Lanzerote or Gran Canaria

[purple-ferrets]

Firstly Hi all.

First time poster.

I have been trawling the web for information on the Canaries as we've never visited before.

We are thinking of a break in November time so the Canaries seem the obvious choice for some winter sun- well so I hear at least.

What are the differences between the islands, and is there one that would be better during the November Season?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers
Suz

[twinkletoes1471]

We have been going to Gran Canaria for the past 10 yrs or so, it is our favourite destination! whatever the time of yr you go the weather is always very good, We have tried Fuerteventura which is very windy, ideal if your into water sports, surfing etc, However we're going to Lanzarote for a change of scenery this yr and we have been kindly informed by other forum members that the weather should be up in the 80's at least.
My point is, whichever island you decide to go to, it should be lovely weather and there is always plenty to see and do wherever you go:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

[purple-ferrets]

Thank you for taking the time to reply - I was starting to think it was going to one of those posts that gets read a lot:blush:.

My husband and I would love mountain scenery, probably just hiring a 4x4 and finding some tracks... and the volcanoes just sound wonderful.. but it still doesn't narrow down which island:tongue: Will just have to close my eyes and take a guess.

Am I right in thinking that Gran Canaria is a lot more built up?

Cheers
Suz

[mary]

Both islands have their tourist areas but GC isnt built up - it has small pockets of built upness though. Go inland and the mountains are still wonderful. You can drive around and not bump into anyone on some.
Lanazarote can be windier but that goes for all year really.
GC tends to be a few degrees warmer than the others - or at least south GC.

[purple-ferrets]

Thank you. We are looking at the Maspolmas? area at a place just out side of there.

How big is GC, it's an answer that's evading me on the web...

Really looking forward to whatever we book now:blush:

[mary]

How big is GC:

If you imagine the M25, GC would fit in that circle, just.

It takes 45-50 mins to drive on the motorway from Las Palmas - top right of the island - to Puerto Rico - bottom left of the island.

But to go clockwise from Puerto Rico to Las Palmas could take you three times as long as the roads are very wiggly.

[purple-ferrets]

Thank you for the help.

I have to say it looks like Lanzerote is winning out at the moment, the fire mountains and a naturist village (sounds like a dangerous mix:wink:)

[twinkletoes1471]

we're also looking forward to seeing what Lanzarote has to offer, it does seem to have a fair amount of mountain scenery for us to investigate, my mum has been there before and says its a great trip up to the fire mountain and watch the geisers so i guess it will be on our list of things to do, a fellow forum member sent me this link its for Lanzarote and costa teguise which is where we will be staying
http://www.golanzarote.com/html/costa_teguise.html you can find out all sorts of information from this link.
your bound to have a great time whichever island you go to though

[colinb]

We have been to both many times. In my opinion Lanzarote can't match the "Continent in Miniature" that is Gran Canaria. Lanzarote is bleak by comparison, windier and cooler. It is very much a matter of personal opinion though.

[Stephen]

Been to both and Lanzarote wins by a country mile , the Timanfay national park has to be seento be belived , and teh North of teh island where you will find Mirador del Rio , Jameos del Aqua and the gReen caves as well as small seaports like ORZOLA and the amazing and completely amazing beaches up in teh north , the resorts are all different in variuosways , Puerto del carmen is really 4 areas , The old town with the harbour and brilliant seafood restaraunts ,the new town with large family orientated bars and the atl;antico centre for clubs and late bars , pociilos for its huge beach which is quieter than the Playa Grande in PDC new town adn Matagorda which is very quiet and peaceful

we stay in the old town and love it and there are small centres all over the place the atlantico is the only one you can compare to the ones in Rico

Playa Blanca is very quiet to us but mates swear by it and i honestly dont like Costa Teguise


Tegusie market is worth a trp on a sunday and YAIZA has been voted most beautiful village in Spain in the past and is well worth a visit ,


as for weather this June and last May it was absolutely stfiling and the breeze was no were to be seen , Matagorda gets the breeze but there again the windsurfing there is brilliant , December was perfect very warm but not too warm

another link is www.lanzarotetourist.co.uk and dependent on which resort you are goingto be in

www.pdcreview.co.uk , for Puerto del carmen , www.pbreviews.co.uk for Playa Blanca and www.ctreviews.co.uk for Costa Teguise ,

the pdc one is well established but the others are in there infancy so will neeed some more reviews

hope this helps ]

[barnstyke]

I know people have different tastes but to say lanzarote wins by a “COUNTRY MILE” is stretching it a bit. :no:

Over the years I’ve travelled to Tenerife 3 times, Lanzarote 2 times and Fuerteventura just the once. Both times that we’ve been to Lanzarote the strong winds spoiled it a little and has since put us of going back. We think Gran Canaria has a lot more to offer than lanzarote’s arid landscape.

Daz.

[Holly Dayze]

I think it's really very subjective and comes down to what you want from your holiday. I had one of the best holidays I've ever had in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, but I'm not drawn back there in the same way that I'm drawn back to Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria.

Both islands have a lot to offer and my advice is that whichever one you choose this time, you should choose the other next time! ;)

[russ]

the scenary in gran can beats every other island here. that will be the reason why all the other islands at some point more recently tenerife have stolen the mountain ranges here to advertise their own island.

[coolcreen]

We liked Lanzarote, but Gran Canaria has a lot more to offer in my opinion. If you are just looking for sun, sea and sand, then I would rate then equally, but, if you want to discover the islands, Gran Canaria has greater diversity. If you choose Lanzarote, "fire mountain" and the wine producing area is worth a visit. If you choose Gran Canaria, the list is almost endless.

