraction was Chipmunk Hill – a low hill, with chipmunks on it. (Thinking back, that’s a bit Father Ted-ish!) Describing the landscape as a moonscape is about right – nobody went to the moon for the scenery. 😁 We hired a car and drove around the island but there was not much point because there was genuinely nothing there. Binners pics above are pretty representative. The food was poor to unexceptional, with the local speciality being potatoes boiled dry in over-salted water. There were also not very many restaurants, iirc.

It is very, very windy! The sea is cold, being a volcanic island out in the Atlantic. I don’t remember the beaches at all, despite going to plenty.

We still laugh about the holiday – it is my family’s benchmark for rubbish places.

Just me then 😃

Don’t worry binners, I like some weird places as well. Preston, Belgium, ummmm, you get the drift. 😂

Tenerife over Lanzarote anyday , We were in Playa Honda for a week in may and I found Lanzarote to be totally grim. I hired a bike and whilst the coastal path stretches from Costa Teguise to Peurto del carmen the island seemed pretty featureless. i definately wouldnt go back , but each to their own.

wait4me

Member

Went to Puerto Mogan in GC based on recommendations on this forum and really enjoyed it. Only reason wouldn’t go back is closure to coast road which will bugger it up a lot for riding

The coast road being closed is a nuisance, but there is the option of getting the ferry from Puerto Rico for about €5 … which only makes for a better start or finish to a ride.

We giving the Canaries a miss this November and slumming a week in Benidorm instead🍻

We were in Playa Honda for a week in may and I found Lanzarote to be totally grim. I hired a bike and whilst the coastal path stretches from Costa Teguise to Peurto del carmen the island seemed pretty featureless.

If that was the only bit you rode then you chose the most unpleasant bit of the island. Most of these islands have a grotty touristy bit and nicer other parts.. it’s like suggesting that Magaluf is all there is to Majorca

Only ever been to Lanzarote, first time was Playa Blanca which was brilliant, nice and quiet and we had a villa in a scheme up the hill.

Second time was in Matagorda, right next to the end of the runway. In honestly it was nowhere like as bad as it sounds, bit more touristy but had bike shops and a decent amount of restaurants as you head down to Puerto del Carmen.

Reckon the road riding could be good in the right climate, was too hot when we were there in mid June but the first time was probably okay in early November. If you headed up to the mountains from Yaiza you are straight into wine country (rude not to sample) and the national park gives some interesting views. IIRC we ended up at el Golfo which had a great beach. North end of the island has the lagoon which we never saw because everyone was on strike.

Mooman: that’s great news, Mogan back on the radar then. Have you used the ferry and it’s a definite it takes bikes? I thought it was only a little pleasure boat.

Stanfree: The North of Lanzarote is a real jem it’s a shame you missed it. The coast road to the northern tip through the lava flow is ace, especially on the way south with a tailwind! Then heading into the villages and volcanoes in the whole northern portion is lovely on a bike or a car.

Only reason I started going to gran canaria over there is again the resort of Costa Teguise isn’t the greatest. Like Caleta de Fuste it’s a bit kiss-me-quick in places, though not too bad. I’m toying with trying an Airbnb in one of the fishing villages in the north next time I go. In the defence of Costa Teguise, I’ve always had very good food and it’s pretty cheap compared to mainland Europe.

Binners – I really think its subjective not objective and what we like is not what you like. I ate in two places you recommended. One gave me food poisoning, the other was just rubbish. One fine restaurant tho “Volcano” so highly recommended to go there when you go back

In defense of the place its a lot better than Playa las Americas on Tenerife where I have also been and we were out of high season so it was very cheap indeed and the bike hire place you mention was good

wait4me

Member
Mooman: that’s great news, Mogan back on the radar then. Have you used the ferry and it’s a definite it takes bikes? I thought it was only a little pleasure boat

Yes 3 friends and I used it earlier this year. We rode up from Puerto Mogan to all the great climbs; came back down to take coast road back and stopped in Puerto Rico for coffee & cake.
The ferries run every hour and bikes allowed with no issue. Cost less than €5 euro if I remember right … 15-20 min boat ride that drops you into Puerto Mogan harbour. Really nice end to a ride to be honest.
Preferable to that sketchy coast road anyways; before the rock fall closure of the road I was always nervous of the huge precarious looking rocks overhanging you.

