March sun advice

coastalgran

How about a short cruise that stops at a lot of nice places to sample. Or failing that take a good read, book a tanning session locally and save on the hassle of whether or not rules change and you can actually go on holiday. Just think Australia has imposed a 5 day lockdown again, parts of Europe are still in lockdown from their Christmas/New Year period. Good luck.

I can’t believe anyone would suggest a cruise in a pandemic.

Have just returned from Costa Teguise.Lanzarote.Warm and sunny all week.

Portugal , algarve. Ohlos de agua. Quiet not built up , choice of hotels or private villa.
Great beaches , and only a bus/ taxi ride to villamoura if you fancy a little more life at night.

We will be going to Seville and Cordoba mid March- no sunbathing or swimming though.

Costa Adeje in Tenerife, busy enough to be interesting but not manic. Lovely strolls along the promenade in both directions. Tried Lanzarote once but found it very windy. Going back in about two weeks, can't wait. Hotel we stay in has a webcam and I've been checking it most days and weather has been beautiful.

Grannmarie

Hi Pinkcosmos, was it Cesar Manrique?

We are having our first trip to Lanzarote in March. I understand that there are no high rise buildings as an architect (can't remember his name) insisted on it.

Yes, Cesar Manrique, a very interesting man. His sculptures can be found all over Lanzarote and worth looking out for.

There is one high rise building which caught fire before it was completely finished, I think.

The landscape is unusual (volcanic), the earth turned inside out as my DD described it when she was young. I like it.

PinkCosmos, it is beautiful, you will enjoy the house, also the gardens and underground caverns.
We had our last family holiday in Playa Blanca in the late 90s, when our boys were in their teens...after that, they went on holidays with their friends. We took a day trip on the ferry from Playa Blanca over to Fuerteventura then a taxi to the Playas Grandes, stunning beaches with sand dunes, part of the national park, very popular with surfers.
Enjoy Lanzarote in March!

Grannmarie

Hi Pinkcosmos, was it Cesar Manrique?

Yes, it was. Thank you.

We are planning to visit his house whilst we are there. I believe it was built to incorporate lava bubbles.

Hi Pinkcosmos, was it Cesar Manrique?

Enjoy your holiday in the Algarve, Lucca, we had a lovely stay in Praia da Rocha many years ago.

I'm another fan of Puerto de Mogan, we stayed in the hotel right at the harbour, it had roof top sun terraces and steps down into the sea. The sheltered, sandy bay was wonderful for a wee paddle!

Aveline, is your hotel The Royal Savoy in Maderia? We stayed there on a timeshare exchange a few years ago, we watched the Queen Mary sail in from our balcony. Gorgeous hotel, but we're now thinking of giving up the timeshare too, just not sure of the best way to go about it? When we bought it, we had a 5 star resort in Ibiza which got us lots of top end exchanges, but recently things have changed with some apartments sold into private ownership.

Best of luck to everyone planning a wee break in the sun, fingers crossed ?.

Casdon

Not too built up in Puerto de Mogan Lucca, it’s quite remote from the main tourist towns, although it gets a lot of day trippers because it’s so pretty. It’s in the south, so quite sheltered, the north of Gran Canaria has much cooler weather.

We stayed in Amadores (Gran Canaria) in December. It is the next resort to Puerto de Mogan. Puerto de Mogan is very pretty but seems very popular with day trippers. The beach is quite small.

Amadores is very quiet with a nice sheltered beach and a few restaurants. It is quite a steep walk when you get away from the beach area, so be careful which hotel you pick. We used to get the bus to Puerto de Mogan. The restaurants were nicer there. It was 3.10 Euros each way for two of us. The buses are quite regular to most of the resorts.

Fuerteventura is OK but can be windy.

I find the Canary Islands a bit bleak landscape wise. There isn't much greenery away from the resorts. However, if you want a nice relaxing holiday with decent weather I would recommend them. We are having our first trip to Lanzarote in March. I understand that there are no high rise buildings as an architect (can't remember his name) insisted on it.

Hated Madeira as there were far too many hills and the weather wasn’t too good when we were there in June one year.

Peurto de Mogan Gran Canaria. Stayed at the Cordial Mogan and the Radisson Blu, both very good. You can catch a boat at the port or idle the days away on the beach or by the pool. Lovely resort and very safe.

Would have felt just the same, for sure.

Kali2 it wasn't a 'timeshare' like other ones. It was a suite in a 5 star hotel. The hotel owners seem to have bought up and built several other hotels each offering something different. I didn't like the way ours was going ie focusing on older adults in poor health. Resident medical and nursing staff may be fine for others but not us -yet!

I've regrettably never visited, but what about Corsica in early season?

Aveline

We gave up our 'timeshare' as the proprietors began to include doctors appointments and caring for meds and providing nursing care. This led to an increase in the annual charge. We didn't want to go on holiday to what was beginning to sound like a nursing home! We still love Madeira but will stay at another hotel. There are lots of lovely ones.

Wow- never heard of any timeshare place doing this !?!

We've been to La Gomera, one of the smaller canary islands. It was beautiful, very peaceful. It's hi;;y in parts but you can find nice strolls on the flat.

We gave up our 'timeshare' as the proprietors began to include doctors appointments and caring for meds and providing nursing care. This led to an increase in the annual charge. We didn't want to go on holiday to what was beginning to sound like a nursing home! We still love Madeira but will stay at another hotel. There are lots of lovely ones.

It's just the runway which is a bit scary
Like landing on an aircraft carrier

Have you not sold your timeshare?

Gosh what a lot of Madeira fans among us. We'll need to organise a GN trip there!

Portugal.

Yes Maderia is lovely , portuguese speaking of course and if you are a gardener, some wonderful places to wander and has a lovely flower market or did in those days. . When I was able to walk more we used to get a taxi to take us up on the higher levadas and arrange to meet taxi again further down a few hours later. Wonderful flower market used to be there to enjoy. This time of year when we lived in the Lisbon area we used to go down to the algarve and get wonderful oranges and lemons from the trees there. Then we would have a day trip across the border and buy good sherry. In portugal we used to drink dry white port as an aperitiv instead of sherry which was taxed more. so we would just go on a local bus across to a smallish town and buy sherry to keep for party time when one or two people specifically liked it. Could just do with being there for a couple of days, but seem to have lost my magic genie lamp so dont think that my wishes will be granted. Hope you have a good time wherever you end up.

Enjoy your holiday in March Lucca.
A friend of ours with Alopecia came in February and badly sunburnt his head. Family have been in May and had a dreary rainy week. Like anywhere else in Europe you can’t really tell what the weather in Spring will be like but it will be lighter and brighter and the Portuguese are lovely.