2024 Andalucía Visitors Guide
Welcome to the Guide to Andalucía, containing all that travelers will need to enjoy the remarkable landscape of Andalucía as visitors and as our guests. You can use the menu to the left to find all the information you need to get to know Andalucía, general information about the region itself, its history and culture, and practical details to help you on your travels.
Here you will find all you need to know about Marbella, Estepona, Conil, Grazalema, El Rompido at Cartaya between Huelva and the Portuguese border, Torrox Costa, and La Herradura.
Marbella
In its unique setting protected by La Concha, the nickname given to the surrounding mountain range by its citizens, Marbella has become a byword for global tourism without losing any of its typical Andalucían flavor or its historical essence. Sea and mountain, tradition and modernity, a melting pot of cultures, all these unite in this Mediterranean city to offer the visitor an atmosphere rich in variety, one both multicultural and cosmopolitan, open to progress and a lifestyle rooted in the congeniality and welcoming nature of its people.
Marbella is famous worldwide. Thanks to its geographical situation, it enjoys a pleasant year-round microclimate with an average daily temperature of 18.7C and generous sunshine twelve months of the year.
Marbella’s microclimate is, without doubt, one of the charms of a city that is permanently bathed in sunlight and underlies an internationalist tourism culture of great variety and full of possibilities. Marbella offers 26 kilometers of sandy beach, nearby mountains, 17 golf courses, numerous luxury hotels, beautiful countryside, four major marinas – among them the world-famous Puerto Banús – commercial and shopping centers and a vibrant nightlife.
Ever since tourists began visiting the Costa del Sol, Marbella has been a byword for an elite form of tourism: from its beginnings as a tourism enclave in the mid-1960s and thanks to, among others, a visionary named José Luque Manzano, the impresario who built the first Fuerte hotel, in Marbella, in 1957, it has attracted actors, artists and personalities from all walks of life who have imbued it with a certain elegance, while themselves being drawn by its celebrations, fiestas, and social life, many returning to spend more and more time here and not a few choosing to live in Marbella.
Marbella Activites
The wide range of activities available in Marbella has made Andalucía’s tourism capital the most complete of all. Behind the kilometers of sandy beaches, there is an endless array of possibilities for daytime activities and a thriving nightlife, as well as opportunities to relax or recuperate at its many spas, health, and sports complexes, beauty, and fitness centers. Not for nothing is the Costa del Sol, also known and signposted as the Costa del Golf, an honorific title that does justice to its 17 major golf courses, which makes Marbella a paradise destination for golfers, both amateur and professional, from around the world.
For visitors seeking a more cultural holiday, Marbella can boast various places of interest, museums, excursions along the rural tourism routes winding up into the mountains and the region’s many natural parks, as well as itineraries taking in the stunning mountain villages such as the pueblos Blancos, white villages, just inland. If you are looking for a less energetic time in Marbella, our list of where to eat and shop will surprise even the most demanding visitor. Do you fancy riding a donkey through the Sierra de las Nieves? Now you can combine this adventure with an entertaining trip to Cerro Gordo.
Marbella Beaches
The 27 kilometers of safe sandy beaches along the Marbella coast have been a significant attraction for visitors since the 1950s. Marbella itself has 24 beaches to suit all tastes, from the busy central beaches to the quieter exclusive beaches with beach clubs, restaurants, and bars. To name just one, since 1992 the Guadalmina beach has held the prized Blue Ribbon award for excellence; although this is by no means the only one, but just one of the beaches of the Costa del Sol capital awarded this Europe-wide distinction, along with the beaches at la Fontanilla, la playa Real de Zaragoza, la playa del Alicante, numerous others …
If you are a watersports enthusiast or intrigued enough to try, we recommend the watersports center h2osports, where you can dive, surf, take courses in PADI qualifications, and more.
Marabella Activites
Marbella has even more to offer than beaches and perfect climate. The lovely old town, the Casco Antiguo, with its winding pedestrian alleys with their hidden corners and tiny squares, laid out behind the ancient city walls, draped with bougainvillea, jasmine, hibiscus, and plumbago, is well worth exploring.
