Exploring Andalusia

Holiday Ratings
Recommended days	7
Budget	£
Difficulty	Easy

Why Andalusia

Exploring Andalusia is a fantastic way to discover this diverse region of Spain. Andalusia is a scenic and historically rich area with sunshine and beaches too that is superb for travel photography and sightseeing.

We have visited this region many times and it has a fantastic range of sights and activities to visit. We usually stay at Marriott’s Playa Andaluza resort as it is in a good location for exploring Andalusia.

A (very brief) history

The region was colonised by Carthage and then Rome and supplied Rome with several Emperors. After the Roman collapse it was conquered by the Visigoths before they in turn fell before the Moors.

The kingdom the Moors founded lasted from 711 until 1492 and gave us UNESCO monuments in Seville, Cordoba, Granada including the world famous Alhambra. For several hundred years Cordoba was the largest city in Europe, easily overshadowing London and Paris.

The Reconquista, completed in 1492, returned the area to Spanish control and then the wealth from the New World was lavished on, amongst other things, architecture and gardens for the rich in the cities.

Our Holiday

This was very different from our normal holidays as I was very ill with a chest infection so couldn’t do much at all. Deb had to drive because I was so unwell! We took Jenny and her boyfriend with us and they did their own thing some days and came with us on others.

Estepona

We met with Mum and Steve and spent a couple of hours in Estepona on Friday, a lovely town once you go past the tourist facade. It was very pleasant to sit in a square just behind the sea front and enjoy the warmth and orange trees.

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Laguna de Fuente de Piedra

On Sunday we headed to Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, which has up to 25,000 migrating flamingos at this time of year. Sadly we didn’t realise that ‘up to’ in this case meant 2. Oh dear. It was a pleasant drive though and the viewing areas were all close to car parks so I didn’t have to walk too far.

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Marbella

Monday was a definite lazy day. After yesterdays exertion we just had an invalids excursion to Marbella. Jennie and Joe went to the market whilst Debbie and I looked around the old town and had lunch in the Orange Square again, yawn.

It’s another pretty old town with the standard promenade along the beach, lined with cafes/restaurants and then behind that is the older city. There are also some pleasantly shaded parks to walk or sit in.

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Ronda

Today we had a longer trip out to Ronda. Poor old Debbie had to drive up the mountain road and the conditions were not ideal either going there or coming back. It was a lot colder than the coast and also wet although we escaped the worst of it whilst in the town.

Ronda is lovely and this time we visited the Palacio del Rey Moro which had a spectacular Moorish mine that descended from the palace gardens to the waters edge. We did indulge in our first cake this visit too – bloody lush. Back at the apartment I succumbed to a very welcome snooze.

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Puerto Banus

Wednesday we had a quick trip to Puerto Banus, quick because it was a disgustingly pretentious noveau riche place and I didn’t even bother to take a picture of the amazing cars and boats as the plastic people were nauseating. Not that I’m judging!

Malaga Alcazaba

On Thursday we were intending to go to Seville but Deb didn’t fancy the 6 hour round trip so we went to Malaga instead. We visited the Alcazaba and the Gibralfaro. The Alcazaba was beautiful, a small Moorish fortified palace in lovely gardens. Built in the twelfth century it is the most complete and original Moorish fortress in Spain.

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Malaga Gibralfaro

Being a masochist I then decided to make the climb to the castle on the hill overlooking the palace. Deb wisely stayed in the park but once I’d got to the top the place was pretty impressive. A huge fortress with an excellent display inside and lovely views. Also at the top was a car park!

The Gibralfaro was started in the 10th century and later joined by a row of double walls to the Alcazaba, further down the hill. The castle was finally conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella after a long siege and then updated to allow for gunpowder weapons. It offers spectacular views and dominates the city.

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Conclusion

A relatively quiet holiday due to illness but it gave us a chance to do some exploring in Andalusia again, revisiting some places and seeing others for the first time. We still haven’t run out of things to do and see in this gorgeous region.