Lanzarote, a Canary Island Bike Tour Tour Reviews — 1 to 2 of 2

Seaside volcano crater at El Golfo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Photo via Wikimedia Commons:Stefan Krause 28.976650, -13.831379

Lanzarote, a Canary Island Bike Tour

8 days from €1302

4 out of 5

Lanzarote, a Canary Island Bike Tour

Moderate–Difficult Bike Tour in Spain

This self-guided or supported bike tour in Lanzarote, the most easterly of the Canary Islands, is a unique offering in one of the most dramatic landscapes in all of Europe. Due to the volcanic…

4 out of 5

 


Marie G.
December 27, 2017

Verified Reviewer

Highlights: Learning about how the farmers deal with the sparse rail fall and seeing the lava gravel covering the fields to assist in collecting the condensation. Seeing the unique way that they cultivate grape wines for the wine in individual walled semi-circles was amazing. I would rate this ride as a moderate to difficult, taking into account the elevation of the mountains.

David B.
March 27, 2017

Verified Reviewer

Lanzarote is a beautiful destination perfect for a week of cycling! The volcanic landscape, mountains, caves, architecture, ocean views, climbs and downhills are all amazing. Unfortunately, our experience with our fist hotel and Papagayo Bike could not be described as beautiful or amazing. Our first two nights in Costa Teguise were spent at a hotel geared toward toddlers (H10 Lanzarote Garden Hotel). The room and breakfast options were quite good but the hotel was exceptionally overrun with toddler, strollers, and toddler oriented entertainment. This "toddler hotel" became even more disappointing when we found Papagayo bike shop located at, and nearly inside, a much more adult oriented hotel on the water. Again, unfortunately Papagayo Bikes did not meet our expectations. As a nearly two meter tall person I had specifically asked about bike fit and been told they could fit me just fine. The employees at Papagayo knew little about bike fit and how to move seats and bars. I had not brought my own tools because I had been told I'd be provided a small tool kit. I had to beg to take a hex key from the shop so I could make small adjustments along the way on my too small bike. The hybrid bikes provided were rather worn out and not at all up to the standard of the road bikes being rented out at this shop. We had to decline the first bike provided to my wife due to poor shifting and noisy brakes. The second bike seemed okay and she rode that for the first day of the tour, only to have difficulties with the brakes throughout that day. Although the route description we signed up for said we would be staying in Haria at the north end of the island our second night, we were not booked into accommodation in Haria and instead had an 80 km first day to get back to Costa Teguise for another night at the toddler hotel. Since we were nearby the bike shop, the next morning we brought my wife's bike back to Papagayo. They said the brakes could not be fixed right then and received what was now her third bike. She rode that one, dusty from being in storage, for the rest of the tour. When she got a flat on a long climb we discovered her spare tube was for a mountain sized tire! Luckily, the tube in my own pannier was the correct size and we were not stranded. New, correct sized tubes were immediately dropped at our second hotel the Florida. Our experience at the Florida was lovely in every way. The room, the food, the entire experience was just lovely. Our experience, and disappointment at the start of the tour, were smoothed over and tempered by the amazing island of Lanzarote and the much more adequate accommodations after those first two nights. We had a lovely experience despite the less than stellar first hotel and issues with the bicycles.