Canary Isles in February ***HELP***

Just booked a last minute cruise out of Barcelona to the following ports:

Casablanca, Morocco

Funchai, Madeira

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Lanzarote

Grenada

We generally book as far as a year out, with plenty of time for planning the ports DIY. We are not partial to the ship escorted tours as we find there is usually a lot of time spent waiting on people rather than seeing the intended sights. Having said that, I am looking for direction as to what to do in these ports. We generally like to see the main attraction, do a bit of local shopping and then head to a cafe for local delicacies.

Any help that can be offered would be most appreciated.

I live in Lanzarote, and you can pick up a taxi at the port which will show you the main attractions. You can also hire a car at the port too. The one place I would suggest you visit here are the Fire Mountains.

Jefa's advice is great. We rented a car at the port on Lanzarote; excellent service from the local company. We drove immediately to Fire Mountain to beat the long lines that can form later. Passed the camel rides on the way but didn't stop. Jumped on the tour bus that had English narrative and really enjoyed seeing Timanfaya (Fire Mtn) with its craters. Then we drove around part of the island, seeing many wonderful things. The Canary Islands were absolutely wonderful. Pics are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123 - look for the Iberian Sojourn album which includes Lanzarote. Funchal and Granada are there, too.

In Funchal (also wonderful), we arranged a shorter version of the normal tour from Daniel of Madeira Taxi, going to Monte (crazy wicker basket toboggan rides (we passed on those, but did take a look), pretty church, opportunity to take cable car down to Funchal), plus went to Camara de Lobos (Churchill was famous visitor, home of fishing boats, dinky lighthouse, nice chapel, lots of restaurants, etc.), Cabo Girao glass platform overlook over land below) and Nun's Valley (mountains & views). We took the cable car down from Monte after the tour (good, but not something I would say you HAVE to do) and then I went to the Zona Velha (old city) in Funchal, which was very nice. There are at least 50 painted doors, tons of restaurants, a small but fun to photograph fort, etc. Enjoyable day, but a short one, as it often is on cruises.

If the "Grenada" is actually Granada, home of the Alhambra, we took a tour with others to see the Alhambra, pretty spectacular inside, although I thought the tour was a bit too long. It was also hot that day....forget the name of the tour company, but they used vans and picked about 16 of us at the port city (Motril for us) for transport to the Alhambra. If you look at Trip Advisor or perhaps just google Alhambra tours or look back in posts here, you'll find them. They did a good job. If you are porting in Motril there isn't a thing to do right there at the port, and few vendors for tours unless you've pre-booked. Some ships, however, port in another location that is farther from Granada but has more to do besides a long trip to Granada/Alhambra. I forget if the port is Malaga (nice city with plenty of things to explore) or what, but either location is good if you just want to go to the Alhambra, which IS quite famous.

Have not been to Santa Cruz de Tenerife (only Santa Cruz de la Palma, which can sometimes be confused with the SC on the island of Tenerife!) or Morocco.

I live in Lanzarote, and you can pick up a taxi at the port which will show you the main attractions. You can also hire a car at the port too. The one place I would suggest you visit here are the Fire Mountains.

Thank you for your response Jefa. What type of weather can we expect in mid February? What should we expect to pay a taxi driver to visit Fire mountain and then some local shopping and back to the port?

Jefa's advice is great. We rented a car at the port on Lanzarote; excellent service from the local company. We drove immediately to Fire Mountain to beat the long lines that can form later. Passed the camel rides on the way but didn't stop. Jumped on the tour bus that had English narrative and really enjoyed seeing Timanfaya (Fire Mtn) with its craters. Then we drove around part of the island, seeing many wonderful things. The Canary Islands were absolutely wonderful. Pics are here: http://www.pbase.com/roothy123 - look for the Iberian Sojourn album which includes Lanzarote. Funchal and Granada are there, too.

 

In Funchal (also wonderful), we arranged a shorter version of the normal tour from Daniel of Madeira Taxi, going to Monte (crazy wicker basket toboggan rides (we passed on those, but did take a look), pretty church, opportunity to take cable car down to Funchal), plus went to Camara de Lobos (Churchill was famous visitor, home of fishing boats, dinky lighthouse, nice chapel, lots of restaurants, etc.), Cabo Girao glass platform overlook over land below) and Nun's Valley (mountains & views). We took the cable car down from Monte after the tour (good, but not something I would say you HAVE to do) and then I went to the Zona Velha (old city) in Funchal, which was very nice. There are at least 50 painted doors, tons of restaurants, a small but fun to photograph fort, etc. Enjoyable day, but a short one, as it often is on cruises.

 

If the "Grenada" is actually Granada, home of the Alhambra, we took a tour with others to see the Alhambra, pretty spectacular inside, although I thought the tour was a bit too long. It was also hot that day....forget the name of the tour company, but they used vans and picked about 16 of us at the port city (Motril for us) for transport to the Alhambra. If you look at Trip Advisor or perhaps just google Alhambra tours or look back in posts here, you'll find them. They did a good job. If you are porting in Motril there isn't a thing to do right there at the port, and few vendors for tours unless you've pre-booked. Some ships, however, port in another location that is farther from Granada but has more to do besides a long trip to Granada/Alhambra. I forget if the port is Malaga (nice city with plenty of things to explore) or what, but either location is good if you just want to go to the Alhambra, which IS quite famous.

 

Have not been to Santa Cruz de Tenerife (only Santa Cruz de la Palma, which can sometimes be confused with the SC on the island of Tenerife!) or Morocco.

