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Winter breaks
By Malcolm Rogers
MALCOLM ROGERS looks at the best sunshine breaks away.
 Destination
Dubai
Dubai invented underwater hotels, skiing in the desert and seven-star
hotels, so it’s no surprise that today it’s the jet-set bling
capital of the world. Beyond the dreamy glimmer of the city’s now
famous Riviera lies a world of exotic cafes, crowded souks and magnificent
malls.
Shopping, you see, is what Dubai is all about. Believe everything you
hear; this island sheikdom is a retail paradise. If you want to shop the
globe in one place, then, as they say in Arabic: “Ahlan Wa Sahlan”:
Welcome!
In malls such as Emirates Towers Shopping Boulevard opulence is the norm
and credit cards melt with over-use. This isn’t just retail therapy
but retail treatment, remedy, cure, rehabilitation, and rest.
To get your breath back head into the desert on a 4WD dune safari to watch
the sunset followed by a sedate camel ride to a Bedouin tent for dinner.
What to see/do in Dubai:
- Burj Al Arab is jack-the-lad architecture writ large, the world’s
first seven-star hotel. Dubai wanted something to rival the Eiffel Tower
(not to mention Dublin’s Millennium Spike) so came up with this
sail-shaped structure some 1,000 feet high and set on its own artificial
island.
- Bling and buy — get your own jewellery made at the Gold Souk
or at the Gold and Diamond Park.
Where to eat:
- For chilled out cheap ethnic fare: World Trade Centre Road where more
than 20 curry houses will quench your cravings for something spicy.
- For no-expense-spared: Verre, Hilton Dubai Creek, Beniyas Road (00
971 4227 1111) Everything you’d expect from chef Gordon Ramsay,
but cheaper than his European caffs — main courses from £25.
- Middle-of-the-road: Local House Restaurant, near Al-Fahidi roundabout
(00 971 4353 2288), an Arabian style eatery — don’t get the
hump but the house specialty is camel with brown sauce.
Where to stay:
- For the financially carefree: Al Maha (00 971 4303 4222 www.al-maha.com)
is a luxury desert eco lodge set amidst a conservation reserve outside
town. Doubles from £900
- Best deal: Ibis Hotel (00 971 332 4444; www.ibishotel.com), with rooms
starting at around fifty quid a night. Helpful hotel hint: The city hotels
are generally cheaper than those on the beach.
 Landing
on your feet in Lanzarote
The volcanic island of Lanzarote has the Canary Island full house of sun,
sea and sand. The resorts are tailor-made for languid days on the beach
while cheap ’n’ cheerful revellers gather in Puerto del Carmen,
the island’s biggest resort.
Now, you probably won’t use this as a chat-up line in the nightclubs
of Playa Blanca, but Lanzarote is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A quick
drive into the extraordinary volcanic eco-wilderness of the Montanas del
Fuego in the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya will take you into 20 square
miles of stark rocks and mineral deserts. Lanzarote-beyond-the-resorts
is stunning.
The most northerly of the Canary Islands is home to our nearest desert
— head due south from Dublin and you can’t miss it. Lanzarote
comes fully equipped with beautiful, postcard-grade villages such as Femes,
La Geria and El Golfo. The unfussy Moorish-influenced architecture of
the island is dotted with a palm tree here and a windmill there and by
virtue of a variety of local by-laws remains remarkably unsullied by tourist
detritus or local exploitation.
What to do:
- Surf at La Santa on the north coast where the waves are perfect (Contact
Surf School Lanzarote tel 00 34 928 528623 for lessons).
- Sight-see on the south coast where you’ll only encounter a handful
of other visitors and the odd camel.
- Go night-clubbing on the east coast in Arrecife (the capital) or Puerto
del Carmen.
Where to eat:
- Mega bites: La Era Restaurant, in the cactus-filled town square of
Yaiza (one of the sweetest towns in the whole of Spain, never mind the
Canaries). Traditional cuisine, hearty portions, tel 00 34 928 830016
- Medium price: La Bodeguita de Teguise in Teguise and El Asador in
Avenida del Varadero, Puerto del Carmen both serve typical Canarian food.
Expect Spanish carvery buffets, wood-burning ovens, and of course tapas.
- Cheap (with terrific view thrown in): El Diablo, Parque Nacional de
Timanfaya. Less than £12. Traditional; also prepares food in a ‘volcanic
grill’. Tel 00 34 928 840 057
Where to stay:
- Upmarket: The Gran Meliá Salinas, on the Costa Teguise, overlooks
a spectacular bay, tel 00 34 928 590 040 or 928 590 390 granmeliasalinas.solmelia.com;
doubles from about £180
- Affordable: www.ownersdirect.co.uk has villas which begin at around
e40 per day (01372 722708).
