Somewhere quiet and pretty but near the coast - mainland Spain.

[SteadyEddie]

We like Vendee in France, is there anything similar in Spain? Away from the touristy bits with nice sandy beaches and lovely food.

Nerja, Calahonda, Torrox , Almuñecar all on the costa tropical. Platja de pals on the Costa Brava also lovely.

I agree that there are some lovely spots on the Costa Brave, when you steer clear of the holiday gulags, Llafranc is lovely, amongst others.

We are off to Galicia this year (we did the Vendee last year). It is green and cooler than the south. Lovely Atlantic beaches, fab seafood and pretty villages. Fly into Santiago or ferry to Bilbao.

Look at Casas Cantabricas for accommodation ideas.

We can't wait!

Beehatch, I agree, Galicia is lovely, reminded me of parts of the west of Ireland, Austurias, too, is very lovely, what with the beaches and the Picos but bliimey, the sea was chillly.

Fly into Murcia and travel down the coast towards Cartagena. Or north but avoiding torrevieja/ alicante/ benidorm.

Agree with turf fairy.

My parents live near Mazarron which is slightly further south than Cartagena. Lovely unspoilt and uncrowded beaches and quiet resorts favoured by the Spanish. Cartagena is lovely especially the many Roman remains. Love the whole area.

Nerja is gorgeous! Right on the coast, great choice of beaches. Very family friendly and unspoilt even though it's so popular. We go there a lot and love it.

Galicia - lots of little places such as coruna etc

We are keen to find something similar to club med but with an English speaking kids club. Can anyone help?

We loved the Costa de la Luz (the bit between Gibraltar and the Portuguese border). Its really wild and unspoilt with gorgeous sandy beaches and restaurants serving freshly caught fish on the beach. We stayed in Conil de la Frontera, but there are lots of really unspoilt little beach towns.

L'escala, Sant Marti d'empuries 1km away is gorgeous and has Roman and Greek ruins to wander around. The village itself is tiny, about 5 streets and a square but right on the coast with a great beach. There are 5 restaurants on the square and they can get busy but we've never had a problem getting a table