Like some of the other Canary Islands there is a north-south divide in evidence on Lanzarote. With the south home to the main tourist resorts whilst the north is more the preserve of the locals. A bi-product in part of the weather – as even on a small island such as Lanzarote there is a considerable difference in temperatures and climate conditions between the north and south.

The last decade has seen more independent travellers visiting the island alongside package holidaymakers. Thanks to the fact that flights and accommodation can now easily be booked direct online, creating a demand for rental properties – such as Lanzarote holiday villas and apartments. Which are now booked by visitors from countries such as the UK and Eire in preference to hotels and all inclusive holidays. Especially in the islands largest resort – where many holiday villas in Puerto del Carmen are often booked up throughout the year.Information about holiday villas in Puerto del Carmen can be found here

Outside the three resorts is an island that is full of hidden delights. Some of which don’t even appear on local maps. So it really pays to book a rental vehicle and take some tie to tour around. With the north home to the real authentic heart of Lanzarote.

Head for the pretty village of Haria to start connecting with the real Lanzarote. This pueblo has been described by the eminent Canarian author Alberto Vazquez as the prettiest village on the island if not the world. Which is probably a bit of an exaggeration – but not that wide of the truth. As Haria is a real green oasis on an island that is otherwise largely devoid of flora and fauna. Thanks to very low rainfall and a dry and arid climate. In Haria villagers started to plant palm trees for every new born baby centuries ago. And today their valley is aptly known as the Valley of 1000 Palms, with countless Canarian palms creating a striking sight.

Haria is just a ten minute drive from the seaside village of Arrieta and it´s delightful beach, Playa La Garita. Which is the last undeveloped stretch of sand on Lanzarote´s south eastern coastline. Head here for a great lunch in one of the restaurants located right on the beach.

Lanzarote travel information

Lanzarote was effectively transformed by these eruptions. Which first hit the island during the 1730´s for six years. And then again during 1824. Leaving a large chunk of the interior denuded of vegetation and carpeted in lava. A sight that is so strange and surreal that it has been used by many movie makers over the years – most recently the production team of Clash of the Titans 3.

Even though Lanzarote has a volcanic history, property investment on the island is still very viable with countless tourists actually investing in their own holiday apartments.

Lanzarote Villas – Hotels And Apartments. There are plenty of decent accommodation options too. Whilst many tourists from Spain and Germany tend to prefer to book hotels guests from the UK and Ireland usually plump for self catering properties such as Lanzarote villas and apartments. With lots of these scattered around the islands main resorts and across the countryside too.

Most people will want something a little different from their annual holiday or break, for some it will simply be lazing on one of Lanzarote’s sun kissed beaches followed by relaxing evenings spent in a restaurant or bar, Whilst for others they will want to be hitting the watersports scene either surfing, paragliding or even diving. More active visitors will almost certainly want an equally bouyant nightlife scene with plenty of action. Of course for the cultural types staying in one of the main resorts of Playa Blanca or Puerto del Carmen may be far from their mind, and instead they may prefer Costa Teguise or even to stay in one of the increasingly popular rural villas that are guranteed to give a true taste of island living.

Visitors looking to explore the island in greater detail will appreciate the work of Manrique Cesar who sought to create a collection of unique tourist attractions that would provide a worthy alternative to the many golf courses and water theme parks that are so prevalent elsewhere in Spain.For example sites such as the Jameos del Agua, which embodied his desire to fuse art with nature.

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Along with the other six Canary Islands Lanzarote enjoys a fantastic semi-tropical climate, delivering clement weather whatever the time of year. Thanks to its geographical situation close to the Tropic of Cancer and just off the coast of Africa. This is married with very low levels of rainfall, together creating a dry and arid terrain – desert like in places – which is largely devoid of trees and vegetation.

This leaves much of Lanzarote denuded of flora, with this strange scenery made to appear even more surreal by the impact of gigantic eruptions in the 1730´s which left about 200km square of the islands interior looking like a set from a science fiction movie. The area has had its fair share of film stardom

But the island also has plenty of more conventional beauty away from the volcanic region, where it is much like many other island destinations. There are around 100 beaches adorning the coastline and visitors can choose from three modern and well appointed holiday resorts. Which is also the location most of the top choices of Luxury Lanzarote villas and other prime holiday accommodation for example self catering apartments.

Puerto del Carmen is the islands main resort – located close to the only airport at Arrecife and blessed with an abundance of golden sand beaches. Accounting for its enormous popularity with tourists from across Europe over the last forty years. As well as excellent nightlife and a large selection of bars and restaurants.

As a result villas are in demand as a result – with prices starting at about the €500 mark for properties with private pools.