Estepona
Estepona currently has around 60,000 inhabitants. It was bright a farming and fishing village. Just like other places on the Costa del Sol, is demographic growth has led to a multicultural explosion.
Estepona is located just a few miles away from the Sierra Bermeja, but it also has 13 miles of coastline, an excellent Mediterranean climate and an average temperature of around 17°C.
The district has a surface area of around 130 km². To the north lie the districts of Jubrique and Júzcar, to the north-east the district of Benahavis, to the north-west the district of Genalguacil and the east, Marbella. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south-west and south, and the area of Casares lies to the west.
Its location just a few miles away from the international airports at Málaga and Gibraltar means that it is very well connected. Although it is a coastal district, the town of Estepona is vivacious all year round – not just during the summer season. In Estepona can be found Fuerte Estepona Suites SPA, an ambitious project by the “Fuerte Hoteles” chain that all guests will love. Fuerte Estepona Suites SPA is a hotel aimed at both families and couples. Its distribution allows every guest to feel as comfortable as possible, depending on their requirements.
Conil
A window on the broad Atlantic, this area of the Cádiz region began to develop rapidly as a tourism destination in the 21st century. The variety of the Cádiz coastline includes vast stretches of unspoiled sandy beach and several coves and inlets where local people and visitors alike make the most of verdant countryside and, a surprise on this Atlantic shore, almost year-round sun. This combination of coast, abundant greenery and vast pine forests stretching to the seashore make this immensely attractive region possibly the major tourist destination along the entire Costa de a Luz.
Conil has easy access and good connections with the ports of Cádiz and Algeciras, as well as the airports at Jerez, Seville, and Gibraltar.
Deep in the Sierra de Grazalema mountain range, this marvelous town is perched on the mountainside and behind it emerges, majestic and protecting, the Peñón Grande (“great rock”) outcrop, its sides protected by the mountains of the Sierra Morena al Norte and the Sierra del Endrinal al Sur, opening out to the east towards the Sierra de las Nieves (snows) south of Ronda.
Grazalema prides itself in having in its surrounding countryside two of the true Edens of the region, prized for the richness and variety of its wildlife; we refer, of course, too, on one side, the Ribera de Gaidovar, the valley named after its river, which makes the valley a lost garden where the temperatures create a rare microclimate characterizing its wild nature; and on the other, the Aldea de Benamahoma, a small settlement with its own identity, whose personal principal natural wealth is its wild landscape, and the abundance of water, in springs, pools, waterfalls, and canyons, which feeds the lush vegetation of the area.
Its enviable geographical fastness sits at the center of a triangle formed by the cities of Cádiz, Seville, and Málaga, and it is equally accessible from wherever you set out between these three cities.
Conil Attractions
The Torre de Guzmán tower, built around the year 1300, was the nucleus around which the new town of Conil developed in the 14th and 15th centuries, with its significant buildings rising in nearby streets and squares such as the Plaza Mayor: the parochial church of Santa Catalina, the local council building, or Cabildo, the grammar school and the principal offices of the officials and governors of the Ducal seat. In those times, the castle (as was) had a belltower whose bell was rung to gather inhabitants for the ‘Cabildo Publico,’ the public court, with the ‘campana tañida,’ a particular carillon that would announce there was town business. This plaza, also known as the plaza of Santa Catalina, was the site of all the public debates in Conil life until the middle of the 19th century, when the authority moved its offices in the Plazuela (little square), also called the plaza of the Constitution and then the Plaza de España, nerve centre of Conil itself.
Grazalema
Grazalema and Benamahoma, Benamahoma and Grazalema, both places are a reference point for what the Sierra de Cádiz offers in Rural Tourism: beautiful, ancient, landscapes in the demarcation zone of the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema. The town itself is one of the pueblos Blancos, white villages, that have thought to protect its traditional architecture, mixing progress with sustainable development while retaining a balance of history and tradition.
The area also offers space to stretch out and enjoy yourself in a healthy climate, a great number of itineraries for lovers of hiking, adventure sports in wilderness conditions for the more energetic, and a wide range of hotels now grouped in a field offering the guest simplicity or luxury.
Special note must be made of the outstanding food in the mountains, derived from the simple expedient of using whatever the landscape provides and what the small farmers can grow. Each day we have to consider the importance of balancing ecologically sound agriculture with the conservation of the environment and its compatibility with the demands of rural life.