Thank you for your response. We will be porting in Malaga I believe. I understand that Granada can get pretty cold at this time of year. What would you suggest on a day that the high is 12c? Do you have any links to the tour companies you used?

It should be warm in Casablanca in Feb, maybe 20+C. You can walk from the ship to the huge Hassan2 mosque. It will take about 25 mins. You will be approached by lots of taxi drivers wanting to drive you there!

From tHere you can walk to the main square via really interesting street markets. Not for the squeamish, live chickens in cages, bits of dead cow on display but also lovely looking fresh fruit and veg.

If you are intimidated by the taxi drivers then your ship may organise a shuttle to the centre.

It is an interesting city to visit but don't wear expensive jewellery or take a lot of cash. We left our wallets in the cabin and stuffed a few Euro in our pockets.

Enjoy!:)

Thank you for your response. We will be porting in Malaga I believe. I understand that Granada can get pretty cold at this time of year. What would you suggest on a day that the high is 12c? Do you have any links to the tour companies you used?

Well, we were in Malaga almost ten years ago I think, and I can't remember the particulars. However, I remember going to the castle and looking down on the bullfighting ring, and walking around taking pictures. I know there were a couple museums, but that's not our thing, so I can't help much with those. I just took a public bus to the castle (Gibrafaro, I think) as I'm kind of a budget tourist and my husband and I enjoy just nosing around rather than spending a lot of money on tours we can do using public transportation. I think I googled where to catch the bus, or perhaps asked the tourist information rep who came on board my ship. I do remember a big line of taxis plus some horse/carriages, right at the port, so I would guess you would be able to get a taxi somewhere. They may not want to take you to just one place (not sure) but just ask around if that's the case. As to the weather there next month, I don't know what it would be like. We were there in either late spring or fall and it was nice, so walking around a lot was easy.

Yes, Granada is up high, so I guess the temperature there might be pretty cold this time of year. We were there this past September, when it was still hot. Top Day Tours was the name of the company. I know they go out of Malaga and Motril, but they do require a minimum number of people to make the trip to Granada a go. However, if you're interested, you just let them know and they'll take it from there. If you decide to do that, you might want to join your Roll Call and see if anyone else on there is interested. For our tour, they did allow a few add-on people at the last minute, but told them that they likely would only get to go to the gardens of the Alhambra, not the actual palace, as tickets are usually gone (in Sept. anyway) within the first hour of opening. (I think Top Day pre-buys tickets once they get their minimum number of people. You can order tickets online.)

The Alhambra was pretty spectacular, and as much inside as outside, so good for a cold day, but I could see just staying in Malaga also. It's a nice place. Not sure, but tomsportguides.com may have a port guide online for Malaga.

In Lanzarote, we rented from CICar (Canary Islands Car). I know most people are afraid of renting cars while on a cruise, but on Lanzarote it was easy and the roads were fabulous. If you rent, ask for their CD to play. It describes tourist attractions. Once you get out of the town of Arrecife, driving is pretty easy, and there are a lot of great things to see. Timanfaya Park is a little less than an hour from the port city of Arrecife, I think. We didn't do any shopping, and didn't have lunch in Arrecife, so can't help with that. However, I read that there were restaurants around Charco de San Gines, a harbor/lagoon not too terribly far from the port.

We'll do a Canary Isles and Madeira itinerary the first week of March.

For Tenerife we plan to visit the Loro park which is on the other side of the island. The public bus nr 103 takes you there in round about 40 minutes. We've been there before and the park is just spectacular ... especially the penguin residency is breathtaking ... real inside snow! The parrots brush your hair while zipping over your heads in their show.... very fun stuff.

Madeira .... never been and are fortunate to have one and a half days there... so we'll get a rental car and do a little more exploring than usual. A mountain hike to Balcoes, a north coast hike to Cais Antigua, a daring step onto the glas platform of Cabo Girao, high tea at the famous Reid's hotel and last but not least the Tobbogan ride. If we still have time we'd love to see the valley of the nuns and the christ statue lookout point a little east of Funchal as well..... oh my God, we're so excited!

Oh, people swear for the botanical garden in Monte .... not our cup of tea, but maybe yours? It's supposed to be breathtaking! The local market is spectacular as well....so much to do, sooo little time.

Stef

Here is my review of our cruise that visited many of your ports.

We took ship's tours, which turned out well.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80907

Thank you for your response Jefa. What type of weather can we expect in mid February? What should we expect to pay a taxi driver to visit Fire mountain and then some local shopping and back to the port?

Sorry, I forgot to come back on here!! The website lanzarotetaxi.com has all the details of tours and prices on it depending on what else you want to see.

The weather should be shorts and t shirts in the day but Fire Mountains can be very chilly so bring a sweater with you when you go. Mind you the weather has been awful for the past 4 weeks, hope it cheers up soon!

Granada is covered in snow at the moment....most of Spain is cold now, our village (about 90 mins south from Granada) even has snow

Sandy in Spain

Here is my review of our cruise that visited many of your ports.

 

We took ship's tours, which turned out well.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80907

Hi George,

I am researching for a trip next January that looks very similar to the one you took. I found this insanely good deal on the Norwegian Epic. I enjoyed reading your trip report. Our booking is Jan-3 2016 10 night Barcelona, Tangiers, Gran Canary, Tenerife, Funchal, Malaga, then back to Barcelona. Our deal includes Balcony Cabin, OBC, unlimited special dining pkg, and unlimited drink pkg, all taxes and fees = @$900/pp. I stumble across you in my research efforts from time to time here on the boards. Maybe our paths will cross again:)

Karen (nomad824)