Nice places to holiday in Spain please!

[stepmum86]

me and partner are late 30s, looking for a summer holiday. It will be our first together and he hasn’t been abroad since 1999!

my criteria is preferably Spain and…
a nice beach
bars and restaurants
busy as I like atmosphere and people watching, especially on the nights

I went to Majorca some years ago and it was dead on the nights! Cant remember the area now.

any ideas? Thank you

ps there wont be children with us

San Sebastian?

San Sebastian
Nerja

No beach but stunning is Granada. Small enough to walk around with really diverse culture. If you like walking the hills are just out of town €15 in an Uber.

Barcelona

Thanks Nerja looks nice

Almeria is stunning. Absolutely lots to do and lively. Very popular with the Spanish. Likewise Alicante.

Malaga. A buzzy (small) city close to beaches.

Costa del Sol (Malaga / Marbella / Torremolinos) could be perfect for you - good mix of beach and nightlife, and it’s definitely not boring in peak summer. Malaga old town at night is great for just wandering and bars.

Conil de la Frontera

Sitges is lovely! We’ve been 3 times although not for some time. It’s not far from Barcelona. Full of atmosphere at night, nice beach, history and culture.

Nerja is not far from Malaga. I’d go to Malaga itself, lots of history, nightlife atmosphere, restaurants and a beach.
Day trips to Nerja and other towns are easy on the air conditioned busses or the train.

Malaga with trips out sounds like a good idea. We've been to the area many times and been all over the place by bus and train - too many to list. But Estepona about an hour west of Malaga is another picturesque Spanish town that's nice to stay in.

If you go, see if you can go on a trip to El Caminito del Rey - a walk along a platform in a gorge.

But it is very very hot in summer, in case that's an issue? Although this can be mitigated by behaving like a Spaniard. If you want to go out for a wander, go in the morning. Then lunch and a siesta before going out for dinner/drinks from 9/10 pm, often nothing really gets going before then so if somewhere feels to quiet, it could be because you went out too early - we were recently in a village between Malaga and Granada and went out for dinner at 8 pm. We were the only people in the restaurant. At about 9 pm, a family with a baby and a group of Spanish pensioners arrived. Just before we left at 10 pm, several families with primary age DC came in, at which point the restaurant was just about full with people just starting to eat.

I’d probably look at Málaga first. It has city beaches right by the centre and a big old town full of restaurants and bars, so it feels lively in the evenings rather than resort quiet. Alicante is another good shout if you want beach and busy nights, and Sitges too if you like somewhere a bit smaller but still sociable. When I’m comparing places, I usually look at the official tourism pages first and then other blogs just to get a feel for the area and transport side of it. These are the ones I mostly found useful for Málaga and Alicante. I Hope you find somewhere lovely for your first trip together xx

I found Nerja a bit boring personally.
I did like san Sebastian a lot.
Barcelona
Malaga
Also Lisbon has nice beaches near

Javier is beautiful. Long beach, with promonade and loads of bars restaurants along it.

Cambrils
Sitges

I'd do a split stay between Nerja and Malaga

Another vote for Estepona. Gorgeous spot.

another vote for Sitges! Small but lively and fun, and near Barcelona if you fancy a trip

Nerja for sure

Won't it be blisteringly hot in the summer? I think Spring or autumn would be a better time to go.

Estepona

Depends on where in Spain, it is a large country.

Cordoba in August last year was 48 degrees and we were not able to go outside in the middle of the day. Great for a siesta though and a much later evening. But Cordoba is inland Andalusia and the hottest part of the country. The coast (Malaga and Cadiz) were cooler.

Catalunya (Barcelona area) is always cooler. We spent long summers there, outside all day, swimming, playing in the garden. Sitges similar, with some cloud cover sometimes.

San Sebastian doesn’t usually reach such high temperatures either. In fact I decided against San Sebastián last year, wanting the long days of clear blue, sunny sky that Andalusia offers.