Sun, Sex & Sangria!? (Costa del Sol)

Member Name: jayjolynn

Product:	Costa del Sol
Date:	22/11/06 (5226 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hundreds of Bars,Restauarants & Nightclubs!

Disadvantages: Hundreds of Bars,Restaurants & Nightclubs!

TORREMOLINOS

Torremolinos, stands at the bottom of the Sierra de Mijas Mountains. This is where the tourist trade really started on the Costa del Sol, and by the 60’s it was the place to be on the Costa, and still today crowds of British holiday makers pack its beaches and bars.
Some 8 miles from Málaga airport, Torremolinos is a vast resort of hotels complexes, apartments, restaurants, bars & discotheques.

Its four main beaches are Bajondillo, Carihuela, Los Álamos or Playamar where you will find your bigger hotels and rented self catering apartments and also residential apartments. Through the Summer the beaches are swarming with European holiday makers which it caters for with rows and rows of sunbeds and parasols which you can hire for the day for about 5 or 6 euros per day.

Although Torremolinos is now a huge sprawling jungle of these hotel complexes and apartments, you can still see some of the more traditional parts like El Calvario, El Bajondillo and La Carihuela. There is the parish church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, and Casa de los Navaja, built in the 19th century. There is also Torre de Pimentel / Torre de los Molinos, which is a fortress and this is where Torremolinos gets its name from.

Its most famous dish is “pescaíto” (fried fish) caught locally, and you can try a taste of this and many other fish dishes at the Chiringuitos (beach bars/restaurants) which are on the beach promenade. They serve a variety of tapas & paella too, so it’s nice to try out these places and get a real taste of Spanish cooking. It makes a nice change from the British ‘fry up’ bars and cafés that are battling with each other to get your custom! I personally have tried a few of these eating places in Torremolinos, and I still prefer the good old Spanish menus though I admit I indulged in the British traditional ones, when I was getting homesick!

The promenade Paseo Maritimo runs from Playamar right through to Benalmadena Marina. This is a nice walk, and there are many cafes and bars all along here should you need some refreshment. You can just sit back and relax and ‘people watch’ There are plenty of sunburnt, I mean ‘burnt’ bodies walking about trying to look like they really knew how much sun cream to put on, but their excuse is ‘Oh I must have just fallen asleep for that fatal couple of hours’ and they end up looking like ripe tomatoes!

Torremolinos also boasts a huge aquapark with water slides, artificial waves and swimming pools, which is a fun day out for all the family. This place can also get very busy, so don’t venture in if you are looking for a relaxing day!

The Nightlife

Nightlife in Torremolinos is wild and it will not disappoint you if you like the wild drunken British bars with the boys trying desperately to get a ‘pull’ for the night and the girls dancing on the tables with barely enough clothes on to cover over their ‘white’ bits! I had one late night in Torremolinos, and came home about 4 in the morning after being drenched by one too many beers from people jostling and falling about the place! Many bars and night clubs for the young at heart, but if you want a quieter atmosphere, there are still the quieter areas, with eating places and bars geared towards the ‘quieter’ holidyamaker. I particularly like the main road going through Torremolinos, where they have many different restaurants catering for every taste! I also loved to venture down to the Marina at Benalmadena, but I will cover that later.

At the height of summer, the resort has a great appeal for the younger set (and the gay community), with a reputation for its hectic nightlife, but as I say, Torremolinos has managed to keep some of its original old parts, so there is something for everyone in Torremolinos.

BENALMADENA

It is one of the main tourist centres on the western Costa del Sol.
I may sound a little biased here, when I talk about this place, as I lived for awhile further up the mountain overlooking Benalmadena!

Benalmadena stands at the foot of the Sierra de Mijas mountains. This has a smaller strip of beach as this town is built on the hill and sprawls backwards rather than along the coast, so some nice views can be photographed the higher up you go in Belalmadena

Firstly, Benalmadena is split up into three parts, the main tourist area is of course the beach. Here as with all the Costa del Sol, the sand is nice, the same sun beds, around the same price to hire, but perhaps not as crowded as Torremolinos (you can actually see gaps of sand in between the sun bed layouts!) As you walk along the promenade here, it stops quickly then you are on the main street with most of your restaurants, shops and Hotels on one side of this main thoroughfare and the beach on the other.

