In the second of our series of holiday destinations that are easily accessible from Tenerife, we turn our camera lens onto the island’s closest  African neighbour, Morocco. Just 300km (186 miles) off the coast of Tenerife, rarely has a destination been so near and yet so many worlds apart as Marrakech.

Don’t let fears about the political unrest and violence in North Africa put you off a trip to Marrakech. Morocco has a stable government and a King for whom the people have a great deal of respect. Unfortunately, the country has suffered in tourism terms as a result of the conflict in its less fortunate neighbours, the up side of which is there are many bargains to be picked up. So if you’ve ever thought about going to Marrakech – now’s the time to seize the day.

Tenerife Magazine’s Guide to Marrakech    
Jump on a bus in Playa de Las Américas, take a flight from Tenerife North airport to Marrakech and you’re about to swallow the red pill and take the rabbit hole all the way down.

From the moment you take to the road that links the airport to the city, amidst the clapped out motors, entire families precariously balanced on small motorbikes without a helmet between them, buses and cycles, the TF motorway will be a distant, tranquil dream.

Head for the famous Jemaa El Fna square where a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice will refresh you for just a few pence and let you take in your surroundings while you sip it. Spend any time in the square and you’ll quickly realise that time revolves around frequent fresh mint tea breaks, tajines for lunch and a nightly transformation of its spaces into the largest open air restaurant and street theatre this side of Beijing.

The best advice is not to try to find logic or familiarity with Marrakech, instead let yourself be taken with its foibles, sights and sounds from the five times daily call to prayer whose volume would wake the dead, to the banter of the nightly food stall holders trying to entice you onto their benches.

Shoppers, garden lovers and culture seekers will all find something to enthral and amuse them in Marrakech. Shoppers will find the Medina swallowing them up to haggle for bargains; culture seekers will love wandering its dusty palatial museums, and garden lovers have acres of scented oases to soak up.

The Museums and Medina of Marrakech
Nothing adequately prepares you for the sensory onslaught of the Marrakech medina. Through its warren of tiny alleys which all look disconcertingly alike and in which you’re pretty much guaranteed to get lost, continuously, your senses will be constantly assailed by the exotic. Everywhere you wander your eyes will be drawn by intricately crafted lamps; silver teapots with coloured glasses and ceramic spoons; soft leather bags; beautiful jewellery and wall upon wall of richly embroidered carpets and dazzling reams of cloth. Don’t be afraid to dive in there and begin to barter.

The best of the museums are the Medersa Ben Youssef and the Marrakech Museum. The Ben Youssef is a 14th century former school where students were taught the Koran. Its  endless corridors, exquisite tiles and carved sandalwood decoration are a photographer’s dream. The Marrakech Museum is a former palace which houses contemporary art exhibitions as well as historic Islamic artefacts while its tiled courtyards and domed ceilings are spectacularly splendid. Another ‘must’ on the cultural agenda are the Saadian Tombs which house the ornate tombs of over 200 members of the Saadian dynasty from the 16th century.
After all that dust and death, a breath of fresh air is called for and Marrakech has a surprising number of beautiful parks and gardens, the best of them being the Jardin Majorelle. This is a stunning exotic garden dating from the early 1920s and restored by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.

Where to Stay in Marrakech
If you want to enjoy your Marrakech experience to the full, opt to stay in a riad in the medina. Authentic Moroccan houses with garden courtyards, excellent home cooking and top class service, the riads are like individual boutique hotels. I recommend the rather lovely Riad Merstane in the heart of the medina but there are lots to choose from.

Food and  Drink in Marrakech
Around Jemaa El Fnaa you’ll find no shortage of restaurants whose menus all feature the ubiquitous tajine, couscous, kebabs and lamb cutlets so why not go for the full Monty experience and grab a seat at one of the benches of the food stalls in the square. Your choices may be limited and you’ll find the chef adding extra dishes for you, but the food is tasty, your wallet will love the place and as long as your stomach isn’t too delicate a flower, you shouldn’t suffer any ill effects. Just don’t watch them doing the washing up – nuff said.

Venture into the medina and you’ll discover some more bohemian settings such as Café Bougainvillea where you’ll find Italian, Moroccan and French items on the menu and a romantic courtyard setting. In the ‘new’ city of Guéliz you’ll find more International menus and generally classier establishments such as Chez Pascal and Al Fassia.

