We decided to go away this year at the end of January for a bit of winter sun… we headed out to the Canary Islands, Fuerteventura to be exact. It was only a short holiday (4 nights) but was the best getaway/family holiday for me. It was also LO’s first time abroad and he was really good from the plane journey there to the end of the stay.
I booked our little holiday via onthebeach.co.uk and found the Barcelo Castillo Beach Resort to be the perfect hotel for us. It’s located right on the beach, has a gym and spa in case I wanted some me-time (I never got round to using them!), three restaurants to eat from, located 15 mins away from the airport, and it’s a family-friendly resort where kids stay free! Perfect!
All in all, a 4-night stay for 2 adults and 1 child costed around £190 for the hotel and £180 for the flights so under £400 in total which is extremely cheap. The average weather for Fuerteventura in January is 19-20 degrees which was about right. The first 2 days we were there, we were blessed with slightly warmer weather (about 22-23 degrees) but this island is the most windiest of all of the Canary Islands so if you’re planning on going to Fuerteventura, don’t forget a light jumper or jacket for the evenings.
Even though the sea temperature was mild, it was too cold for us to take a dip to swim but it didn’t stop LO from having a good splash! The hotel was very clean and maintained well. Our bungalow was decorated in a traditional orange hue which was lovely but there were more modern bungalows available at the resort for those who prefer something a little more luxurious.
I never got time to relax at the spa or used the gym although my friend who came with LO and I was able to use the gym and she loved it. For €5 per session, it’s definitely affordable but the resort is so big that you can get your daily exercise from walking around the whole place. We also ended up sticking to the main restaurant which offered a buffet-style sitting but the other two restaurants at the resort looked amazing, especially the piano bar/restaurant.
By the end of the holiday, LO didn’t even want to leave! He said he wanted to stay and it just made me think about booking another holiday for us to go on after baby is born. We’ll probably go with daddy P to Butlins next year or maybe even Disneyland instead.