Again you come across Chiringuitos, where you can sample the local fish or tapas. Over the other side of the street (be careful when crossing this) are Irish, Scottish and English bars, along with your many souvenir shops. I can say though, that Benalmadena to me is less ‘in your face’ than the other neighbouring resorts.

The Castle of Bil-Bil, an unusual building was built on the beach front in 1934 in an Arabian style. It is rather out of place looking but you can visit here should you want to see any exhibitions or cultural events.

One of my ‘favourite’ places is Benalmadena Marina (Puerto Marina). Situated right next to the start of Torremolinos, here is where the yachts are berthed, and there are many to see. It is quite unusual inside the Marina as at one point the yachts are surrounded by luxury apartments, which are privately owned, some being available to rent for holidays. Though expensive, this place is a nice place to visit through the day and at night.
After dark, it comes alive, with street sellers and many unusual shops. One flight up some stairs takes you into the restaurant area, where there are rows of good eating places, and all overlooking the Marina. This area is very popular at nights throughout the Summer, and you can soon pick out the most popular restaurants as these are the ones that are packed out! We have eaten in most of them, and they are all good value for money in their own way and prices vary a lot, so look at their menus outside first, before venturing in!

ARROYA DEL MIEL

Arroya is situated further up in Benalmadena. This is the main shopping area and has supermarkets, bars, restaurants and many of your ‘local’ shops. You will find some interesting little shops here too should you wander through the side streets (a lot catering for the Spanish community hence so much cheaper than in the main resort!) You find most of the population live here (many Spanish as well as British ex pats) and various Spanish tapas bars are located throughout this part of town.

Of course, your English cafes selling breakfasts etc. are there too, (you cannot escape these!) There are Chinese, Indian and generally most types of restaurants here! It is sad to see that most of these British restaurants are jam packed out, while so often the Spanish bars and restaurants are not as busy, apart from the regular Spanish locals themselves. The Spanish restaurants do lovely food, and in my view, do it so much better than us! We frequented these Spanish restaurants a lot and I could never walk past them.

I spent a lot of time in Arroya and dare I say it (after being so sarcastic of the amount of British bars/cafes etc?) We succumbed many times to a taste of home! ‘The Frying Scotsman’ is a Fish and chip shop selling the best Haddock & Cod ever, and the size of fish you get is more than enough for one person to manage! This owner had packed up from his home town in Scotland, and opened his fish and chip shop, and he imports everything over from Scottish waters. You can sit outside and enjoy all your favourites from home! Now, after me ranting on about the amount of British restaurants here, this fish shop is not like many of the British cafes, and does not import pre packed junk food ( I should correct that, as not every British bar does that, and some have genuine home made foods available, which are delicious)! Everything is battered and fried on the spot! It is situated just off the main road going through Arroyo, and is a popular place for ex pats anytime of the year!

Nightlife

There are many clubs bars and eating places to choose from in Benalmadena, and as mentioned before the Puerto Marina being one of my favourites, but the 24-Hour Square must be mentioned. 24 hour square is on the coast road (leading down to the port) and this is the place to be if you are 18-30! It literally is on the go 24 hours, and it’s noisy, vibrant, and literally heaving with party goers! I ventured into this rabble only to appease my daughters and nephew who were over for a holiday, and well, what can I say, it is everything that young holiday makers are looking for in night entertainment!

The clubs range from Hard core dance, Chart music, Head banging and general middle of the road music.. Like all places like this, it attracts the hard core louts, you know, the ones who give the Brits a bad name, and you feel embarrassed being British? In general it is a fun place for the younger generation, but not really my ‘cup of tea’!
When we were there, one of my daughters friends got her purse stolen, and the other her phone stolen, so beware, this is a haven for crooks on the look out for drunken holiday makers!!

TIVOLI WORLD

Situated as you drive out of Arroya, going towards Benalmadena Pueblo, is Tivoli World on the right hand side, a rather compact amusement park. There is a large car park here, so no need to worry about parking, should you have a car It is open at different times throughout the year, so check the times you will be visiting.