If you stay in a hotel in Guéliz you may not even be aware that alcohol is a rare commodity in Marrakech or that few restaurants in the medina have wine, beer or spirits available. For a tipple with your culture shot, head to the stylish rooftop bar of Café Arabe in the medina where ex-pats and visitors sip cocktails amongst the traditional Moroccan décor, or opt for an aerial view of the night madness of Jemaa El Fna from the rooftop terrace of Café de France.

How to get to Marrakech from Tenerife
Binter Canarias fly twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays from Tenerife North airport to Marrakech via Gran Canaria. The flight to Gran Canaria is just half an hour and then there’s a short wait before onward connection to Marrakech two and a half flying hours away. Residents’ discounts apply only on the Tenerife to Gran Canaria leg of the flight. Keep an eye on billboards and TV advertising for special offers – in summer 2011 it cost just €99 one way from Tenerife to Marrakech.

Tenerife Magazine’s Guide to Costa Brava

In the far north-east corner of Spain, Costa Brava is separated from France by the Pyrenees whilst its 158 kilometres of coastline is lapped by the Mediterranean. These factors lend it a personality that is quite different from other regions of Spain. The language spoken is Catalan which, even for people who can speak Castilian, can mean that menus might as well be written in a foreign language…if you know what I mean. Where the language can confuse, the scenery enchants. The coast is classic Mediterranean with sigh-inducing cove after cove of azure waters lapping beaches backed by scented pines. Inland, rolling hills surround perfectly preserved medieval towns and villages.
As for the food, this is the region where Michelin stars are positively commonplace and the cuisine is so good that it could curl a surrealist artist’s moustache.

Whether sun-seeker, nature lover, gastronome or cultural junkie Costa Brava has surprises galore that will thrill and delight new visitors.

Costa Brava for Sun Seekers
For a traditional sun and fun holiday we’d recommend either Roses or Lloret de Mar. Both have lovely long beaches and plenty of bars and restaurants. In Roses, the most interesting of these are located in the street behind the promenade. Lloret de Mar is probably the livelier of the two, especially in summer when young Spanish descend in their droves. Apparently Belgians consider it a party town.
Where to Stay in Roses and Lloret de Mar
The four star Hotel Terraza Spa in Roses is right on the beach front and is perfect for exploring the centre of town.
In Lloret de Mar, the five star Guitart Monterray is a short distance from the beach and the centre of town and has a casino straight out of Las Vegas.
Where to Eat in Roses and Lloret de Mar
Tramonti on the sea front in Roses serves the best pizzas in Spain – it’s got plenty of awards to back that claim up. Carmen’s in Lloret del Mar is a stylish bar with a dining area in the rear serving excellent traditional Catalonian cuisine.
What to do in Roses and Lloret de Mar
A trip to the serene and sublime Santa Clotilde Gardens is a must in Lloret del Mar. In Roses the Roses Express is cheesy fun. This 4×4 tourist train passes some hidden beauty spots on its way to captivating Cadaqués including the bay that’s home to the world famous El Bulli restaurant.

Costa Brava for Nature Lovers
There are any number of places to stay on and away from the coast which provide picturesque solitude, but two favourites are Santa Pau and Fornells.
Fornells is characterised by a Mediterranean coastline consisting of unbelievably beautiful coves and lush pine forests whilst Santa Pau is an absolute delight of an historic village dating from the 13th century with atmospheric old buildings erected around a plaza and castle.
Where to Stay in Fornells and Santa Pau
Hotel Aigua Blava at Platja Fornells not only occupies a location that, once seen you’ll never want to leave, it is also one of the friendliest family run hotels you’ll come across. Hotel Cal Sastre in Santa Pau is an eclectic treasure full of witty touches. The room reached from the narrow stairs leading from the bar is particularly appealing.
Where to Eat in Fornells and Santa Pau
In Fornells you won’t want to leave the hotel…and you don’t have to because the food in its restaurant matches everything else about the place – exquisite. Like Aigua Blava, the Cal Sastre restaurant is owned by the same family who own the hotel and its photogenic position, beneath old stone arches opposite the plaza, is also matched by divinely tasting local fare.
What to do in Fornells and Santa Pau
Enjoy nature in all its glory. In Fornells explore paths that stretch all the way along the coast  before cooling off with a swim in crystal waters that demand your presence. The volcanic landscape around Santa Pau may not impress anyone used to Teide National Park on Tenerife…unless viewing it from a basket under a hot air balloon.

And in bite-sized chunks…

Costa Brava for City Slickers
Girona is an underrated city with a beautiful old quarter (Barri Vell) overlooking the river; it’s more charming and safer than Barcelona…so the locals tell me.