After Puerto del Carmen Playa Blanca is the islands second most popular resort. Having expanded rapidly since it was first developed in the early 1990´s. And today it is proving especially popular with tourists sleeking good value self catering accommodation thanks to the fact that apartments and villas here offer excellent value for money.

Lanzarote is a great sunshine destination all year round. But its best to time your holiday here carefully, as some months such as February and March can be more unreliable than others.

Must see attractions on the island include for example Jameos Del Agua -Lanzarote has many star attractions. But this collapsed, 6km long lava tube, located in the North of the island close to Punta Mujeres often tops the bill for most tourists – attracting close on 700,000 visitors in 2006.

And when it comes to good weather all year round, the Canary Islands are probably the most reliable location within Europe. As thanks to their location off the coast of north Africa they are the most southerly point in the Euro-zone. Lanzarote is the eastern most of the seven islands that form this archipelago and as a result it is also the driest, with very low levels of annual rainfall. Its infrastructure is modern and efficient, the result of more than forty years of tourist development.

With three main resorts and many rural settings, it is able to provide a good range of accommodation to suit all budgets and holiday requirements. Apartments in Lanzarote offer a great deal of choice at reasonable prices. For more personal space and privacy, the best option is to hire one of the many villas in Lanzarote available for rent. They come with the added benefit of stylish interiors, heated swimming pools, entertainment facilities and all mod cons on offer.

A fair proporation of Lanzarote Villas are also used by their owners many times during the year and this is one of the main reasons that a such a high percentage are kept so well and equipped with many of the little holiday items many families would normally have to pack.

The resort of Puerto del Carmen has numerous good restaurants, many of which are located close to the atmospheric old town area, with views of the harbor. Several of the best can be found just on the outskirts of the town, only a short cab ride from most of the accommodation. There are several really good beaches within the town, all of which are easy to access from the newly renovated seafront promenade that stretches along the six kilometers of coastline. With wider pavements and much reduced traffic, it forms a pleasant backdrop for pedestrians.

For those who like to have an after dinner stroll and drink, there are plenty of bars and clubs, particularly in the central zone of the town. Whilst during the day there is a wealth of activities on offer, from guided excursions to the most interesting sites to a full range of sports’ Lanzarote golf holidays for example are extremely popular.

Such is the unique charm of the island, due to its unspoiled landscapes and tranquil environment, visitors often feel the urge to return for more holidays in Lanzarote. Which many do year after year.

The Canary Island of Lanzarote is a popular destination for tourists and home to a number of holiday resorts. But only Playa Blanca, which is situated at the far southern end of the island, can boast great weather all year round thanks to its great microclimate, as well as some of the best beaches on Lanzarote.

Until as recently as thirty years ago Playa Blanca was still a small fishing village – long after the development of resort rivals Puerto del Carmen and Costa Teguise to the north. Serving as a port from where ferries cross the Bocaina Straits to Fuerteventura, the neighbouring Canary Island. But its great climate and beaches soon caught the eye of developers – and building work started in earnest during the 1990´s. Resulting in a host of new hotel and villa developments.

Viewed from above Playa Blanca is essentially comprised of three small bays set within one much larger cove. And today the entire resort is united by a promenade that runs all the way from the outer edges of Papagayo through to the Faro de Pechuguera lighthouse. Enabling visitors to enjoy a stroll all along the seafront.

Playa Blanca Holiday Villas have become increasingly popular every year with tourists and independent travellers seeking good value rental accommodation on the island. Especially during the winter months when the weather here is better than on the rest of the island. Many of the winter visitors tend to stay for longer periods or even the entire winter as well as short breaks.

Luxury villas in Playa Blanca also offer great value for money in relation to comparable rental properties in other resorts. And also come equipped with plenty of luxury extras such as hot tubs, satellite TV´s and high speed internet connections.

For guests who are able to tear themselves way from the pool the resort is home to some spectacular stretches of sand. Such as Playa Dorada, Playa Flamingo and the small town beach of Playa Blanca – from which this destination takes its name. And the breathtaking coves and bays of Papagayo – regarded as one of the best beaches in the Canaries – are just a fifteen minute stroll away. There´s a great selection of restaurants for visitors and Playa Blanca is also ideally located for anyone keen to visit Lanzarote´s number one tourist attraction of the Timanfaya Volcano Park. As this is just a fifteen minute drive.

Despite these factors around 750,000 tourists from the UK are expected to visit the island during the course of 2010. Around half of them will book self catering accommodation – such as villas in Lanzarote – direct online. With many booking specific dates to coincide with one of the many fiestas and festivals that take place on the island every year.

For independently minded travellers there are a whole host of holiday villas in Lanzarote available at sensible prices all year round.

