Lanzarote August 2016

Michelle Wilson on 10 September 2016
After lots of deliberation in deciding which resort to plump for, we decided on Matagorda because both the accommodation and the resort seemed to tick all the boxes.

We flew out very early in the morning with Norwegian Airlines. Whenever we fly short haul if they do the route we always try to fly with them as they have very new aircraft and free Wi-Fi for the children. On landing we collected our car and drove the short ten minute drive to our accommodation. Driving on Lanzarote is very easy. Everything is very well sign-posted and once you're away from the main resort of Puerto del Carmen and also the capital Arrecife.

We had booked a two bedroom bungalow on a small complex called Nautilus Bungalows in Matagorda. The accommodation was very spacious and quiet and we had our own large and private patio. We had two good sized bedrooms equipped with fans and an air conditioning unit in the lounge. The complex has approximately half of its units adapted for wheelchair users and the whole complex was built with them in mind, right down to the lift into the pool.

Matagorda itself is a quiet and flat resort with plenty of restaurants and bars set in a small shopping centre. Most of the seafront is pedestrianized towards Arrecife and is a great area if you like walking. It's also a really good resort for wheelchair users or people with walking difficulties. We often walked towards Playa de los Pocillos and ate in the shopping centre near the Los Jameos Playa hotel as there was a larger choice there and more locals eating in that area. Our accommodation was in a central location within a 5 minute walk of restaurants and the seafront.

We had several trips out in the car. The big hit was to the Timanfaya National Park - a protected area which consists of an immense number of volcanoes. The queue into it was very long, so I would advise to visit after lunch as it was quieter then. Once you’ve paid the entrance fee of about €30 for a family of four, the coach which takes you around the volcanoes and lava fields is included. It's good value for money and you get to hear all the history of how the volcanoes have affected the island. Once we'd done the tour we then had a drink at the restaurant which sits on top of a volcano and watched as they cooked chicken over the flames.

Another day we visited Cueva de los Verde's named after the family who discovered them - The Greens. It was fascinating and the kids weren't expecting to see the "surprise" which the caves hold.

Another morning we visited Teguise Market and spent a few hours looking at the stalls which contained jewellery, clothes and lots of other goods as well as a section with stalls containing traditional Canarian food and drink.

We also visited the Puerto Calero marina one afternoon and had drinks and ice creams in a pretty pavement café. It's a pretty little resort with some nice restaurants and a great area to people watch.

One of the most fun things we did was to hire one of the four wheeled bikes and bike up along the pedestrianized area, past the airport and up to the next resort of Playa Honda. You cycle along the end of the airport runway and can nearly touch the planes.

I found Lanzarote hadn't changed as much as I thought it would have done over the last 15 years and we would definitely go back to Matagorda and the same complex too. It's a great base to explore the island and even though it's right next to the airport it doesn't detract from how nice it is.