Costa Brava for Culture
The Dalí Theatre-Museum, dedicated to Costa Brava’s most famous son, in Figueres is as delightfully potty as you’d hope and a rich roller-coaster ride of a cultural hit; add on a visit to the genius’s house at Portlligat for an enriching Salvador Dalí experience.

Costa Brava for Adventure
Empuriabrava is a town whose streets of mainly canals are best viewed from the cockpit of a tiny Cessna four seater plane or, for the ultimate in getting a bird’s eye view of the scenery,  whilst skydiving  from 14000 feet about Terra Firma.

How to get to Costa Brava from Tenerife
There are no direct flights from Tenerife’s airports to Girona airport, so the easiest way is to catch a flight to Barcelona from Tenerife North (From €35 one way) and then a bus from Barcelona to Costa Brava (not much different from catching a bus from Tenerife south to Puerto de la Cruz).

If you haven’t already spotted it, this month we are once again working in partnership with Sands Beach Resort in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote to give one lucky fan of our Facebook page a truly fabulous holiday prize – one week, half board at Sands Beach.

Earlier this year TM was lucky enough to spend a few days at this fabulous resort and we were able to check out some of the amazing facilities on offer.

Nestling at the northern edge of Costa Teguise in an enviable position alongside Playa Charco on the shores of a salt water lagoon, some of the apartments and villas of Sands Beach hug the lagoon shoreline so you literally step from your terrace onto the golden beach. Others surround elegant, landscaped plazas with beautiful free form swimming pools at their heart. Elegant, bright, contemporary and spacious the apartments have everything you need to enjoy home from home comfort in the sort of surroundings you wish your full time home occupied. From fully fitted kitchens and stylish lounges to quiet, comfortable bedrooms and oodles of storage space.

Spend your days lazing by the beach or pool before trying one of the daily specials on the sun soaked terrace of the Mai Tai restaurant on Paradise Island while the youngest members of the family are kept occupied and entertained by the tireless Animation Team.

Or opt to try some of the sports and activities on offer. Pop into Papagayo Bikes in reception and get yourself some wheels with which to explore some of your incredible surroundings while you burn off calories to make room for plenty more. Water babies should take advantage of the resort’s partnership with Calipso Diving to discover the stunning clarity and teeming tropical undersea world of Costa Teguise, it’s an experience you’ll never forget. Or you could go hiking, play tennis, work out in the gym, try windsurfing…the possibilities are too numerous to list.

In short, Sands Beach resort is the sort of place where people very happily pay to stay again and again and again.
At the beginning of April we’ll be pulling one name out of the Tenerife Magazine Facebook fans, wouldn’t you like that name to be yours?

]]> http://www.tenerifemagazine.com/happenings/competitions/anyone-fancy-a-free-holiday-at-sands-beach-resort-in-lanzarote.htm/feed 0 http://www.tenerifemagazine.com/lifestyle/travel/queen-elizabeth-new-ace-in-the-cunard-pack.htm http://www.tenerifemagazine.com/lifestyle/travel/queen-elizabeth-new-ace-in-the-cunard-pack.htm#comments Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:09:39 +0000 Colin Kirby http://www.tenerifemagazine.com/?p=5163

She may not be the biggest ship to drop anchor in Tenerife this year, or even this month, but when it comes to regal splendour the newly launched Queen Elizabeth sits crown and shoulders above her rivals. Cruise holidays are no longer about regimented timetables and starched jackets for dinner. A queue of T shirts, shorts and summer dresses lined up for the shuttle bus from the quayside into Santa Cruz and a Union Jack was draped casually over one of the 71 balconied cabins. I had to crane my neck to gaze up the 16 decks as the early morning lifeboat drill was practised. Then checked, scanned and photographed the media guests were welcomed aboard, through the plush carpets and super cooled lift area up to the ninth floor for the exchanging of plaques and Canarian wine between the Captain and the Tenerife port authority.

Captain Chris Wells has always loved the ocean, from fishing trips near his Bournemouth birthplace to meeting German wife Hedda while both served on the Queen Elizabeth 2. I felt a small sneaky swell of local pride as the Captain commented on the previous day’s cooler, cloudier weather at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, part way through a 13 day trip that started with a lavish launch ceremony in Southampton.

Formalities over, we went off on a tour starting with the pool area below the meeting room and night club. Occupants of the Jacuzzi and sun beds quickly grabbed towels, well would you want to be caught belly up by the press pack? Moving down to The Garden Lounge (above) we were again enveloped by cool air as we admired the paintings of Kew Gardens around the walls. I chatted to a British couple reading Daily News, an internal morning update from Blighty, which is left outside each cabin along with a programme of the day’s choice of events and excursions. Scanning the menu I found all the prices in US dollars and was pleasantly surprised to find bottles of real ale Spitfire for sale at 5.75. I was later told by a passenger that a 15% service charge is added to all the menu orders and bills are charged to an on board swipe card to be settled at the journeys end.

