How to book holidays in Lanzarote independently

Breaking free of the constraints of a package holiday has never been easier and the millions who choose NOT to visit a travel agent each year do it for a simple reason: YOU take control of your holiday and the costs.

Booking holidays in Lanzarote independently, using Lanzarote Breaks, is really very easy:

1. Find your accommodation

This site advertises hundreds of private villas and apartments across the island, categorised by location, size and price. If you are already familiar with Lanzarote, start your search at our home page and browse the list of destinations available.

If you have specific requirements or are a new visitor to Lanzarote, use our holiday search page. Detail the type of property you require and your budget, and we'll present the best matches.

2. Book your accommodation

Once you find accommodation that suits your needs, the property summary will indicate who to contact for further information or to make a booking. Either telephone the advertiser or make an e-mail enquiry - you will then deal with them direct and they will answer your questions and explain how to make a confirmed booking.

Every property has a reference number, be sure to quote this with all enquiries. You can also use this reference number to shortlist and find property again later.

The most popular changeover day (i.e. arrival/departure date) in Lanzarote is Thursday.

3. Arrange flights and transport

Flights to Lanzarote

Although some advertisers can arrange flights for you, most independent holidaymakers will book flights themselves. There is an almost endless supply of excellent websites and agencies with whom you can book flights, although we highly recommend Airflights Direct, who have flights to Lanzarote from a range of UK airports, throughout the year.

To help your search, you can check flight availability and book online using the flight search on the right of our search page and all property summary pages on this site.

Lanzarote's airport is Arrecife (ACE).

Car hire and airport transfers

Some advertisers can arrange transfer to/from Arrecife airport, please ask when you enquire. Bear in mind Lanzarote is a small island and no major resort is more than 30 minutes from the airport. The excellent taxi system is also inexpensive and taxis are readily available at the front of the airport terminal building.

Car hire is recommended with some properties and this will be indicated on each advertisement, where relevant. Renting a car locally is extremely easy, with a bank of companies at the airport arrivals gate. To book online in advance, we recommend AutoReservation.Com

4. Enjoy your holiday!

We very much hope this site has made booking your holiday both easy, cheap and fruitful. Be sure to recommend www.lanzarotebreaks.com to your friends and family.

Traveller's tips for holidays in Lanzarote

Buy sun lotion, alcohol and tobacco on the island - as a tax-free zone these products are MUCH cheaper in Lanzarote than at the airport or in the UK.

Avoid cheap electronics in the major resorts. Sadly these have become the root of many a scam. Despite the hype, the price of consumer electronics remains cheaper in the UK than Lanzarote.

If you are planning an off-season holiday, ask about pool heating. Although Lanzarote enjoys year-round sunshine, temperatures do drop in the winter months.

Head to Arrecife for the best shopping. As the island's capital, this has the best range of quality shops, without the tacky souvenir dens.

The local people speak Spanish, although English is widely used in the major tourist centres. Taking a phrase book is still a good idea and locals will appreciate the effort. For example, thank you is gracias (pronounced grassias).

As part of Spain, Lanzarote's official currency is the Euro (€). "Hole in the wall" machines are plentiful (telebancos) and traveller's cheques aren't necessary for Visa or Mastercard holders. The smaller shops and restaurants may not accept cards, so keep a small supply of cash.

Although cars are driven on the opposite side of the road, the driving laws that apply in the UK also apply in Lanzarote i.e. you must wear a seatbelt, do not use mobile phones, etc. Contrary to popular belief, drink driving is NOT legal in Spain and offenders now face on-the-spot fines and mandatory prison sentences since a heavy crackdown in 2004.

Lanzarote works on the same timezone as the UK (one hour behind mainland Spain) so you won't have to change your watch on the plane.

Other questions

Are you ABTA/IATA registered?

No. ABTA and IATA registration applies to package holidays and/or flights and is a bonding system to ensure that, should a company go bankrupt, there is money to repatriate customers who have flown overseas. Whoever you book flights with MUST be bonded.

Holiday accommodation does not fall into this system and therefore our advertisers do not need ABTA/IATA bonding (unless they arrange your flights as well). Please also remember that you are booking your holiday with the owner/agent shown on each advert - NOT with us!

How do I know this property really exists?

Although we are purely an online advertising service and do not visit every property personally, we make every effort to ensure all properties and advertisers are legitimate using our own internal checks.

For your own piece of mind, we strongly recommend all enquirers take the following steps when dealing with owners/agents direct:

• Always speak personally to the owner/agent before making a payment.
• Research the advertiser or property name using Google or a similar search engine.
• If you are in any doubt, ask the advertiser for references.

How do I pay for my accommodation?

All advertisers have their own terms of payment; generally this will involve a small deposit to secure the booking and the balance on or before arrival. To ensure all parties feel secure, we recommend paying by credit card wherever possible. If this is not possible, ensure you speak to advertisers personally, receive a written receipt for all payments and/or arrange to pay balances on arrival.

We do NOT recommend payments via international bank transfer.

What about travel insurance?

It is your responsibility to ensure you are properly insured before travelling to Lanzarote. Some owners/agents may insist on seeing proof of insurance before final acceptance of your booking and it is in your own interests to have protection should the worst happen during your holiday.

Travel insurance is available from a wide variety of sources, we recommend using 1Stop Travel Insurance.