Laid back in Nerja!

I just couldn’t have chosen better… Nerja was the perfect place to lie back and enjoy the very finest of the traditional Costa del Sol! There were lovely golden coves, beachfront tavernas, whitewashed buildings, fantastic sunshine and a backdrop of the dusty hills of southern Andalucía – it was a picture postcard of everything I could’ve hoped a coastal town in the south of Spain to be!

I truly loved every second of my time in Nerja. After visiting so many of the larger, bustling cities of Andalucía, coming to Nerja was a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing breath of fresh air. Everywhere you go you can see Nerja’s heritage as a sleepy fishing village, with low-rise, white washed villas, cute mosaic patios, palm trees, and a lovely traditionally Spanish high street, where every store name ends in ‘–eria’ J … the panaderia, ferreteria, dulcerias, zapaterias, pescaderia… you won’t find ugly, neon clad chain stores in Nerja. It was charming and wonderful! Yet you still have absolutely everything you need, and if you were really and truly desperate for a big city ‘fix’, Malaga (which I spent a day in and really liked!) was only 40 minutes away!

Even though it was a town of only 20,000 inhabitants, I found that Nerja was certainly big enough to have a variety of things to do. There are several beaches spread along a leisurely couple of miles of coastal path, no shortage of places to eat and drink, a few nightclubs, local history, and, of course, essential amenities like internet cafes.

The remarkable thing is that Nerja has remained really quite unspoilt and it had that small-town charm everywhere you went. Including at my Spanish school, which was in the centre of everything! In fact, I felt like the school itself was an epitome of the entire town – it was in a whitewashed building with a pretty terracotta patio, with lovely traditional flowers and palms in the garden. Everything was wonderfully, authentically Spanish-feeling. Yet the school also was super well-equipped with air-conditioning, its own bookshop and cafeteria. The school residence where I stayed even had its own swimming pool on the roof! …happy memories, lying in the sun, taking a dip in the pool and just generally chilling out… Oh… take me back!!

I would seriously recommend Nerja to anyone. One of my lasting memories is taking an evening stroll along the coastal path, following the yummy scents of fresh bread, garlic and cooking Paella to the outdoor terrace of a seafront restaurant, then settling in to watch the glorious pink and orange Mediterranean sunset. For me, it quite simply does not get better than that. Nerja revealed a side of Andalucia that I had never experienced before, more relaxing, quaint and modestly beautiful – I will most certainly be returning in the future!

Emma (UK)