 Terrific
Tenerife
In the days when the earth was flat, Tenerife was the end of the world.
The looming Pico del Teide dominated the seascape for miles around. Spain’s
highest mountain, it continues to preside over the Canaries and splits
Tenerife in two.
To the north lies lush vegetation, evergreen vineyards, and a tropical
land heavy with the scent of jasmine, bougainvillaea and juniper. The
mountain air is a mixture of clouds, snow and sulphur and if the wind
is blowing in the right direction you’ll know you’re in the
presence of a volcano.
Experts say you should always take a new perfume or aftershave with you
on holiday because there’s nothing more evocative than smells; you’ll
forever be reminded of that special day when you sniff that aroma again.
No need for that in the northerly part of Tenerife — a few breaths
of the soft sweet air and you’ll know it has its own signature,
natural perfume.
The rocky, volcanic terrain of the Teide national park, with its rivers
of solidified lava provides a fascinating, and to some visitors a surprising,
experience of natural wilderness.
To the south lie the beaches, the aquamarine seas, the resorts —
and an average winter temperature of 200F.
What to do:
- Enjoy a horizontal holiday, lying on the beach looking forward to
lunches that last until sunset.
- For clubbing La Laguna in the northwest has a party reputation. But
the city, a Unesco heritage site, is beautiful; the island’s capital
until Santa Cruz claimed the title in 1723 it has some of Tenerife’s
most historical buildings. To employ that useful travel writers’
phrase: it’s Well Worth A Visit.
Where to stay:
- Swanky: Hotel San Roque. A stylish bolt-hole in Garachio, at the westerly
point of the island. B & B from £120 per night Tel 00 34 922
133 435 www.hotelsanroque.com
- Medium: Nivaria, La Laguna. Elegant hotel in the middle of the town.
Tel: 00 34 922 264 298
Where to eat:
- Pricey ’n’ cheerful: El Principito, La Laguna serves particularly
imaginative food (26 Calle Santo Domingo; tel 00 34 922 263 916
- Medium priced: Tasca La Carpinteria, La Laguna is cosy and informal
and specialises in great haunches of ham, brown as violins, hanging from
the ceiling. tel 00 34 922 263 056;
- Cheap: Playa Mont, Garachio, serves all manner of seafood (Puerto
de Tazacorte; tel 00 34 922-480-443).
Sun and scuba-dooba-doo!
Coming from a meteorologically challenged country such as Ireland or Britain,
Fuerteventura’s guaranteed wall-to-wall sunshine is more than a
welcome winter treat. With 3,000 hours of sun a year coupled with negligible
rainfall, a sun-drenched stay is virtually guaranteed summer or winter.
Still relatively undeveloped, Fuerteventura has the best beaches on the
Canaries and a big surf scene.
Mind you, winds are aplenty on Fuerteventura so although Africa is a next
door neighbour you won’t experience the furnace heat of a Castillian
summer. The island basks in year-round temperatures of about 700F.
The clear, rich, warm waters make this an ideal scuba diving destination
— dive here and you’re on the way to heaven.
Fuerteventura is one of the least crowded of the Canaries. It has a well-deserved
reputation for being unspoilt, unhurried and not overly commercialised.
Few places have managed the trick of remaining impossibly picturesque
while at the same time keeping big-time tourism at bay quite so effectively
as this island.
What to do:
- Windsurf, or land-yacht — La Playa de Sotavento de Jandía
has nearly 20 miles of sand, annually hosting the world windsurfing championships.
- Head north into lava fields and small volcanic mountains, towards
the resort town of Corralejo. Here the monochrome landscape gives way
to immense shimmering sand dunes, redolent of Saharan Morocco.
Where to eat:
- Medium-priced: Just outside the town of La Oliva, in Ville Verda,
the restaurant El Horno (928 868 671) serves typical Canarian food such
as ropa vieja — chickpea and potato stew with goat and mutton.
- Medium-priced: La Marquesina, Corralejo specialises in seafood prepared
according to traditional recipes. Tel 00 34 928 535 435.
- Medium-priced: Casa Santa Maria, Betancuria, features high-quality
home-grown produce Tel 00 34 928 878 282.
Where to stay:
- Pricey: Garonda Jandia, Morro Jable is your only man for stylish,
elegant, quiet lodgings. 00 34 928 540 430. Upwards of £180 for
a double room, though all-in deals available
- Cheap: Bungalows Fuerte Sol in Caleta de Fuste has two or three-people
bungalows from around the £45 mark per night. |