[julesc]

Firstly can i just say i am a frequent visitor to all of the canary islands. The discussion in question, then i say Lanzarote in all ways beats gran canaria. I will give my own personal example, puerto rico, just 2 poxy centres, in a way like blackpool front, yes nice beaches especially amadores. Matagora and pdc in Lanzarote, totally different. Wind?? what the hell, its still very very hot as its the nearest of the islands to africa. At the end of the day we all have our own opinions, this is mine, but come on, PR is like blackpool in the sun!

[russ]

just 2 poxy centres like blackpool, me thinks blackpool is on the sea front ie del carmen. it may be nearer to africa but thats a little irrelevant as rico is further south and that is what comes into account when ur looking at temps. plus del carmen is alot dearer than here as most of the places are owned by the same family and keep prices up. yes we all have our own opinions and that is mine.

[rab_c.]

Well the original question is on visiting the canaries in nov. and weather wise and not specifically on areas or Hmmmm :no:centres here is my opinion on having been lucky to have had the pleasure of tenerife, fuerteventura, gran canaria and lanzarote.
Firstly loved them all and would go back to them all but!!!! there is always a fav. however I will not be bias:wink: Lanzarote is the only one that we have never visited around november time that was early march weather was fantastic although windy, the best tan we ever had and that is a fact although not a sea lover spent a lot of time surfboarding in costa teguise, and trying to learn to wind sail got a fright around that time hence my dislike of the sea now. did a lot of cycling with the kids back and forth between costa teguise and puerta del carmen going past arreciffe the capital of the island the airport and matagorda on the way, fire mountain is well worth a visit and no we did not cycle up it lol. The island is really like the moon scenes from a james bond film if you have never seen it well worth a visit for that alone.
tenerife was a nov visit a few years back what can I say mt teide safari parks entertainment brill but weatherwise we had a lot of cloud when visiting but still came back looking very healthy for november if I remember correctly a lot of older people used to spend a lot of time hiking on the island. Fuerteventura was a chance visit a few years back in november we really loved it and a lot of advice from bluemoonsteve at that time really helped to make our jollies we stayed in a great hotel in cala de fuste next to a shopping centre and opposite the golf course so much to do here and a week was not long enough but have vowed to go back again a lot of building work was going on in the area we stayed but it will be finished now we remember eating in a restaraunt that was man built out in the sea on a rock and a large hotel was being built opposite it and it was the first time that I was ever nearly arrested on holiday for taking piccies sneaked in to get some shots for my site and the security guard threatened me with the guardia or policia if I didnt leave we still laugh about that yet. Gran canaria well as I said I would not be bias hence I will not comment on it as I have hundreds of threads on here regards the island so have a wee read of some of them.
as previously said we loved them all and god willing will visit them all again we cannot speak badly of any of them and have met and remained friends with a lot of really nice people along the way so!!! my friend at the end of the day the choice is yours
have fun we have.

[karen]

Have to agree with Russ on this one.

I have been to Puerto Del Carman 3 times now and it reminded me of Blackpool except the sun shines more in PDC! Like Blackpool, you have some shops selling tat, then a cafe, then an arcade, then a tattoo shop, then some more tat shops you get the drift, PDC to me was just like that.

I have been in December, January, February. In December we had mixed weather, couple of really hot days, then couple of days of rain etc. January was the same. The year we visited in February the weather was great apart from I would say around 2 days of rain, the rain was heavy and lasted the morning after that it was great.

[russ]

i dont think there is any prizes for guessing who it was saying about 2 poxy centres in rico. i think most members know exactly who it is lol one post under that name and one post slagging off rico

[twinkletoes1471]

me thinks you are taking the mick!:veryangry:

Firstly can i just say i am a frequent visitor to all of the canary islands. The discussion in question, then i say Lanzarote in all ways beats gran canaria. I will give my own personal example, puerto rico, just 2 poxy centres, in a way like blackpool front, yes nice beaches especially amadores. Matagora and pdc in Lanzarote, totally different. Wind?? what the hell, its still very very hot as its the nearest of the islands to africa. At the end of the day we all have our own opinions, this is mine, but come on, PR is like blackpool in the sun!:veryangry:
Blackpool has nothing on any of the canary islands and I've been to 3 of them so far, my fav is Gran Canaria with Puerto Rico winning hands down, going to Lanzarote for Christmas and to BLACKPOOL next Monday, anybody who knows me will verify that I much prefer to be in Canary Islands then Blackpool, but hey I'll suffer the wind, the rain, the poxy arcades and the tower and circus BUT I'll still be thinking of December and getting on that PLANE
by the way, puerto rico has 3 centres that i have been to, r u sure you've actually been there?
Blackpool sea front is a solid mass of arcades and bric a brac style shops with junk food outlets interspersed amongst them, puerto rico sea front hmmmmmmmm dont remember ever seeing an arcade there, can any of the forum members help me out if i'm wrong?

[BIG TONY]

Firstly can i just say i am a frequent visitor to all of the canary islands. The discussion in question, then i say Lanzarote in all ways beats gran canaria. I will give my own personal example, puerto rico, just 2 poxy centres, in a way like blackpool front, yes nice beaches especially amadores. Matagora and pdc in Lanzarote, totally different. Wind?? what the hell, its still very very hot as its the nearest of the islands to africa. At the end of the day we all have our own opinions, this is mine, but come on, PR is like blackpool in the sun!

The original question opening this thread is Lanzarote or Gran Canaria?????
I find you're post singleing out just "one resort" very negative, it's the two "islands" wholly that are in question !!!!!