TOP TIPS

We’re quite often contacted by people who are panicking – they’ve booked accommodation here, and then they’ve decided to read the Trip Advisor reviews to get some more information, only to find that there are some negative reviews. This article is to help you get the best from Trip Advisor, and to suggest you research your accommodation before booking. Trip Advisor is the daddy of all review sites: There are more than 225 Million reviews on it Almost 5 million…

You’ll find plenty of debate around the web, and lots of people with opinions on this subject on the streets of Lanzarote. Generally, the electronics shops in Lanzarote have a bad reputation for scamming clients with fake goods, and bad trade practices. As a duty free island, with very low VAT, we have plenty of shops, usually owned by people of Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin, that sell a wide range of electrical gear. Things like cameras, video cameras, MP3…

The black stuff is called Picón, although we’ll lose the accent now, as people probably won’t search for the information with it! Picon is volcanic ash from the eruptions here in the 18th and 19th centuries. You’ll find it everywhere around volcanoes here. Most commonly, it’s black, but you can get a red version from areas like Montaña Roja in Playa Blanca. Why is Picon used when growing stuff? Putting a layer of picón on the soil when planting has…

We’re coming up to 20 years living on the island, and we were reminiscing the other day about how things have changed here in that time. We thought it would be fun to share what we came up with: You Can Buy Marmite Here You couldn’t buy Marmite when we first came here, even from “Strawberry Farm” which was the only “British” shop on the island. Mates used to bring it out for me, but these days it seems to…

We’ve put together a list of the mistakes people most commonly make on their holiday visit to Lanzarote, in the hope we can help you avoid some or all of them! Drinking spirits like you do back home! We don’t have set measures for a gin and tonic or a whisky and dry – the bar person simply pours the drinks into a glass, and we’re generous by nature here in Lanzarote. It means your drink might be a treble…

How Lanzarote Became Spanish Prior to 1402 several European sailors had visited The Canary Islands, describing the local Guanche inhabitants as friendly and accommodating. During the 1300’s, the islands were plagued by pirates, who would come ashore to rape and pillage, while the inhabitants did their best to hide in the tunnels of Cueva de los Verdes. In 1402 Juan Bethencourt, an ambitious Norman nobleman, put together a plan to conquer the island for Spain. He set sail from La…