Nerja

[izzysmum]

Hi

Anybody been to Nerja, we are going in a weeks times. Can you recommend some good restaurants, days out etc.

Thanks in advance

Katy

i have spent time living in Nerja but it's over 5 years ago-my mil and fil went last year and they said it has changed immensely-it has grown and is not the small pueblo that we remembered, although i'm sure all the good restaurants will still be there.
Days out- the caves of nerja are well worth a visit(they are situated on the road out towards Granada)which is the Capistrano end of town, you could actually walk to them when i was there and it was lovely.
Burriana beach is the main beach down the Capistrano end(it's down a steep hill but again you could walk across the headland to the centre of nerja) and it has a fabulous restaurant on the beach front-good for both fish and meat-sorry i can't remember the name of it but i'm sure it was next to the toilets!!!if you stand with the sea to the back of you it's on the right.
Plaza tutti frutti there was a good italian..when are you going? i'll try and find out the names from a friend who lives near Nerja.
Balcon de Europa -fab ice creams and a good mexican as well as stunning views..
go into the local tourist info....there are loads of nice quiet or (quieter) beaches and also an english bookshop and the staff have a wealth of knowledge...enjoy yourself i loved it there

We stayed near Nerja about 6 years ago (pre ds and dd), so can't remember restaurants, but would agree about the caves. We went to a pretty village in the hills called Frigiliana (sp?). We also went to Granada, which is a fair journey, but we thought well worthwhile. As we had a hire car, we went further south to Malaga, Marbella and as far as Gibraltar. Not sure how easy it woud be to do the longer trips with children though.

Just thought - we went for a fortnight, so had more time to travel out and about.

We went to Nerja for a month the other Christmas. To be honest if you have a toddler there isn't a lot locally to do. There is a swing park but its all on concrete. Benalmadena has a small amusement park (a small Alton Towers type but with no scary rides). Can't remember the name but we saw the Teletubbies there (Teletubbies in Spanish thats an experience). Its about an hour down the road. Torremolinos is just over an hour down the road. Gibraltar was about two hours drive (remember your money as you have to go through tolls). To be honest the best thing about Gib was the fact you can buy bacardi and vodka litre bottles for a fiver. It also takes forever to get out of the dump. Granada was about an hour and a half through some stunning mountain scenery. The Spanish seem to have a problem with road signs, you can quite happily be following them then there isn't any anymore they just vanish. They are also in the habit of sending you the wrong way. In the old town Nerja there are loads of restaurants as well as a few run by english people.

on the way out from malaga there are a few places along the old N340, if i remember correctly the one next to nerja is Torrox costa and that has a market and some nice "spanishy/german ish" restaurants....Tivoli world is the theme park it's in Arroyo de la miel which is right near Benalmadena.The train service between Malaga-Torremolinos-Arroyo de la miel-Fuengirola is really cheap and reliable.In nerja there also used to be a "wolly trolly" one of the land trains that take you around the resort.

We have just come back from 2 weeks in Torrmolinos/Marbella - not quite sure where Nerja fits in but from our limited experience (first hol in Spain):

The beaches just east of Torremolinos are lovely and quiet (at the moment) and there are fishy restaurants every few yards. We were pointed to an exit off a roundabout off a highway near Torremolinos that just said "playa" but I can't tell you which highway! (Next to a shopping centre that included McD's and Burger King though.)

if you go to Gib, park your car in La Linea as near as poss to Gib airport and then get a nice double decker (some are open-topped) across the airport into the centre (don't try to take your car in, the queues are appalling). The cable-cars up to the top of the Rock are better value than the "Tours" (but they stop them running if winds are strong).

Avoid the "highway of death" (N340?) wherever poss and use the toll road instead. (Tolls from Marbella to Gib about 6 euros each way.) (Marbella to Malaga just over 5.)

The zoo at Fuengirola is small but lovely, every hour they do a tour of the lemur enclosure and you get a few inches away from them. Magic. Also we read that there is a huge local market at Fuengirola every Tuesday but we managed to miss that.

Mijas, up in the mountains behind Benalmadena, is a beautiful town and has fantastic views over the sea. (Also those nice carriages pulled by horses, and donkey convoys.)

Agree with megg about road signs. We spent many happy hours going up and down the N340 around Malaga trying to catch the exit we wanted which was only signed just after you had taken it. Also there is sometimes an exit to, eg, a building site just before the one you want.

Marbella is gorgeous. (We had a week there.) Sand is a bit murky though.

There is a huge water park outside Torremolinos but it doesn't open until late May.

Never made Granada - our boys too old to appreciate we thought (10 and 14) - but in the Sierra Nevada there is SNOW!