In February Carnival sweeps across the island – bringing work to a halt for at least a couple of weeks. With events taking place in different locations and on different dates. This is arguably the most colourful and best attended event of the year and attracts huge crowds. Featuring cleverly decorated floats that wouldn’t look out of place at the Notting Hill Carnival, massed ranks of drum bands and hordes of dancers dressed in real Carmen Miranda fashion. With plenty of riotous dancing and drinking.

May sees the arrival of over 1000 super fit athletes on the island. As the annual Iron Man contest gets underway. This is widely regarded as one of the hardest events of its kind in the world. Entrants have to swim 3km, cycle 180km and then finish all of that off with a full marathon. Many don’t even make the finish line but for the top 60 a place in the Grand Final in Hawaii beckons – along with a slice of the $75,000 prize money.

Lanzarote is also a great destination for music lovers too as there are concerts and festivals taking place throughout the year. Among the best is Jazz Canarias which visits the island every July. And which showcases some of the best young talent from the world of jazz. In previous years featuring free live performances from the likes of the guitarist Kyle Eastwood –offspring of the famous actor Clint Eastwood. All of which takes place in the atmospheric setting of the historic former island capital of Teguise.

September is also a great time for booking holiday apartments in Lanzarote. As the Costa Music Festival takes place that month. Bringing an eclectic mix of live dance acts and top DJ talent to the beach at Playa Bastian in Costa Teguise. And like so many other events on the island this is also entirely free of charge – attracting crowds in their thousands.

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One factor that makes Lanzarote’s a great holiday destination for those who want to lessen their carbon footprint is to do with its location. As the flight time is only four hours from the UK, the Canaries are significantly closer to home than the Caribbean, making winter sunshine available with much lower fuel consumption en-route.

Even the Lanzarote villas and apartments contribute to reducing the eco footprint of the island.

The year round sunshine that it enjoys means that solar panels are used widely across the resorts and in residential homes. Many holiday villas in Lanzarote have their swimming pools heated by panels on the roof, whilst some even derive their internal power from this source as well.

Wind turbines have been in use on Lanzarote since the mid 1990’s and contribute approximately thirty percent of the island’s power needs. These giant turbines make good use of the prevailing winds as they blow in from the Atlantic Ocean. And local residents often choose smaller turbines for domestic use for the same reason.

But it isn’t just power generation that makes Lanzarote an environmentally sound tourist destination. As the island has also developed its resorts and attractions in ways that minimise the impact on the scenery and surroundings thanks to the vision and resourcefulness of the internationally renowned artist and architect Cesar Manrique.

For all these reasons, holidays in Lanzarote often make visitors feel they are returning to the past. Where white washed villages and towns bear none of the ugly scars such as high-rise buildings and advertising hoardings that can be readily found elsewhere. And Lanzarote apartments rise no taller than a palm tree.

Further details about available Lanzarote holiday accommodation can be found on the Lanzarote1.com website.

There are plenty of good accommodation options available on the island too. With villas in Lanzarote priced from around €350 per week and rental properties located in all of the main resorts as well as across the countryside.

Lanzarote car hire is also very affordable, so it’s easy and affordable to get out and about and enjoy colourful events that are going on.

2010 gets off with bang as the island plays host to the 26th annual Festival de Musica Canarias. A showcase of cotemporary classical music staged across all of the seven islands in the archipelago. Lanzarote hosts five concerts during the first month of the year – including performances by Sphera Antigua and the The Prague National Chamber Theatre Orchestra.

Carnaval kicks off across the island in February. And whilst the celebrations are not quite as riotous as in Rio they still attract thousands of revellers. With many holidaymakers planning their holidays in Lanzarote around this colourful event, which pretty much brings work across the island to halt for a couple of weeks every year.

Carnaval is staggered – so it takes place in different towns and resorts on different days. The biggest and best events take place in the island capital of Arrecife and the oldest resort on the island of Puerto del Carmen. Where huge decorated floats and marching batacuda drum bands beat out a frenetic rhythm. Attracting thousands of residents and tourists alike – with many donning colourful costumes and partying late into the night.

May sees the arrival of the annual Iron Man competition. Which is widely regarded as one of the toughest triathlons in the world. Over a thousand super fit competitors will be battling it out for a top prize of €75,000 and a slot in the grand final in Hawaii. Taking on a course that encompasses a 180km bike ride, 2km swim and a full marathon. Which is staged along the Avenida del las Playas – the main beachfront thoroughfare in Puerto del Carmen.

Corpus Christi is one of the most important events in the Catholic calendar and is celebrated on the eighth Thursday (or 60 days) after Easter, which will be the 3rd of June in 2010. On Lanzarote it is marked with carpets created from multi coloured salt – with different municipalities all competing to come up with the most imaginative and high impact design. The best of which cane be viewed in the capital of Arrecife or the historic town of Teguise.

You can find details of Lanzarote villas and other Lanzarote apartments and villas here.