Therefore, Grazalema and Benamahoma are, for the traveler, much more than a pretty landscape: the warmth of the people, the grandeur of the mountains, the ozone-laden air you breathe, the colours that wash across the scene, the richness of the flora and fauna, the mysterious Pinsapo pines hidden in the woods, the sound of the water rushing in the mountain torrents, the character of the streets and small squares, the flavour and impression of a singular way of life … all of this is also the inspiration for artists, painters, writers, and thinkers, who have chosen Grazalema as the place where they want to live.
A secret: It’s impossible to go home without taking with us, as a souvenir, a photograph of the vistas of the tiled rooftops of Grazalema at dawn.
Grazalema Attractions
- IGLESIA DE SAN JOSÉ
This religious monument dated from the 17th century and was originally part of a Carmelite convent. The roof features preserved canvases painted by a disciple of Bartolomé Murillo. The church is constructed on a Latin cross plan, with a central nave, transept, and two lateral side chapels separated from transept and nave by semi-circular arches. At the foot of the nave are the main entrance and the choir. - IGLESIA DE SAN JUAN
This 18th-century church was built over the foundations of an earlier Arabic Mezquita, conserving some Mudéjar arches in the tower. The church is on a quadratic plan, with three naves, the central nave higher and broader than its neighbors, and covered by a semi-circular vaulted ceiling. Access to the apse is via a step. The most exciting detail to point out is the tower, also on a quadratic plan and divided into various levels, the higher part with jointed corners with semi-freestanding pilasters.
El Rompido
Rompido has always been known as a town dedicated to the sea. The town is infused with its maritime culture: its houses with their baroque atmosphere, the flavour of the sea in its streets, the lighthouses – one of them from the 19th century – and the bustle of the small fishing boats that lend a unique appeal to a town where modern buildings that might interrupt its peace are an exception.
The charm of this maritime town and the quality of the fresh fish and seafood unloaded here have transformed El Rompido into a gastronomic destination of the first order. From trips in boats to fishing expeditions and tourist recreation, you will find them all available here.
This lively fishing port has seen how tourism can, almost daily, complement and strengthen its economy. Its waters, in a strategic position adjacent to the natural haven of the Marismas, wetlands, of the ría (inlet) del Piedras (stones), and right at the mouth of the bay, is a familiar place to anyone who visits or knows El Rompido, attracted by the unbeatable conditions for nautical sports, or anyone who is hunting in its fishing port for the best that the sea can offer in the traditional seafood of the region.
The dynamic activity of the littoral itself has wrought a singular sandy geology in the region, la Flecha (arrow) de El Rompido, which opens out to the Atlantic Ocean from a virgin beach and to which it is possible to give thanks for past favors to sailors looking for a safe anchor off the beaches of Cartaya. Its richness in flora and fauna has made it a protected zone in the Natural Park of Las Marismas del Piedras and the Flecha de El Rompido, a place of particular interest for any lover of nature.
El Rompido is one of the most attractive towns on the southern coast of Spain. This small stretch of coast between Portugal and the Costa del Sol is famous as the Costa de la Luz, wholly apt in its English translation as ‘the coast of light’. Here you will encounter commercial development still in its infancy, just enough to guarantee your comfort while you make the most of the climate and the ocean breezes of the surprisingly pacific Atlantic. Among the amenities at your service are the endless beaches, the wild nature reserves, and people who are warm and friendly. Once you have visited El Rompido, you won’t want to visit anywhere else.
El Rompido Attractions
The ideal visit is one that takes in the full length of the estuary of the ría Piedras, an untouched natural landscape whose majesty, as much in winter as in summer, lies precisely in the fact that it remains untouched by human hand, just kilometer after kilometer of fine and golden sand.
- Castillo de Los Zúñigas
This fortified tower was erected between 1417 and 1420. At the beginning of the 15th century, the marquess and lord of Gibraleón set out on a journey by boat along the río Piedras to confront the authority of the rulers of Ayamonte, seven years after the start of the works on the castle of the Zúñegas, situated west of the town, on a rise that overlooked and dominated all routes to Cartaya.
