Travelling to south of Spain - Do you have any recommendations?

Question

Hello -

I am traveling to Andalusia province this August and would appreciate ideas of where to go and good places to stay. I am traveling on my own and traveling light. I don't need anything fancy, but access to a shower and a place to get good local food would be good :-)

I am currently planning on spending a couple of days in Malaga, then going up to Granada for a week. The plan was then to go to Nerja for 6 nights, then 3 more nights in Malaga, but instead I think I would like to go to the mountains and stay a coupe of nights at a few other places along the A348.

Your suggestions will be most welcome :-)

hugs
san

Answer 1

I think the best recommendation I can give you is to book your accommodation as early as possible because this is the Spanish holiday month, and as you are going to be in Malaga in August then you simply must see the Malaga feria which this year is from 11th to 19th
Below are a few sites about the feria and various attractions
There is a tourist bus that takes you round Malaga city, a bit expensive but I think it is worth it b/c you see many of the sites that would normally take hours to get round
http://www.feria-de-malaga.es/
http://travelguides.lastminute.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=54232
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187438-Activities-Malaga_Costa_del_Sol_Andalusia.html
Unless you have friends in Nerja or particularly want to see the caves (which are fantastic) I would personally give it a miss
Here though are some beautiful pictures of the caves
http://www.pbase.com/abwhitt/nerja_caves
You could see the caves and Frigliana on a day trip from Malaga
This is the link to Malaga bus station, which gives timetables and I think prices
http://www.estabus.emtsam.es/
There is also the train station which will take you as far as Fuengirola.
This is a map of the stations along the coast
http://www.ac.uma.es/mapas/trenE.html
This is the timetable and prices
http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html
Benalmadena is a good area to stay in, it has an absolutely beautiful marina with lots of open air bars, shops, restaurants and nightclubs and Tivoli World which is a theme park that has open air concerts with international artists, including Spanish Flamenco shows and ballet. There is a cable car that takes you up to the highest point from which you can see all of the coastline. There is also a falconry display and a display of Spanish horsemanship.
From Malaga or Benalmadena its so easy to get to all the coastal resorts (check out Puerta Banus) Where the rich and famous moor their boats
As for going to the mountains I would suggest Rio Gordo, a small village and very Spanish but the real beauty of it is the journey to it. The sceenery is absolutely breath taking.
Or Ronda, very touristy and for the obvious reason that it is beautiful and full of history but can be expensive.
Below is a list of inexpensive places to stay. Just choose your area
http://www.hostelsite.com/e

http://en.infohostal.com/guide/malaga/31

http://www.cheaperthanhotels.com
If you need any more information just email me as there is so much more than I can write at the moment.
Anna

Answer 2

I recomend Estepona or Marbella you could also stay in Benavis which is out in the mountains and it has lovely hotels and resturants, i live in estepona so i tend to go there alot