To Nerja and beyond......well beyond really!!! (Andalusia)

Member Name: s1an1e

Product:	Andalusia
Date:	09/08/05 (1088 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very spanish, great climate, beautiful countryside

Disadvantages: Need a phrase book but I think this is a plus!

Well actually just plain old beyond for me. I have been to Nerja but it's too expat and british for my tastes. When I travel I want to feel like I've gone abroad. I enjoy speaking broken spanish and making my phrase book work for it's money. One of the beauties of the Granada coast is just that...you can.

Once you get off the new motorway at Nerja ( actually you have no option it currently ends there although I'm informed that the extension to La Herradura will be open by December 2005) and return to the coastal road or N340 you start to get back to spain as you imagine it to be. Windy roads, whitewashed villages, beautiful beaches. Even the plastic agricultural sheds start to dwindle along here as the Costa Tropical boasts an all year round mild, temperate climate.

Don't get me wrong, there is tourism along this stretch of coast and sad to say it is begining to attract more brits but the tourism in this little stretch tends to be home grown spanish. Many of the holiday apartments are owned by people from Madrid and Granada who come down for the weekend and summer weeks to escape the heat inland.

La Herradura is one of the first 'villages' you come to. 15 minutes form Nerja. I was surprised by La Herradura when I first visited. Having looked at it on the net it was described as a 'quiet little fishing village'. In all honesty I would have to say that that is a little far fetched. The horseshoe bay is, as described, picturesque with some great little bars, resturants and chiringuitos. In the summer however it is more typical of a bustling resort than a fishing village and I have yet to spot the fishing fleet!!! It does have a marina though, the Marina del Este. This has a few exclusive shops, a few expensive restaurants (relatively speaking) and a few expensive boats. All in all, I wouldn't bother, the beach is better. This resort in particular is a favoured spot of the spanish on holiday, along with a number of scandinavians and germans.

As with most of this coast the bars keep to the spanish tradition of Tapas. This is a small plate of food, raciones, which comes free with your drink each time you order. You get a different raciones each time and can be a very inexpensive way to have your evening meal with different bars serving different tapas specialities. On the Costa del Sol this practice has gone out of the window with tourists being charged for tapas - how very unspanish!

La Herradura has some nice family hotels and is a good place to look is you want a quiet get away on the beach. There is not a great deal of nightlife outside the bars and restaurants but everyone is very friendly. The beach offers all amenities showers, sunbeds, parasols, paddleboats and jetskis and has a safe coastline. The bars also have a reasonable amount of english if your feeling dubious about trying out your spanish. A 'Buenos Dias' or 'Gracias' is always well received though. Remember they are not used to noisy lager lout brits!

The next town around is Almunecar ( about 10 minutes on), my personal favourite. It is a thriving spanish working town with a bustling atmosphere. It reminds me of Brighton on a smaller scale.

I have discovered a hotel here which is fabulous. Suites Albayzin del Mar. Now part of me is reluctant to part with this because I don't want to ruin it but it is a gem. The hotel is actually a set of apartments with all in house hotel facilities. So instead of just a bedroom you get a full suite including a fully fitted kitchen. That said the hotel has a fab. restaurant with a marvelous menu so you can eat in house if you want and breakfast is included. This is a large continental buffet and one of the few places where I know all three of my kids will eat well in the morning. I have stayed here five times this year. In fact I refuse to stay anywhere else now and will be going back in a fortnight with the children. It can be found on www.hotelalbayzindelmar.com and you get an additional discount for booking on line. You pay for the apartments per person, but children under 12 stay free. Remember that unlike a hotel the smallest room they have is a two bedroom suite so for the price of a double you effectively get your own villa to share with the littel darlings. The swimming pool area is a dream. The whole hotel looks like an iceberg, very cool in the heat, and the pool is similarly styled with drawbridges and fountains etc. To date I have only ever come across one other british couple there. Most guests seem to be danish or german or you just get the place to yourself. I genuinely can't understand it. The hotel has it's own parking, VERY important in almunecar, and is within a couple of minutes walking distance to the town centre and the beach. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The only english spoken is at the reception desk however.