- El Convento (The convent)
The convent was established for the members of the Trinitarios de la Merced Descalza, roughly, the shoeless (i.e., needy, or penitent) sisters of mercy of the Order of the Holy Trinity. It has a baroque tower, made of smooth stone and rising to the belltower, topped with a capital covered with tiling. It was destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and rebuilt in 1765. It currently serves as private accommodation and is in a good state of conservation. - La Ermita and Los Pilares
Founded by a returning Spanish-American in the 16th century, and situated in the north-east of the town, the Ermita, hermitage or chapel, has a clear flavor of Andalucían baroque style, and has recently been restored. The Pilares, or storage buildings, of La Dehesa and Mogaya, are Mudéjar structures and date from an earlier period than the draining and cultivation of the land around Cartaya.
La Herradura
La Herradura is a gorgeous town on the Costa Tropical. With some 3,000 inhabitants, it’s got the second largest population in Almuñécar. Located in a natural port formed by the bay, with Cerro Gordo to the west and Punta de la Mona to the east, it has been a strategic point for maritime expeditions for civilizations throughout the ages.
La Herradura makes its living from tourism and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. Although historically ancient, the town is both youthful and vibrant. La Herradura boasts the Marina del Este, which can moor up to 230 boats. It’s also an essential diving center, boasting the remains of 28 ships that were shipwrecked and found a watery grave on the seabed there.
The great beauty and color of the seabed make it one of the town’s main diving points. For golf lovers, there is access to several courses in the surrounding areas. Enjoy your favorite sport on the Costa Tropical.
La Herradura Attractions
La Herradura is the second-largest population center in Almuñecar; here are some of the monuments worth a visit:
- Castillo de La Herradura (Castle)
Located near the Herradura beach around150 meters from the shore, near to the Almuñecar municipal highway. It dates back to the eighteenth century, around 1768, and was built to keep a watch on the coastline, though it was also used as accommodation for the garrison, servants, and artillery. Its main objective was to safeguard the area and prevent any unwanted disembarkation. The original construction was a tower of refuge, while the castle was built later, to help protect the bay from corsairs. It is currently used as a barracks for the Civil Guard. - Torre del Monje (Tower of the Monk)
Two kilometers from Almuñecar, on the Jete road, we find this fort, of Roman origin. When it was built in the first century, it was first used as a funerary pantheon. It has one square floor with no outside access, and the ashes of the dead were supposedly placed here. - Cueva de Siete Palacios (SevenPalaces Cave)
Situated on the Cerro de San Miguel hill, the Cueva de Siete Palacios is one of the most significant urban examples of the Roman-Spanish period. A set of vaults built around the San Miguel hill, the cave complex is particularly outstanding. Nowadays, it is the headquarters of the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
Torrox
The white village of Torrox has a population of 16,000 inhabitants and almost 6 miles of extremely high-quality beaches. It has all the charm of the communities in the Axarquía region and the magic of the Costa Tropical.
The village sits at 476 feet above sea level and the Sierra de Tejada y Almijara protects it. This privileged location means that it has a fabulous climate, with an annual temperature variation of only 19°C – widely recognized as being the “best climate in Europe“. Pleasant temperatures can be enjoyed all year round, meaning that inhabitants can fully enjoy the charms of Torrox.
There is an excellent road connection between the village and Malaga airport, which is just a few miles away.
During the summer, Torrox is transformed into a traditional coastal destination with plenty of entertainment on offer. For the rest of the year, Torrox is a vivacious destination, and visitors can enjoy cultural activities like theatre, exhibitions, and concerts.
Torrox Attractions
There are plenty of charming spots in the area that are well worth a visit. Although Torrox is mainly a coastal destination, its historical center also has a particular lure for people who are not just looking for sun, sea, and sand. Among others, we recommend the following attractions:
- Old Center
Traditional and charming: steep side streets, beautiful plazas, and dazzling white houses decorated with flowers. Picturesque spots can be found on every corner. A highlight is the Plaza de la Constitición. Here can be found the local government building and the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación. - Plaza de la Constitución
As mentioned previously, the town hall can be found on this plaza – making it the powerhouse of the district. The Church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación is worth a visit.