Murcia - a nice city with lots of history and hot for most of the year (Murcia)

Member Name: Bardley

Product:	Murcia
Date:	02/11/08 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hot, Sunny, Good Food, Nice Beaches, Lots of Golf Courses and at the moment it is still very Spanish

Disadvantages: The roads in the centre of the city and their dodgy Cappuccinos

My dad bought a townhouse in a little village called Balsicas which was complete November 2007, since then I have visited it 4 times. I went over at different months so got a true feeling of what it's like over the course of the year. I went for a week each in November, February, April and September. Even when we were over in November and February the temperatures were still low 20's and the sun was out most if not all days.

My parents went for 17 days in July 2008 and said it was very hot, somtimes unbearably so, getting to above 46oC. In september when I was there it was 42oC in the sun on one of the days.

The old ryhme of, 'The rain falls mainly on the plain' is supposedly from the Murcian region although over the 4 weeks I have spent there we probably had about 4 days rain.

The area is very nice, we mostly go to beaches around the Mar Menor/La Manga which is known as a celebrity and golfing hotspot and the beaches are lovely, our favourite being Los Alcazares.

Our house is about 30 minute drive from Murcia city but the road structure around the actual city is an absolute nightmare due to it being old, some of the streets are very narrow and the spanish drive like maniacs. The main roads and motorways in and out are brilliant and even at peak times we haven't sat in a jam. There is a shopping complex near to the city which has an Ikea which has been empty every time we have been. There are also big shopping centres called Thader and Nuevo Condominium, the latter is huge and has a very big Eroski (Supermarket) in it.

The Murcia region is famous for it's stews although we haven't tried one and we haven't even had paella yet so I can't comment on them. We visited a couple of bars but none of them speak english, but luckily I have been trying to learn spanish go got away with the basics of asking for coffee, Cappuccino and beers. One bar where we asked for a cappuccino it came as they usually do, but with whole coffee beans floating in it and a slice of lime, so be wary before ordering.

The trains are very clean and when we went by train into the city centre they were on time coming and going.

The airport (San Javier) is small and is actually a military airport for which the spanish version of the Red Arrows are based and somtimes you can see them lined up whilst landing or taking off, we have been lucky on a couple of occasions to see them practicing. The airport only has 5 gates if I remember correctly, when 2 planes are boarding at the same time it does get a bit hectic but they deal with it pretty quick. At the moment San Javier is the main airport for Murcia, although you can fly into Alicante but that is about a 45 minute to 1 hour drive away.

There are 5 car hire companies in the arrivals hall but that number seems to be growing steadily. On average we have hired a car which is usually Ford Ka to Ford Focus sized for about £68 for a week, you have to pay for petrol on top which has recently been about Euro70 for a full tank, and if you only use half you don't get any back.

Murcia is an up and coming place with more Brits moving there, but at the moment it is still very Spanish and just the way we like it.

Summary: Nice and warm holiday destination with lots of golfing, shopping and bathing. Somthing for everyone!