The park is designed for families of all ages including adults. Entry to the park is just 6 or 7 Euros and this covers access to the beautiful gardens, numerous bars and restaurants and free shows. If you want to take the rides, add another 10 Euros on to this, and this covers you for the majority of rides.

Inside Tivoli, 'Andalucia Square' is where you can enjoy Spanish singing and dancing, 'The Western Square', for Country music, and there is a large (seating 3000) theatre where they put on shows.

This is all great family fun, and a fun theme park, which is great if you have young children, but the exciting thing for me here, was the chairlift! You can get on a chairlift that takes you up the mountain and the views allow you to see right along the coast line of Costa del Sol! Quite nerve wracking too though, but well worth doing!

BULLRING

Carry on further up the road from Tivoli World heading for the Pueblo, (all these attractions are all situated on the main road) and just before you reach this village, on the right, is the bullring.

Through the summer the bullfights are held every Sunday at 5pm. Now if you are into this then, the cost is 40-80 euros if you sit out in the sun, but a shaded area will cost you 60-100 Euros (but wait till the last 15 minutes, and they open the doors and you can walk in free!)

Even though I had lived in Spain, I had never been to a Bullfight, and ventured in there for the last 15 minutes, only because it was free, and to justify my past rantings about bull fighting, as some Spanish people had asked me had I ever even been to one, and if not, stop spouting of about this blood sport until you have seen it!!

So here I was witnessing the most upsetting scene I had ever seen in Spain. I am not going to go into details, but my years of going on about this sport proved me right all along! Even the horses, as elegant and as well trained as they are, getting quite a few beatings from the bull (even though they are wearing armour coats)! It is the bull, though that’s the loser in all of this!

If you sit outside this bullring there is a nice friendly bar who barbeque meats, and is not expensive, but don’t go on a Sunday if you don’t want to see the butchers come out with blood splattered all over them, having just chopped up the bull that had just been murdered!
On the nicer side, if you do go on a Sunday, you can witness the Matadors and Senoritas, in full traditional outfits, trotting up to the Bullring on their beautiful horses!

BENALMADENA PUEBLO

3 minutes walk from the Bullring, you reach the Pueblo.
This is the most beautiful little village, with lots of cafes and bars and hooray!…. a lot of them Spanish, though again there are quite a few English places too. Considering this Pueblo is only about 20 minutes on the bus from the main town of Benalmadena, it has kept its Spanish feel, and the locals are amazing!

Many nice Spanish Restaurants are here, as well as a few nice British ones too, I must admit (also some not so nice ones too)! As you go into the village, you will reach shops on the left hand side, but carry on until your reach the shops on the right hand side, and you will be met with lots of chairs and tables set out outside the Spanish bars. You can get anything to eat and drink here, and there is even a little supermarket for any provisions you would need.

If you make your way up to the Village Square, through the narrow colourful streets, you arrive at the Square, with about 4 restaurants on one side of it, (all good value meals served in these) and a few shops the other side. This Square is where they put on live Flamenco dancers and singers during the Festivals.

Carry on up to the Village Church, (dare I say this, but this is where Alec and Bet got married in Coronation Street!) and you will catch your breath at the view you have from up here! The Church sis high up and I don’t think you can beat this point for taking such amazing pictures of the shoreline! You can literally walk round the outside of the church and look at every angle of the coast! Amazing!

If you eat in the Spanish bars here, you can get omelette, ships and Salad for round about 4 or 5 euros, so good for lunch time, and at night time, a bit more expensive if you want to eat in a few of the more ‘up market’ restaurants’ e.g. a ‘leg of lamb ‘meal may cost you about 18 -20 Euros.

Even further up through this village, is the Mosque. I believe it is the largest in Spain……and if you walk up to this you can see how beautiful it is! This is another location where you get terrific views right along the coastline towards Fuengirola and beyond. This Mosque can actually be seen from the coast, sitting high up on the hills in all its glory!

The Pueblo has managed to keep its true Spanish charm, considering it is fairly near to the coast. Buses run every half hour from the main resort, and costs approximately 1.50 Eros, so no excuse not to visit this charming village!

FUENGIROLA

This is personally my least favourite resort out of all the Costa del Sol, as I feel it is dated, a bit dismal, and far too many tacky British bars etc. but again, there are a couple of nice Chiringuitos on its beach, so its not all bad! I do realise that the regular visitor (or resident) will be fuming right now, but in my eyes it is a jungle of high rise, sometimes old buildings, and generally just worn out!