I’ve been to Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria is certainly a better holiday location and vastly more scenic but for biking (mtb) Lanzarote is much better.

In Gran Canaria, we found it difficult to string a looping route together. There were shuttle runs to the top and several tracks down but nothing to cycle (without it being a straight-up slog) back up. We managed to string a few days routes together but 1 required a scramble down a v’steep and v’narrow path and none were amazing. Some sections were v’difficult to navigate as they were old lava-fields.

As for Lanzarote, i found it to be a dump, at least for the southern part of the island. I was there on the 4day Club la santa mtb race. Was good fun, the routes ok but bloody windy.

Both times we mostly stayed in AirBnBs away from the touristy areas. La Garita Beach in GC was a nice little place. In LZ it was a remote place north of Club La Santa.

Did Tenerife last year, stayed just outside Los Cristianos and rented bikes from the freemotion there (Roadie trip) they had MTBs and E-MTBs galore in the Freemotion place (seemed oddly popular with elderly Dutch people) and we did encounter a few MTBerist trundling about on the side of Tiede, Freemotion do guided trips for road and MTB.

I’ve been to Gran Canaria twice now, Stayed in Puerto de Mogan, found the freemotion place but didn’t bother renting a bike 1st time (family trip), but when we stayed in Maspalomas a couple of years later I rented a Road bike and went for a day up in the hills, stunning views, a really nice day riding on my own, I did see some MTBs out on local trails while I was there.
Personally If I were visiting GC again I’d go back to Puerto de Mogan, it’s quieter and generally nicer (IMO).

One of my mates has done Lanzarote (again Road riding) and would recommend it.

Looks like we’re off to Mallorca for the 2020 (Road) cycling trip, not a Canary Island, but slightly shorter flight time and still good weather. Plus I’m sure someone will wage a campaign for a night out in Magaluf…

We’re in Lanzarote for 5 days , kid free! it’s our 10th anniversary.

1st off make sure you take out excess insurance on your hire car, ours cost a few quid online before we left & dodgy access roads + fiat 500 = trashed under door sil that would’ve cost us €950 excess!

Been great- lovely beaches, body boarding for a day on North coast then snorkeling on South coast.

We did a waymarked hike round Caldera Blanca that included a sketchy ridgline crossing but amazing volcanic views

There’s a coast hike that runs then length of the volcanic park that looks great

Papagayobike look to have some decent hire bikes and excursions offered, tho we didn’t try any.

Were staying in excellent Casona De Yaiza which is quite central, very nice quirky hotel/apartments and top notch resteraunt (best food we’ve had on island) and a world away from the more touristy mega hotels.

So we’ve done Lanzarotte (staying near Arietta in the North); Gran Canaria (staying halfway up a volcano in near Las Palmas, in the North) and Fuerteventura, (staying in El Cotillo, in the North). Going back to the latter in December. Just a bit of an impulse decision to rebook. Each time just a cheap week of winter sun and, for me, surf and a bit of biking.

Of this limited experience, Gran Canaria’s best for doing a bunch of different stuff, including hiking and mtb, but a bit busy. Lanzarotte’s probably my favorite for the Georges Ceasar arty stuff and general vibe in the north, including v laid back and considerate to cyclists drivers. Dunno really why we’re going back to dirty Fuerte. I think it’s the only one where there’s a Michelin starred restaurant, which was pretty nice, and el Cotillo where we stayed was quiet and laid back with a few okay places to eat, two bars, and a couple of nice restaurants including a new place that had just opened that was actually really good in a glossy way. Had some good waves. Will probably hire a mtb this time too.

CArs: just book with Autoreisen. They hire ’em out pre-scratched and basically tell you to do your worst. Seriously: good service.

La Palma is stunning, with a proper rainforest in the north, amazing views from the top, and a lovely climate. Madeira is also a good option (although obviously not the Canaries!).

have been to a few places in tenerife, Vilaflor and walking right up to the rim of the outer ridge of Tiede through the pine forests then the guided trip up to the summit and a tour of the area, a few days on the east coast doing nothing, a few days in the capital with trips for walking round Taganana which is stunning, oratrava and then to San Christobel.

avoided the south as thats just full of fat old brits and waterparks/camel rides etc.
beautiful and varied island, look forward to going back.