Nick and Sarah need some winter sun… Day 7:
Last day of the holiday today and after hearing the weather reports we really don’t want to come home…
So it was an early start to make the most of the day – a cycling day today.
It didn’t take long to get out of the tourist sprawl on the coast and get into the lunar landscape that is Lanzarote.
The idea was to head north and cross the island – coast to coast Lanza style…
The route we chose kept us to the quieter roads and took in some of the island many valcanos. Really great cycling.
Our far point was La Santa where we stopped for a coffee and cake.
Really nice coffee & Cake but we got ripped off for €19. Won’t be going back there…
The route we took is shown below
One thing to note for anyone fancying cycling in Lanza
- Unless you stick to the coast Lanza is not flat but the climbs are good because the gradients aren’t too steep.
- The road surface varies from brilliant “billiard table” smooth tarmac to very rough gravel/tarmac roads. Unless you stick to major roads it’s not obvious what you’ll get from a map !
- The vast majority of drivers on Lanza show cyclists great respect. It feels quite safe to cycle here.
The route passed through wine country but instead of neat rows of carefully pruned vines (a la France) we saw this…
Apparently water is the big issue on Lanzarote and these “craters” help preserve moisture and protect the vines from wind.
Just before the final decent to Puerto del Carmen we stopped for lunch at a small bar in La Asomada called Bar Achimencey. We thoroughly recommend this place. It was a “locals” bar & the food was traditional Canarian cuisine. The food was brilliant and in contrast to the earlier spot the prices were reasonable ?
From there it was all down hill to drop the bikes off. We’d hired the bikes from www.lanzarotebikehire.com
Great service & really friendly, again we’d recommend these guys.
A short walk back to the hotel for a well earned G&T and to write this blog. Unless you’re into cycling and/or visiting Lanzagrotty soon it’s a bit of a shit read – sorry…
So much to see & do in Lanzarote that we need an extra week – thinking about a sickie… ???