Fuengirola is situatated right next door to Benalmadena. Its beaches, Los Boliches, Gaviotas and Torreblanca spreads over five miles of the Costa del Sol.
They have recently laid a new promenade, and they are trying desperately to lift this area up. The beach is nice, as is all the beaches on the Costa del Sol, and as usual they have the rows of sunbeds etc, but on the other side of this promenade, the are hundreds of the usual British bars, and apartment blocks that look like they have seen better days!

There is also a marina, which it cannot compete with the more lavish ones in Puerto Banus and Benalmadena, but is still quite a nice place to wander and see the smaller cruisers and fishing boats.

Walk to the South end of town and you can see a little of its history. Sohail Castle (constructed in the 12th century by the Romans) It has been renovated and some cultural events are put on here now including the Festival Ciudad de Fuengirola.

The renowned "Fish Alley", is situated behind the Hotel el Puerto, is where you will find some of the best restaurants in town, if you like seafood, you have come to the right place here! We have eaten here a few times and never been let down yet!

One place that is exciting (well for me it is) is the market, held at the fair ground in Fuengirola on Tuesday mornings. This is the largest market along the Costa del Sol and it sells everything from fruit and veg to clothing and household wares.
The market gets really crowded, so again beware, as when we were there, some gypsies were keeping me occupied trying to sell me their wares, while another tried to get into my bag! Good job my partner noticed and sent this thief on his way. I wasn’t even aware he had even managed to unzip my bag, so I could have easily ended up with me having to phone credit card companies etc, reporting my purse and cards gone! No point in going to the police, as they do nothing, as theft is rife here, right along the coastline.
There is also a boot sale on Saturdays held at the same place where you can buy lots of other peoples cast offs! There is also a smaller market at the marina on Sun.

Parque Acuatico is another water park and is about twenty minutes walk from the centre.
It is open from the end of April to the end of October. The park contains a kamikaze and raft slide, wave pool, water chutes, adventure river and a smaller park for the children. This is another place which attracts lots of families with children, so not a restful day out, but good fun! I went here with my daughters and quite surprised that actually enjoyed it!

Fuengirola also boasts a Zoo, but cannot comment on this as I have never visited it and I don’t know if it is the heat and whatever creatures are in there, that puts me off, but I can only imagine the smells that might come from it, so no, not a place for me to ever visit, unless someone tells me I am wrong!

Hipodromo is Spain’s newest racecourse! It has 10,000 seats within it , and is opened all year round apart from perhaps a month over Christmas and New Year time. The course provides day and night racing depending
on the time of year. I cannot say I am a racing enthusiast therefore I have just visited this place only because I was happen to be up there looking at land, (again for developement) but if you go up behind this racecourse you can look right over the course.

Next to it there is the equestrian centre which we drove into my mistake, but looks interesting enough though couldn’t see much as the main buildings were bolted up and obviously closed for the season!

NIGHT LIFE

If you move up from the beach area into the many precincts, you can catch a piece of everything in Fuengirola! There are hundreds of bars, including Karaoke bars etc……. Lots of good eating places too. It is a hive of activity through the summer, and again it attracts a lot of younger people to its nightclubs and bars. A lot of the partying starts around the beach area and marina, and spreads across the whole town! For the ardent football fan, Linekar's Bar is reckoned to be the largest bar in Fuengirola and attracts a mixed crowd from families to the young at heart. Drinks are cheap, music is very loud and the atmosphere is good, though probably a bit too 'British' for me! This is situated near the port and at weekends there is a DJ or live music playing.This bar is big and boasts live football on 10 screens!
I would honestly say Fuengirola is bordering on manic
through the night and nothing appears to stop till the morning!

MARBELLA

Now, after the previous places mentioned, Marbella is the next largest resort along the Coast. Marbella was once thougt to be the rich mans Costa, and even today you can find quite a few drivers of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Aston Martins cruising around this area unashamedly.

This is the most expensive resort along the coast and has been a haven for a number of years for the rich and famous, and now attracts ‘celebrity spotters’ from the neighbouring resorts. Nowadays though, even the humble holidaymakers can come here and enjoy the Marbella beaches running along ‘The Golden Mile’ right up to Puerto Banus.

