Which town in Andalucia/Costa del Sol?
 

Hello, We are traveling to Barcelona and then to the south of Spain in mid-May. We'll have our 2 girls with us, ages 5 and 10. Any suggestions for the "perfect town" to base ourselves in. We like to stay right within the town so that we don't have to go anywhere on a given day if we don't want to. We'll have a car and plan to explore Andalucia and the Costa del Sol for a week, then we'll head to Seville for 3 days. I've been considering Nerja. Do you think this is a good spot for us? Should we do a full week in one town or split the time? We've usually done full weeks (in other countries we've visited) because many of the rentals require a Sat-Sat stay, but I get the sense that many of the places in southern Spain do daily rentals. Thanks for any advice! Barbara

I hate to say this, but have you checked any of the guides, or talked to a professional, someone who deals with this area?

Are you driving from Barcelona, or flying South and then picking up the car? Do you plan on seeing the Alhambra in Granada?

It depends on which places you want to visit from your base.

Sure, I have 3 travel guides, but I prefer the input of Fodorites over the books. These are all well visited areas for tourists, so I know a lot of my Fodor friends have been there.

We're flying from Barcelona to the South, probably Malaga. Flights are cheap through Vueling (about 30 euros). Then we'll have a car for the rest of the trip.

As far as places to visit from our base, some of the towns we're interested in are Cadiz, Ronda, Arcos; my husband would like to do the Morocco jaunt, although I know most people on this board advise against it. He wants that African stamp in his passport;-) Rick Steves says Tarifa is very nice and that's a jumping off point for Morocco. But I can't get a good sense of how close or far everything is in this area. For example, is Cadiz too far from Nerja for a daytrip? I'm wondering if would be better to do half of the week based out of Nerja and half of the week based out of somewhere further west. Thanks again!

P.S. Yes, we would like to visit Granada and possibly Cordoba if they fit in... but again, I'm looking for thoughts on those towns, too, as we don't like to road trip every single day (two kids).

A week of our visit to Spain last April was in the Costa del Sol; we based ourselves near Marbella. This was more-or-less in the centre of the places we wanted to go, from Gibraltar in the west to Malaga in the east. It worked out well.

Your idea of having two places to stay may be better if you are intending to go to both Granada and Cadiz. Use Nerja as the base for Granada (and perhaps the Sierra Nevadas) and a different locale (we liked Estepona) for the western swing. You could also get to Cadiz from Seville.

The top sites in southern Spain include both Granada and Cordoba, but I'd question how much your youngsters will enjoy them. Time on the beach might be preferable.

About Gibraltar: It's not as bad as others may lead you to believe. Its a fun outing if you have kids in tow (they'll love the apes); views of the harbour; the English atmosphere, including Marks & Spencer; and gas is cheaper there.

Barbara
If you take the ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers, the authorities conficate your passport and returns you when you return that day. There isn't any stamp in the passport when I took the visit.

When you arrive in Tangiers, there's a bunch of young people who want take you as tour guides. They're like locusts and it really ruins your visit.

In my case, I jumped into a taxi and drove to the center of the city. I had a nice lunch, visited a few shops and then I visited the Casbah.

Sure, I got to say I went to Africa but it was very expensive for almost no value.

Cadiz is worthwhile for the beach and the restaurants. Puerto de Santa Maria is across the bay and this is worthwhile visiting too. Both cities are more than 3,000 years old. Lots of history in those two cities.

Blackduff

Great! Really helpful information. Thank you all. Blackduff, I'll show your post about Tangiers to my husband; he will NOT like the idea of giving up our passports. Does anyone know if they still do this?

Barbara,

IMO Nerja would be my suggestion for a base in Andalucia. I think the children would enjoy the caves, which are spectacular, and it's on a beach, and near a wonderful white village--Frigiliana--and driving distance to Malaga, Granada, Ronda and many white villages.

Be sure to check out Maribel's Guides, check trip reports here, and get some good guidebooks (Fodors Spain is super as are others) and google towns and places for tons of information.

I agree with artlover in Nerja; but for pueblos blancos you need another base there, too far from Nerja. Ronda is a good place, maybe Arcos as well, nearer to Jerez and MedinaSidonia. I'm ust back from the area, still have to write a report. Soon.

Last March we spent 5 nights in Barcelona and 8 in Morocco travelling with our kids (ages 11 and 14). We didn't do Tangiers, but most people say that spending a day in Tangiers is not that great. Marakkech, Fez and the Sahara are really some of the reasons to go to Morocco and we had a FABULOUS time. I would wait until you could atleast spend a few days and spend time in either Marakkech or Fez. We flew into Marakkech and they did not take our passport.