Moving down to the third floor Grand Lobby, the style and elegance was stunning. Stairways circled down past small trees to a piano lounge and the brass trimmings were being polished as we passed, the chandeliers and coloured glass décor looked like another never ending job on the cleaning schedule. It was almost eerily quiet on board as 600 of the 2092 passengers had been whisked off to Teide National Park, others had opted for a jeep tour and the bars and shops of Santa Cruz had attracted many more.
Attention to detail is vital on this 90,400 ton Cunard ship, the library had a pile of sheets with crosswords and sudoku to pass those quieter moments as well as the day’s British newspapers. Tradition is another strong theme on the ship with display cases of old news clippings and memorabilia from the previous vessels to bear Queen Elizabeth’s name. The Verandah restaurant was one of my favourites, finished in shimmering white and tingling with fine crystal glasses. Even here at the entrance a Healthy Hands wet wipe vender was a reminder of the dedication to clean habits in a notoriously difficult environment.
Passing through the Queens room with a respectful nod to the HRH’s bust and portrait, we found the Royal Arcade with jewellery, watches and fashion on the upper level and access to the games machines and the Golden Lion pub, where you can enjoy fish, chips and mushy peas with the finest cocktails.

So what do the passengers think. Alison and Duncan McMenemie (left) from Greenock, Scotland were on their third cruise and I caught them popping back for lunch after visiting Santa Cruz. “It’s been very relaxing, drinks and spa etc are extra but we haven’t really spent much,” said Alison. “Santa Cruz was good value too, we bought some kids’ presents. We found it interesting to see how all the ports we called at made a fuss of us when we left, the big cruise ships call in Greenock and they do a good send off.”
Charmaine Attwood and Perry Millward were spared a long train journey to Southampton as they live in Salisbury. “We went on the QE2 three years ago and were lucky that an online cruise site got us tickets for this trip, we heard they all sold out within 29 minutes of going on sale,” said Charmaine. “The ship looks like an apartment block on the outside but inside it is a lovely old style and the entertainment is wonderful.”
For up to 16,000 pounds for luxury suites, the Queen Elizabeth is not a cheap option but with 7 European stop offs and a wealth of ways to relax and soak up some unrivalled style and service, it should float most peoples boat.

Have you noticed the revolution in the way that people research their holidays?

Before the entire cosmos turned cyber, holiday brochures were the mainstay of most vacationers; glossy pages filled with impossibly blue skies, golden beaches peopled by happy families with perfect tans and blindingly white teeth; and resorts that sounded like they were constructed to your individual design specification. If you were lucky, your high street travel agent may have been to the resort and could give you some first hand knowledge, otherwise, you hoped the brochure wasn’t too far short of accurate.

‘Serious’ travellers shunned holiday brochures in favour of travel guides. Reams and reams of in-depth history and political analysis; endless accommodation and restaurant listings; sometimes written by someone who’d spent less time in the resort than the two weeks you were planning.
Travel magazines and the newspaper weekend supplements provided both information and inspiration for travel destinations; travel writers covered the globe from the well-trodden to off-the-beaten track locations and filled their pages with beautiful images that cried out to be seen in the flesh.

Then came the Internet and suddenly everyone was a travel writer. From blogs to travel advisory forums, personal holiday experiences became available in their millions creating a massive information overload. With the growth of Internet-based information, printed travel publications and newspapers have been forced to reduce costs; travel supplements are thin and features are often compiled from behind a desk.

But unless you’re clued in to research techniques and know enough to separate the real from the copycats, ploughing through the mass of information available online is time-consuming and fraught with pitfalls.

Well now there’s a new kid on the travel block to help the consumer make informed decisions before they book their hard-earned holiday – the insider expert. The insider is someone who not only lives in the destination, but spends their time travelling and researching it; providing first hand, up to the minute information – warts and all.
One company who’ve already recognised the strength of the insider expert is the online holiday website, tenerife.co.uk

Newly launched and specialising in Tenerife, tenerife.co.uk provide two views for every resort on their site; the travel agent view, and the insider view –side by side, so you can see at a glance if the resort is right for you. It’s an interesting and brave approach from the people behind tenerife.co.uk and it provides some telling comparisons such as “small, purpose built resort”- Travel Agent vs “housing estates in the sun” – Insider. Of course, deciding if it’s right for you is still your decision; but there are no punches pulled in giving you the facts with which to do that.

