anyone been to Nerja??

[thisisyesterday]

have just booked us a week there at the end of March.
just wondering if anyone else has been and if there is any advice you can give us
how to get there from airport?
good things to do?
where to eat?

Nerja is a lovely town - we went there twice.
we hired a car so it was easy to get from the airport.
Where are you staying?
Loads of restaurants - the ones down on the beach were lovely and the sardines and paella were delicious!

Try to drive up into the mountains if you get chance - lovely little white villages with fab restaurants for lunches.

The absolute best thing was that we got to the Alhambra. But if you can't make it there, the castle in Malaga itself is worth a look. If that's your kind of thing.

We've been to Nerja loads of times but not for a few years. We used to get the airport bus right outside the airport to Malaga bus station then the bus to Nerja. Used to take a couple of hours but a lot, lot cheaper than having a taxi. Lots of small beaches, with course sand. Go to the Burriana beach and have paella at the last beach bar before you go onto the sand. Very busy with Spanish on the weekend. Where abouts are you staying.....we used to have a friends apartment at least twice a year so got to know lots of people there......lots of English live there but it's a lovely small Spanish town.

we are staying in an apartment near torrecilla (sp?) beach, so on the western outskirts almost.

is it worth hiring a car? was thinking about that already but wasn't sure if we'd end up just staying mostly in nerja and not using it. It'd def be easier travelling to and from airport with one though I think.

we are def into castles, so will put Alhambra and malaga on the list.

are the people there ok with shy foreigners who can't speak spanish???? I only ask because in Barcelona we had a few times in cafes and stuff with really snooty assistants who seemed to pretend they had no idea what we were saying, even though we were trying our hardest with our phrase book lol it kind of put me off a bit

oooh and enlighten me, as have read conflicting things.

nerHa? nerKa? nerGHa???

Nerka

Went back in 2004. Have very important strong feelings for the place as after 1.5 years of trying, we conceived our first baby there. We rented a little villa about 10 minutes from Nerja in the mountains. It's wonderful there. Nerja was very welcoming, great to wander around and the paella was delish!

We came across a impromtu small carnival procession of horses, going through the streets, with musicians playing and everyone dressed up.

Sigh...

A car might be handy, although there is a good bus service and its easy to get to Malaga and beyond. Never had a problem with Spanish as most spoke English. If it's warm enough to sit around on the beach do keep an eye on bags etc. as there has been a problem with theft. There is a cliff path, nice walk by the sea, the beach dips a bit into the sea.

Did you try to speak Castellano in Barca? They'd rather speak English.

Nerja ok, touristy. Haven't been for years but you'd get by without spanish I think.

definitely hire a car. the SMALLEST car you can. Those streets and side streets in Granada are tiny tiny tiny. I think I made a few enemigos parking an espace in a side street walking distance from the alhambra.

Sorry, they speak Catalan in Barcelona, which is fairly similar to Castellano but they would just rather speak to a foreigner in English than in Spanish.

They consider it like a Danish person walking up to you and speaking French to communicate. Of course it's NOT the same, because they DO all speak and understand Castellano perfectly.

we had a little phrase thing that was printed on a leaflet we got from tourist info in Barcelona. no idea what dialect it was though!

hopefully we will fare better this time though lol. I like to make an effort you know, not just assume people can speak English, but some of the responses we got were a bit but never mind.

i will look into cars I think, see how expensive it works out. if it's too much we'll get by with public transport I think

Go to the caves, they are amazing!

am going to a village in the mountains near there in august, staying at my Aunties apartment so ive been finding out about the area. My nearlly 3 yr old DD is telling everyone we are going to spain (strangers in street included) on holiday and its ages away yet! found agood website about the area, hope you find it useful.

[(www.absoluteaxarquia.com)]

If you have car, head up to Frigliana - about 8km inland in the mountains, nice change from the beach - V Pretty white town, sort of place that probably wins Spain in Bloom or equivalent! Mountain views are stunning plus, it has 2 really good, well used parks, that the whole town head to in the evening so really good for the kids.
There are a few beaches in nerja, some a lot nicer than others - our favourite is a small one that you can only access from a side road that winds down off the Balcon Europa - if you are walking towards the sea the unmarked road is on the right next to the big 4/5 star restaurant. Worth looking for as the beach is great for kids - has big rocks that they can play on, you can grab some shade (if it is hot enough)etc.
If you are planning to go to the Alhambra palace (which is wonderful) I would advise booking ASAP - probably beofre you go to Nerja. Last time we went we tried to book at the local Turismo on the first day of our 3 week hols and the tickets had already sold out :-(
Caves are fabulous - a must see.
Have fun