Back to the town. The town itself has pretty much everything. The shopping area is pedestrianised and to me reminiscent of the Lanes in brighton. For those of you who don't know brighton...sorry! They are quirky shops with a good area of different merchandise. This is a working town so you have everything from a hardware store (ferreteria) to boutiques. They have a cinema and municpal swimming pool but I'm still trying to work that one out. It appears you have to buy swimming tickets from the town hall in advance?!? In this town you do need to be brave and speak the lingo. I've found the phrase 'Lo cienta, no hablo mucho espanol' -'sorry I don't speak much spanish '(sorry if spelt wrong) to be invaluable. At least by trying they are willing to try to and you do generally get there. The population of Almunecar is however local and many people did not study english at school. It's fun though! The town has a large array of bars and restaurants, most of which are full of locals. A word of warning though. As already mentioned this is a working town. The siesta here is from 1pm to 5.30 p.m. and everyone obeys it religiously. Having been to spain before when I first went with the children i thought 'oh yeah, there's bound to be somewhere open'. There isn't and because they reopen late it's almost impossible to get an evening meal before 9pm at night. Here the fitted kitchen in the hotel is essential to ensure the children stay happily fed until you want to eat. Again that said, you can take children everywhere with you and families all eat together in the evenings in the restaurants often up until midnight.

As you can tell I love the area but I've realised I'm rambling on and on here. So a quick move on....

Playa Cabria - well known by locals but for a tourist and ulikely spot. It's signposted down a rough track off the N340. It is a secluded beach although it still has shower and toilet facilities.It has both sand and rocks and is a favourite of my children. Two bars sit on the beach, Casa Antonia - fis very well known in the area and very highly recommended.They also rent out apartments that literally sit on the beach 'apartmentos cabria'. These are clean and bijou and extremely good value for money.

Salobrena - Whitewashed town. The old town sits on the hill surrounding a moorish castle which is floodlit at night. Very pretty. It's also very steep and a nightmare with a hire car. IF you want to go up and aren't really brave, park in the town centre and walk up. My husband has burnt the clutch out in two cars now trying to find somewhere to park on the hill!!!! If you can get up there though the view is wonderful and there are a couple of great bars hiding out. It is VERY old world spanish. The town itself I think is something or nothing and after the bustle of Almunecar is very staid. That said there are some great restaurants on the beach...especially if you like fresh fish. Salobrena is trying to turn itself into a tourist town and has quite an expat community from northern europe. English is better spoken here but because they've 'zoned' the town, old town, new town, tourist accommodation, it is desparate in the winter. I've been twice to bars I like and the town itself is deserted. It's a bit like staying in the Marie Celeste.

Motril - the largest city along the coast. Again a working spanish city. Once again here the English gets patchy. I find the beach a bit industrialised, they have a big working port, but if you want to shop it has everything. It's only 7km from Salobrena so local.

With all these spots it is easy to get into adalucia to see the sights. Granada is less than an hour away with the Al Hambre and Sierra Nevada mountains. In the spring you can ski and sunbathe in the same day! If you really want a blast of britain the Costa del Sol is only 1 1/2 hours away with the likes of Malaga, Banalmadena, Porta Banus and Estepona. These are major tourist spots with all the trimmings from Selwo Marinas and adventure parks to beaches and cable cars. Not to mention the shops!

GETTING THERE

Malaga airport would be my recommendation but with Granada opening up I guess it depends on where you live. Both take about an hour to get to almunecar. You will need to hire a car though. Having said that, I have stayed in Almunecar without one. The Suites is so central that once there you don't need a car unless you want to tour around. I tend to use Crown as they have an office in almunecar which makes a one way hire simple.They are also very competitive. Most local airports in the UK fly into malaga with flights starting form £19.99 one way. Do shop around though. I've found from birmigham that Flybe have the best rates and best flight times. Monarch have the best service however and bigger seats! ONce there the road out of the airport is easy, just follow the sign for Cadiz and Motril. Even I don't get lost and I have an appalling sense of direction.

Anyone who wants to go to spain and taste a bit of spanish life I wouldn't hesitate to recomend a trip along this stretch of coast. Get there fast before too many brits find it!

Summary: If you want a holiday with a spanish feel here are some ideas.