Adding value to the Internet by giving discerning consumers the best information available for them to make their choices is the way of the holiday company future.
And how do I know that the insider information tenerife.co.uk are giving is ‘the best’? That’s easy; because it comes from me

With seven alternate tropical universes, why confine yourself to just one Canary Island?
There are less than 230 kilometres and an entire universe of difference between La Palma in the west and Fuerteventura in the east and in between, there are five islands as disparate as any in the Greek archipelago.

So why isn’t island hopping in the Canaries more popular?

Tenerife Magazine decided to find out why.

The Booking Experience.
Armed with a calendar, a notebook and web addresses, I set about planning and booking a Canaries island-hopping trip, taking in some of the smaller islands as well as Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
I began with the traditional island hopping mode –
The Ferry.
For the Western Islands, I decided to use The Fred Olsen Express as it’s quicker than Naviera Armas.
It wasn’t long before I was running aground…the online booking site wouldn’t let me buy my tickets if I had the ‘schedules’ window open. Fine if you’re just planning a single crossing, but very frustrating if you’re trying to plan several trips. I had to keep switching views to check out which days ferries operated between the smaller islands and then going back to online sales to check times and prices.
Next I tried Naviera Armas to get around the eastern Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote as Fred Olsen doesn’t sail to them. At least they have a neat little map which shows exactly where they sail from and to but again, I had to constantly switch between ‘destination times’ and ‘passenger sales’ views making multiple bookings a very convoluted affair.

The Airlines
With some ferry crossings taking a whole day and limited sailings between smaller islands, I decided to check out the inter-island air services. On Binter Airlines’ website the flight schedules were easy to search, there were lots of flights to choose from and they gave me loads of options around my travel dates which made for easy planning. Although the Islas Airways services are restricted to the bigger islands, I actually found their site to be the easiest and most user-friendly of all for online booking.

Costs and journey times
The rule is simple; the faster you get there, the more it costs you; so flying is the fastest and most expensive way to connect the islands.
Ferries are cheaper but then they’re also considerably slower and in the case of Naviera Armas, so slow as to not be a viable option on some journeys, like Tenerife to El Hierro which takes a staggering 8hr and 30 mins and is generally the domain of farmers and their goats – both of whom are better sailors than I am.

Using Tenerife to Gran Canaria (one way) as my example, I discovered substantial differences between prices and journey times:

Naviera Armas     €30.41     2½ hours
Fred Olsen         €47.63    1 hour
Binter Canarias     €60.85     30 mins
Islas Airways     €64.35    30 mins

All the journeys I checked out had similar time/cost differences where all four carriers operate.
But services are restricted between some islands, which incidentally, I only found out by trying to book certain routes and being shown the blank ‘done’ screen.
For example, Fred Olsen doesn’t operate between Gran Canaria and Lanzarote or Fuerteventura.
Binter Airlines don’t fly direct between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura or between La Gomera and La Palma or El Hierro; and Islas Airways only operate between Tenerife, La Palma, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria.
It’s all very confusing, means endless internet searching and no easy way to hop between islands.

So – Why Isn’t Island Hopping in the Canaries a Popular Option?

None of the carriers, either sea or air, offer discounts for multiple trips. There are special offers running from time to time but they usually only apply to residents who already enjoy substantial discounts on travel. As the bus services on all the islands offer a multiple trip card with substantial discounts, why can’t the ferries and airlines do the same?

For anyone planning to visit several islands, online booking either from home or while on the move is the most sensible option, but I found ferry online booking sites to be cumbersome and definitely not user-friendly for island hoppers. Why can’t the ferries offer multiple trip planning and booking?

Although both Fred Olsen and Naviera Armas operate free ferry buses between capital city and ports on Tenerife, (Fred Olsen also operates ferry buses on Gran Canaria and Lanzarote), the bus doesn’t pick up or drop off at the airports.

The end result is this: As a tourist, the costs of visiting multiple islands is either prohibitively expensive if you choose to do it by air; tiresomely slow if you opt for the more cost-effective ferries or painfully unconnected if you choose to mix and match.

Until the inter-island services wake up to the possibilities of island hopping and offer discounts on multiple trips; better connectivity between ports, bus stations and airports; and online booking services that allow users to plan multiple trips, I guess island hopping in the Canaries will remain about as popular as the norovirus.

The words “shame”, “wasted” and “opportunity” come to mind.