Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, Guide

swiss69

Emla75 wrote: »

Hi Elle,
This thread is incredibly helpful and has inspired me to join MSE instead of just lurking!

We're off to Playa Blanca in a few weeks and I wondered if I could ask you a few questions....

We are staying in a villa just off Calle Europa. Do you know that area? Does the area have a name? I think it's about 20 mins walk to the centre. Do you know if we would always be walking into the centre for shops/cafes/restaurants or are there things dotted about en route?

We will be arriving on a Sunday and so I'm assuming that shops will be closed. Are there any that stay open that would allow us to buy milk? We can manage without most things but we'll have some little'uns with us so would be handy not to have to bring milk from the UK for the first night/morning.

I may ask you some more things as I think of them if you don't mind. I've just booked this quite last minute so only just starting to think about it now!

Many thanks, Emma

Hi Emma, We have stayed in a villa just off Calle Europa. It is about a twenty minute walk to the town from there. There is not much on route to be honest until you hit town.

The Spar/Netto type shops in the town should be open on the Sunday as long as you dont arrive too late.

Try to get to the Hyperdino if you can. its the large supermarket in town. Just past the bus station (About 200 yards and down some steps). It is cheaper than the others and has much more choice. You can get a cab back from town for about 3 euro so I would recommend that every night if I were you. The walk to town is fine but doing it twice in one day is a bit tedious.

The Marina is worth a visit on Wed/Sat when the market is on. If you head into town and hit the front, if you turn left and walk along the coastal path you will hit the Marina after about 20 minutes.


http://www.lanzarote.com/maps/playa-blanca/
This might be useful for you to get your bearings.

Restauarant wise we like Tipico Canaria on the front next to Yumbo Chinese. Good food and reasonable prices.

Enjoy

Elle1971

Hi Emma. You have been given good sound advice from Swiss. I used to live in Parque del Rey, which is off Calle Europa. To get to the town centre on foot - head to the Corbeta Hotel Roundabout at the Southern end of Calle Europa and turn left. There is waste ground then on your right, which you can cut down... that take you to the port. Ok on foot, but not great with pushchairs. So to avoid the waste ground... just stay on the pavement after the Corbeta until you reach a footpath after another hotel opposite, and turn right down there. The end of that road brings you out at the Bus Station. From there, cross over the dual carriageway, head left and then turn right at the roundabout. Follow the road down the slight hill, and yu'll hit the seafront.
If you had looked across diagonally right at the bus station... across the dual carriageway... you will see a big set of windows with pics of fruit and veg in them. That's Hiperdino - and you need to walk around the other side to get to it (driving instructions follow later for faster car route).
Hiperdino is the best (and cheapest) shop for you and closes at 4pm on a Sunday. However Spar is open later than that. If you are driving... then to get to either... come out of Calle Europa at the Corbeta Hotel Roundabout and turn right.
At the next roundabout, turn left. Follow the road until you reach another roundabout... slowly as you approach it... and turn left just before that roundabout (you can always gor round it and come back again, it's only a few yards.
Where you have turned left - park up... and Spar is straight across the road (good for cheap wine, but not the best for daily essentials)
If you want Hiperdino instead... then instead of parking up there... go straight over that roundabout. You will see the port on your right.
The road soon splits, so take the right hand fork, and drive carefully down that side street until the corrugated wall on your left ends.
Turn left there, and there is the entrance to Hiperdino's underground car park. IT's free to park for an hour, as long as you spend over €6 and get your ticket stamped at the till - but any extra is just a few centimos anyway. You pay at the kiosk in the car park - not at the machines.
Netto stores are now all gone from the town - and have been replaced by Hiperdino Express. These are a little dearer than the standard Hiperdino here - but not as pricey as Netto once was.
There is a small shop towards the industrial area at the other end of Calle Europa. Go in the opposite direction to the Corbeta Hotel, until you reach a roundabout (after the school). Turn right there... and there's a very small shop on the left. It's ok if you're desperate for essentials... but no good for evenings or anything more than milk and absolute necessities.
If you speak to whoever you have rented your villa from - they will probably get some milk in for you. Remember it's mainly UHT here... the fresh milk simply doesn't last.
Glad you're finding the thread helpful honey - it's what we're all here for!
A map with most of the supermarkets etc on is here - just zoom right in and out to view. The supermarkets are represented by Red "S"s
http://www.lanzaroterelocation.co.uk/map-of-playa-blanca/
Elle xx

Emla75

Thanks Swiss and Elle, that's incredibly helpful.
Unfortunately we don't land on the Sunday until 16.35 so no chance to get to the Hiperdino. Think we'll ask the villa owners to leave some milk and we can get everything else the next morning. We'll have a car so will definitely be able to get to the big one then.

We'll have a couple of double pushchairs (2 toddlers and 2 babies in our group) with us, so the route which sticks to the main roads is perfect.

