Nerja Grenada Seville

[Redtartanshoes]

Have booked flights into Malaga for a week. Was originally thinking of doing a week in Nerja but now thinking possibly combining 2 places.

Has anyone been to any of the above? Looking for wine tapas beach and wandering

My parents went to Nerja a few years ago

The found it so mind numbingly dull they paid out of their own pocket to bin it off and come home early. They said it was full of Brits living the stereotypical British expat life, along with people who holiday there year in, year out, same thing every time, all moaning about the UK climate/life/immigrants/etc (oh the irony!) and eating fryups.

(Some people like that kind of familiar routine, which is 100% their choice. But if you don't, I wouldn't recommend it)

I know Nerja well, it's entirely a resort, safe and heaving with British/Scandi/German tourists plus loads of expats. Definitely a comfortable wine, tapas and beach holiday but nowhere interesting to wander. Worth visiting Frigliana which is a pretty White Village a very short bus trip inland. Granada however is wonderful, you could wander for days, also visit the amazing Alhambra. Don't go to Seville in July/August - it's oppressively hot!

I absolutely adore Nerja. I didn't find it dull and have been around 7 times. Yes there are expats there but nothing like Costa Blanca or Marbella area.
What I like about it is the old buildings, the beaches, the food. There are no chains such as McDonald's or Costa. No high rise. Also its very much a working Spanish town. Up the mountain is a village Frigliana which is typical Andalucian whitewash houses cobbled streets, views.
However I'm not a Brit abroad must have English food and a sports bar type so maybe thats why your parents didn t enjoy it if they are like that shots? I'm not saying they are of course but you couldn't get a less touristy tourist destination!

@donajimena However I'm not a Brit abroad must have English food and a sports bar type so maybe thats why your parents didn t enjoy it if they are like that shots?

Good god no - not at all! That "little England" is exactly what they hated/found dull about it and why I said they came home early? (sorry if that wasn't clear in my pp)

Nerja is indeed full of Brits, but not quite as bad as Torremolinos or Fuengirola! If you're thinking of a two-centre holiday it would certainly be lovely to combine the beach with at least one of the beautiful Andalucian cities. Agree about Granada - the Alhambra is really stunning (book in advance!), and Cordoba is so beautiful too, the Mezquita there is wonderful and so are the gardens of the Alcazar and the Juderia district.

Would 3 nights in Nerja 2 in Seville and 2 in Granada be too much hassle?

I don’t mind the heat... usually do turkey in July

There are actual Spanish towns close to Nerja - Salobreña, Almuñecar, la Herradura - you could look at those?

When we go to that area we stay in Orgiva, which is roughly midway between the coast & Granada (but takes ages getting to & from on mountain roads). We have days out from there to Nerja (I quite like it! ) & the other places I mentioned.

Granada is a short distance, so easily visited from the coast. Seville is further so you would be better doing a 2-centre stay for there. Consider Cordoba too.

Spanish motorways are excellent so getting about is a doddle. Watch the speed limits in the tunnels though (I got fined )

It’s only just over an hour from Nerja to Granada, so you could easily stay 3-4 nights in Nerja & just drive to Granada, then have the other nights in Seville (or Cordoba, which is closer)

Moving between 3 centres in one week sounds like a lot of hassle to me (but I am lazy & don’t like heat!)

We stayed in Malaga for 8 days, and did 1 day Nerja, 1 seville( needed lots more time)1 Granada ( wonderful), 1 Cordoba, 1 Ronda and then some time along the coast and some inland towns. It was really full on, but wonderful. This was Feb time so quiet, prob wouldnt be possible in high season. Don't miss the Alhambra whatever you do

Or you could stay in Granada & have day trips to Nerja instead. There are loads of nice central Airbnbs in Granada

Book your Alhambra tickets ASAP once you’ve got your dates sorted.

Personally I found Nerja a bit boring, also it's a bit out of the way

Seville absolutely brilliant!
Had a night there one year en route to another destination and the following year we spent a week there-really fab city-
lots of buzz, shops, restaurants, great people watching and gorgeous places to visit-
loved it.
Would go back again!

I am fancying Seville soon too - I have been to Granda and it was wonderful, not boring at all so perhaps forget the N place.

I have done it this way....

Stayed in Malaga city for four days. It is an amazing place, all gentrified and done up to the nines now, great beach, fabulous shopping and the best tapas outside of Seville! Bus from airport to the city costs around a euro. Forget Nerja, Malaga is a great spot!

Took the high speed train from Malaga to Cordoba for the day.
Took the bus to Granada from Malaga for the day.
Two days shopping, eating, and moseying around the port/beach area.

Then took the bus from Malaga to Seville for three days, and flew home from there.

You will be tired and hot, but it is worth it!

Argh

This is even more confusing now!!! I want to go to all 3!

Hiring a car, don’t fancy the idea of day trips as minimises wine drinking potential

Thank you so much for replies. Lots of food for thought

don’t fancy the idea of day trips as minimises wine drinking potential

with you there

BUT as long as you're staying only an hour or so away from the daytrip destination, you can return, at the end of the nice day out, to where you're staying, & then walk to a restaurant (& there'll be more of those in the cities) - it's what we always do!

And you can have lunch with a couple of beers at your daytrip place! (Or freshly-squeezed orange juice, which you can get pretty much everywhere, & is always my favourite lunchtime drink)

Love Seville, love Granada, really quite like Nerja (I like a couple of days beach at the end of my holidays). Sorry, I’m no use but you’ll have a great time! Might be a bit too much to do all 3, I did but flew into Seville and out of Malaga. Agree that Malaga is also nice.

Nerja is beautiful, and we hired a car when we stayed. The entire area is amazing, and we found some lovely little villages around and secluded coves. We stayed for 14 days and never got bored with the area. Frigliana is picture postcard perfect, and we stayed in a villa close by so we had the best of both worlds. I didn't find it too "british" at all, in fact it was charming and our DCs got taught lots of spanish by the locals.

Wished I’d booked 3 weeks now

Just to throw a spanner in the works - visit Cádiz, it’s lovely.

We want to go to Cádiz too, agedknees

Would combine well with Seville...

We stayed in (well, near) Granada for a week and did loads of day trips with a hire car at Easter. Nerja was perfect with a three year old in early season but I would guess might be a different beast in summer. We particularly enjoyed Antequera and combined that with the Laguna Fuente de Piedra - huge flocks of flamingoes, although I don't think they're there year round.

I'll just throw Ronda into the mix too. We did a nerja, Granada, Ronda and back to Malaga road trip and it worked really well.

Have booked Nerja and Granada. Seville will be done later in the year for a long weekend once it’s cooled a wee bit.

Off in 4 weeks. Can’t wait!