The beach is lovely along this part of the Costa del Sol, and as like the other resorts you have your sun beds and canopies all along the beach, but this is where the shock factor comes in…..you will pay more than double for your sunbed, and as I was driving, I had parked in the car in an underground car park for the day, and this cost me a whopping 52 Euros for the day! One lesson was seriously learnt by me after that!

Most of the bars etc along here take advantage of the lazy tourist, and provide waiter service to your sunbed. Again we were shocked by being charged 6 Euros for the smallest bottle of water!! The next time we needed refreshments, I was not going to be ripped off again, so wandered off to a small shop and got the bigger 2 litre bottle for the same price.

This place is for posers (especially the Puerto Banus end) and you can spend a fortune here just sun bathing! You may spot the odd celebrity here, but you pay the price in sun beds and waiter services for the honour!

We felt peckish round about 2pm and decided to stroll away to find a relatively cheaper place to eat, and all we could come up with was a restaurant in the old part, and all we had was a small Chicken salad with a small bottle of water, and this came to 35 Euros each!
The main centre of Marbella things are a little, and I repeat ‘little’ less expensive, but even so, the difference from the other resorts are apparent!

In contrast to its image, Marbella (the ‘old’ town) has got some lovely buildings and the Orange Square is a nice place to relax and count what's left of your Euros after this over indulgence! The Orange square is a far cry from the modern beach fronts, and you can actually marvel at the beautiful old Town Hall dating back to 1568, the church of St Mary which has been renovated but was originally built in 1618. The Governors House dates around 1552. The actual Square itself is dated back to 1485. It’s hardly credible that this Square is set right in the middle of a rich mans playground!

We decided to find the little side streets, and well, what a relief! Yes, you can still see a little bit of the tapas bars, shops etc that you can find in a lot of the resorts (if you look hard enough)! So Marbella has got a lot to offer and a lot of rich people running around in their super expensive cars!

PUERTO BANUS

Although Puerto Banus is really part of the Marbella scene, it deserves a mention in itself! Puerto Banus is well know for the marina and is outstanding, although, much to it’s disgust, Benalmadena Marina has won the award for best marina for 7 years insuccession!

Here is where you really see how the rich live! You can see Ferraris, Astin Martins etc lined up against the quayside, and I am sure some of the drivers of the cars just drive round in circles, just to be seen!
The yachts in the marina are out of this world and some bigger than your average house!
I hate to admit it but you stand in awe of this almost obscene display of riches!

We strolled along this quayside and noticed how many tourists were actually taking photographs beside these huge smart cars and yachts. I don’t know if it was envy I was feeling or nauseous!

As you walk around this display of wealth, there are bars and eating places lined along the quayside, but you only need to look inside most of the doors to see it will invite you only if you park your Ferrari outside the restaurant and be seen walking in there! Needless to say, we passed by on these 'I want to be seen' establishments!

SUMMARY

The Costa del Sol is great if you want a lively holiday!

My review is based on me living there at the time (well, further up the mountains), so I can’t comment on hotels etc, and the restaurants and bars I have frequented are too many to mention, but there is such an amount of them, no one will be lost in trying some good eating places as there are hundreds of them along the Coast.

All these resorts are all connected by the notorious N340. This can be the road to hell, if not careful and avoid it on a Sunday when many Spanish families use it to visit relatives etc...! Also, remember this coast is also nicknamed 'Costa del Crime' and it lives up to its name often!
Another thing is, when driving along this coastline, you can't ignore the amount of cranes everywhere, all building more hotels, and apartments! Now they are in danger of 'over building'!!!

I personally love Spain, but I am not too enthralled with the resorts. The good thing about the Costa del Sol, is it is a fun place to be, but also nearby are some stunning places to visit, and only perhaps less than an hours drive away.

I love the Costa del Sol for giving me somewhere to have fun on a daily excursion, and it is fun,fun,fun, and some great places to eat and drink but for a 2 week vacation? Not sure if it is really me!

It will always attract many Brits to its beaches, but you are not really seeing the 'real' Spain here!

Summary: Whatever takes your fancy!