If anyone has any good recommendations for things to do with the kids (aged 2 and 3) that would be fab. Think we'll go to the Timanfaya National Park but will avoid the Water Park from what you've said in posts above. So maybe a couple of other days of getting out and about and then the rest just chilling in Playa Blanca. Can't wait!

What time do places tend to serve lunch and dinner? We were thinking of having early-ish dinners with the kids so being able to head back to the villa for about 9pm. Is it easy enough to get dinner about 7pm?

Thanks again,
Emma

swiss69

Yes it is easy to get Dinner at 7pm. There are over 25 restaurants along the sea front and many more on the road behind. Most if not all do meals for kids.

Papagayo beaches are lovely and worth a visit but you need a car to get there especially with two small children. They are around 4 miles from Playa Blanca town.

I am sure Elle will recommend some other places to visit as the local resident! I am just a resident once a year!

Elle1971

As Swiss has said - you can eat at any time. Most places along the seafront serve their full menu all day. When you reach the seafront, and you have the smaller town centre beach in front of you, turn right, and head towards the port. Don Camillo is just along there, and has wooden awnings. They have a kiddies area in the back - which is great for when you want to chill out a bit.
Playa Dorada and Playa Flamingo are both sandy beaches, and the water is shallow for a good few feet... so those in conjunction with Papagayo are great for the littluns. Do keep an eye out when the ferries come into the port though - as this causes a wash that hits the town centre beach, and Playa Dorada... and take you unawares. It's good fun for older kids to bounce in, but not for toddlers. Don't have your towels too close to the water's edge then either (as I have learned to my cost a couple of times).
All the restaurants will welcome the kiddies, and most have high chairs too!

Oh yeah - if you're going to Papagayo... take the kids onto the rocks and get them looking in the rock pools for spotting wildlife. They can do this on the plateau at El Golfo too.

At the Marina, there's a shopping centre with a bowling alley... but I think they'd probably be a bit young for that.

Do pop into some hotels too - most of them do kiddie discos... and are happy for you to join in, s long as you're buying a drink or two whilst there. You might also wish to have a look at Kikoland - which is adjacent to the Princess Yaiza hotel.in the town centre.

If you take a trip to Puerto del Carmen, there's a ball pool in the Biosfera Shopping Centre. Plus there is Rancho Texas, just outside the town. It's not a massive zoo... but has some animals to keep the littluns engaged for a while.

In the north, you have Guinate Tropical Park - which is more than just bords and plants. Head for the penguins... and definitely go see the otters, and see if the otters let you hold their paws through a small gap in the cage. We did it, and it was lovely!

Have fun!

Elle xx

agiaga

Thanks everyone, especially Elle, for reat advice and lots of info!
I've learnt more from this thread than from any guidebook

I wanted to go to Lanzarote November last year but got promoted and was moving around UK instead... Now I'm planning to go March or April this year, found already flight, but still have to get time off work... Hopefully I'll manage

Elle1971

Glad it's all been of use to you agiaga.
Congratulations on your promotion.... and what better way to celebrate, than to come to Lanzarote this spring?!
By the way everyone - it's "muy calor" here today. Blue skies and wall to wall sunshine in Playa Blanca!
Elle xxxx

Girlzmum

Elle, I just wanted to thank you so much for all your advice! Got back from Playa Blanca today and had an amazing time. When I got there my sister told me she'd been having trouble finding a wedding cake and I remembered your tip on Le Moka which was literally 2 minutes walk from our villa so I popped in and they provided a fantastic cake for us! I can't recommend Playa Blanca enough and we're already planning our return trip.

We went to Timanfaya on Tuesday, it cost 8Euro per adult and the girls got in for free (just as well as my 4 year old slept for the entire coach tour!) My sisters wedding was in the Princess Yaiza, what a beautiful hotel - they stayed in the Rubicon Palace before that. Sister checked in night before the wedding and I stayed with her, very very nice suite. We also hopped on the ferry on Friday and went to Corralejo, beautiful town as well.

Elle1971

You are very welcome! And I'm glad Dave and Marion were able to sort you out with a cake. Did you try any of their lumpy bumpy cake? It's more than a bit nice!

Am glad you managed the Timanfaya tour - I've done it twice now... and loved it.

Princess Yaiza is a stunner of a hotel, yes!I'll bet the wedding was beautiful in there.

Elle xxxx

PS: Raining here again today!

Girlzmum

Didn't get to try the lumpy bumpy cake (am diabetic so not really allowed to!) But will get dh to get some next time so I can pinch! She had the service in the wee chapel in the centre of town, we thought it was going to rain a couple of times on Thursday but it was such a beautiful day! Have got lots of beautiful pics as well.

BTW Do you run the site Dave was talking about? I emailled pics of the wedding cake to it last night.