marbella wineries
 

Are there any wineries to visit around Marbella that someone would recommend? We will have 2 kids with us, but would love to go to a few when we are there.

As far as I know, not around Marbella, along the coast. But if you have a car, you can make the drive up to Ronda where there are some open to visits. And your children would enjoy seeing Ronda and its dramatic perch above the Tajo gorge, I think.

www.turismoderonda.es/gastronomia/eng/vinos.htm

For a complete list of cellars

http://tinyurl.com/mxfe3u

Vintage Spain, a premier winery touring company, recommends the following Ronda wineries

Doña Felisa-Chinchilla

www.chinchillawine.com/index.html (web in Spanish only)

La Sangre de Ronda

www.bodegaslasangrederonda.es

Bodegas Juan Manuel Vetas

More info here

http://www.winetourismspain.com/mala...2-wineries.php

What also may be of interest are the sherry bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera which are about 70 miles from Marbella.

And here are the "big 3" that we've enjoyed touring:

Sandeman-which is very handy to tour after attending a noon performance of the Dancing Horses of the Royal Spanish Riding School

www.sandeman.com
www.realescuela.org

González Byass

www.gonzalezbyass.es

Domecq

www.alvarodomecq.com

Or see all of them here

www.turismojerez.com/index.php?id=551&L=1

Hi disneymom,
If you plan to spend any time in the city of Málaga during your stay, you might be interested in the new Museum of Wine

www.museovinomalaga.com/

josele,
Have you visited it and does it merit some time?

The Dancing Horses sound wonderful. I think the kids would really love it. My only concern is that our schedule is too ambitious. Home base is Marbella
Saturday - Tangiers (booked a tour already)
Sunday - Malaga/Marbella
Monday - Gilbralter
Tuesday - Dancing Horses in Jerez
Wednesday - Mijas for Flamenco show at noon, maybe Ronda
Thursday - Alhambra - have tickets for 8:30 yikes
Friday - fly home

Any feedback or ideas? Are there any other Flamenco shows that are during the day? My kids can't stay up until midnight.

Hi disneymom,
I didn't realize you had only 6 nights.
Yes, your schedule looks very, very ambitious to me too, without much "down time" for your kids, since Tangiers (since you've already booked) and Gibraltar will require a full day each.

And you'll want at least a half a day in Málaga to see the sights.
Plus it's a longer drive from Marbella to Jerez than it is to Ronda.
Mijas, to the east, shouldn't be combined with Ronda to the northwest on the same day.

That 8:30 am time slot for the Nasrid Palace rooms at the Alhambra will necessitate a very, very early departure from your Marbella base.

You'll need to be parked and appear at the Servi Caixa machines (in the glass enclosed building to the right) to pick up your tixs (I assumed you booked online) no later than 8 am. Then if you want audio guides you'll need to rent them (leaving a passport or driver's license as "collateral") at a dedicated counter inside the Access Pavilion.

It's quite a walk from the Access Pavilion to the Nasrid Palace entrance, and the line at this door will start forming early for the 8:30 entrance (250 visitors allowed in for each half hour slot).

You do have a 30 minute cushion-you can enter the Nasrid Palace any time from 8:30-8:59, but the guards are quite strict about not letting anyone in a minute later.
Just so that you'll know.

After visiting the Nasrid Palace you can take as much time as you'd like to see the Alcazaba, Palace of Charles V (with its Alhambra museum downstairs, where you'll find one of the restored lions from the Patio de los Leones), stroll the Calle Real, where the bookstore and taracea handicrafts shop are located, and Generalife gardens, where it will be somewhat cooler-(the sultans' "summer retreat")-it's always a relief to seek a bit of refuge up there from the intense summer sun.

I understand your wish to see and do as much as you can during your stay, but I really think you need to cut back somewhere and enjoy more beach ("down") time in Marbella.
Just some thoughts...

Just for information, the drive from Marbella to the Alhambra parking lot in Granada will likely take over 2 hours, without any stops for washroom, etc. Under such circumstances, I would want to be in the car and rolling to leave Marbella not much later than 5.30 AM, otherwise I would feel quite nervous about missing the alloted time slot at the Nasrid Palace.

By comparison, we recently did a day trip to the Alhambra from Nerja (roughly half the driving distance), and with tickets for a 12.00 noon Nasrid Palace entry, we left Nerja just before 10.00 AM and arrived with a little time to spare (but not much).

kanadajin

Wtih Alhambra, we are thinking of leaving at 4:30, ist that too early? We just didn't know about traffic.

Maribel, you are right about us being ambitious. My kids are great, and love museums, but we want the whole family to love it., not tolerate it. Would you give up dancing horses or flamenco? We are thinking of Sunday with just Marbella to have some down time. I am not a big Picasso fan, so I think that we might be able to skip that. I really appreciate all the help. I want the kids to love travel and I want to see the stuff I have dreamed of If you can give me the perfect itinerary, bring it on!!!!
















+++++++
We are prepared to leave for Alhambra by 4:30, is that too early/ I just don't know about traffic.

I agree with Ma

Hi Maribel,
I still have not visited the wine museum in Malaga, I'll write something when I do. I have visited Bodega Los Aguilares in Ronda, it is very new (modern, I mean) in a restored country house (cortijo), did not find it interesting.

Bag Gibralter. Really nothing to see or do except a lot of discount shops.

No so discount really prices were not cheap.

Re - leaving for the Alhambra by 4.30 AM. If you are really unsure of the route (and unexpected slow downs due to road works, getting a little lost, for ex.) and are planning to stop along the way for coffee, etc. then perhaps it might make sense - at least there would not be any traffic issues !

Otherwise, it does sound a bit early to me, although I have never driven from Marbella directly to Granada. It would seem to me that leaving around the 5.15 - 5.30 time frame should provide sufficient "breathing space" for a non-stop drive. Perhaps others can also chime in to confirm this.

kanadajin

Hi disneymom,
As to the Alhambra,
I agree with kanadajin. I would probably leave at 5:15. At that hour you certainly will miss the rush hour traffic around Málaga, which will help to shave off some time.

I think many of us who have been to Gilbraltar might advise you to skip it.

Since you've already booked the Tangier visit, I hope that the booking includes a guide.

The drive from Marbella to Jerez de la Frontera will take you 2 hours one way, so your family should decide if this all day excursion is worth it to you.

The horse ballet takes place in July on Tues., Thurs and one Sat., July 25. Ditto to Aug. with a Sat. performance Aug. 15.

I really don't know whether your children would enjoy a noon flamenco performance or the noon horse ballet more.
Flamenco is a very late night art form, so I don't know about the authenticity of a noon performance geared primarily to tourists.

The horse show in Jerez attracts both locals, nationals and non-Spaniards. I don't think of it as a touristy spectacle at all. But this classical dressage show, an equestrian ballet with classical guitar music as the backdrop, lasts for 90 minutes, and your kids might find the pace very slow, if they're not riders or horse lovers themselves.

The horses are spectacular, though, cousins of the Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. I've been to the show in Vienna and the Cadre Noir in Saumur (Loire) and enjoyed them all, but that's me, not your kids. I'm not a rider. Have you shown them the web site?

And the horse ballet does make an easy combo with a visit afterwards to the Sandeman sherry bodegas directly behind the Royal Equestrian School on the same very large pie-shaped block. So you wouldn't need to move the car. On Tues., Thurs. the English tour of Sandeman starts conveniently at 2 pm to coincide with the end of the horse ballet. Tickets are 6.50 for adults with 3 tastings and 3 for kids under 18 (no tastings).