When my lovely boyfriend decided that he would take me away on a little holiday during our week off work (okay, to be fair I didn’t give him much choice as we wanted to squeeze in a beach side escape but I had no money) he suggested we pay a visit to Nerja on Spain’s Costa del Sol.
We are always on the hunt out for new things and places that we haven’t been before, as one of the things we love about Spain is the diversity. Here it’s possible to travel for a couple of hours and be not only in a new city or town, but in a city or town with a different culture and way to life to the last. But the Costa del Sol is one region that we had not only skipped exploring together, but had barely explored independently ourselves.
It’s not that we hadn’t had the opportunity – we had, but there is a reason why Costa del Sol had never really rung in high on our travel radar. And that reason, I can sum up in three concise points:
* Bad tattoos
* White pasty beer bellies
* English and Irish pubs
Okay, let’s make it four points:
* A few more pubs, just for good measure. Wouldn’t want anyone missing out on their pint due to overcrowding at the local down the road.
(side note: no disrespect to those hailing from the motherland, I was born in the UK, proudly hold my British citizenship, and consider myself first and foremost; a Londoner, second; a citizen of the world, and third; Australian.)
Stereotypes, huh? But the point I am trying to make is that although I wholly trusted C’s no doubt well thought out decision, I was sceptical.
Would I really experience the true Andalucian charm, (whatever that is supposed to be), during a few lazy days in a Costa del Sol beach side town?
The answer is, I did, and so I feel it is my duty to share with the world five wonderful reasons why Costa del Sol’s best kept secret, Nerja, should be added onto any Southern Spain travel itinerary.
1/ NERJA ACTUALLY HAS AN OLD TOWN
That’s right. You read it here first. Instead of a built up resort area which makes up the focal point of the town, Nerja is home to a surprising little Old Town which, even more surprisingly, is almost perfectly intact.
The Old Town dates back to the 14th century when Nerja, along with many other places in Southern Spain, was under Moorish rule, and in the original central area of the town there has been very little development over the years. The roads are still cobble stones, the streets are still winding, and the buildings still stand only two stories tall. They are all perfectly whitewashed, and decorated with flowers and vines where the owners (or council) have seen fit.
The 17th century fortress, now known as Balcon de Europa, is centrepiece of action in Nerja. While the squares directly around the Balcon de Europa are filled with restaurants that feel a little touristy, you don’t have to walk to far off into the winding back streets to discover narrow roads with bars, all ready with their barrels out the front, waiting to be hung off (by yours truly) with a glass of vino blanco in hand. But I digress. Not only is the Balcon de Europa postcard worthy in it’s own right, it is a great place to take in the scenery looking over the cliffs below.
2 / THE LOCAL BARS ADHERE TO THE SPANISH CULTURE
Much in style not-so-neighbouring Granada, most bars will give you a free tapa when you order your drink. This very Spanish tradition dates back to a time when it was illegal to serve alcohol without food in Spain, and a way of overcoming this law was to bring out food for free. (Okay, you will hear LOTS of different theories about how tapas came about, but this one is the most logical and common sensical version.)
While it is common nationwide to get “algo para picar” such as nuts or olives when you order a drink, in Nerja I was presented with a more substantial bowl of something each time such as little meatballs, small pieces of fish, or the very typical salad with a not-so-typical name – ensalada rusa (Russian Salad).
Now I know, I could have gone to a tourist orientated bar or restaurant, and they may in fact have given me free tapa with my drink there too. But in this case I would have expected some stale crisps, a soggy mini burger and chips, or a slice of jamón on bad bread.
The point is that in Nerja is that there are still some little bars with a real local feel, they are giving out tapas that are not too bad, and once I started ordering off the menu, the tapas leapt from not too bad to damn good quality.
It goes without saying that food is important to me. So obviously this is an important point we need to discuss in order to properly analyse Nerja.
3/ THERE ARE STILL INDEPENDENT STORES SELLING TRUE LOCAL PRODUCE
And while we are on the subject of food, what about the food you buy in the stores? Y’know, to do that thing you sometimes do in the kitchen. Cook.
Sure, there are still the big supermarkets as well as the overpriced one stop shop for tourists selling everything from children’s nylon flamenco dresses, to bad and expensive cheese and overpriced sun cream. But it’s what’s in-between these two choices of stores that really counts – and there is plenty of in-between to be found.
As a general rule, large high street stores are almost non existent in Nerja, and once I was off the main streets in the Old Town, I was stumbling across little places every couple of blocks, whether it was a butcher, baker, or general all rounder with cheese, meats, and everything else in-between. I really loved this one old guy who had samples of his two cheeses out on the counter to try – which did what they intended to do, because we bought, of course, not one but one of each.
But the best bit is the non-official stores where you can take the chance to help out the local economy.
Many locals in Nerja have small allotments, and the council gives them permission to sell their produce as they wish. As a result you will, every now and then, I stumbled across a doorway with a crate of , mostly tomatoes, but whatever seasonal veggies happened to be on offer (and for sale).
It’s not necessarily cheaper than going to the supermarket, but it is a way to support the locals in Nerja, and put the money in the right place. But that’s not to say it can’t be cheaper! On my last morning in Nerja I ran into a funny local guy, walking up and down one of the main roads through the town, on a quest to sell his bags of garlic – and when I say bags, I mean decent, 10 heads of garlic per bag. All for the whopping price of 1 Euro. 1 EURO! Bargain. If I was going home, I would have bought some. I LOVE GARLIC!
4/ IT’S FAR ENOUGH OUT OF MALAGA CITY WITH NO DIRECT CONNECTION FROM MALAGA AIRPORT
The most trodden route for the average sun seeking tourist is to head west out of Malaga City towards Marbella. But Nerja lies to the east of Malaga City, at almost the complete other end of the Axarquia district. And not only is Nerja in the completely opposite direction of Marbella, unlike Marbella and other towns to the West, there is no direct connection from Malaga Airport.
Sure, there are still loads of English expats living in Nerja. And English tourists. But there are also a lot of Scandinavian and other Northern Europeans too. And they are all in Nerja because they wanted to be. They sought it out and decided to try out somewhere different instead of staying inside a gated apartment block community, full of other people from their respective countries.
I am a believer that some places are touristy for a reason – because they are beautiful, and Nerja certainly falls into this category.
But the fact that there is no direct train or bus from Malaga Airport seems to have kept some of the “riff raff” out, and while you are, of course, going to meet many tourists and expats, my experience in Nerja was fairly pleasant. I saw people making an effort to speak Spanish, people appropriately clothed while walking in areas other than the beach, and I didn’t see any tourists trampling around barefoot (which is a VERY big no-no in Spain).
5/ IT’S ACTUALLY VERY EASY TO GET TO NERJA IF YOU ARE A LITTLE BIT ADVENTUROUS
Nerja might not be a directly connected to Malaga Airport, but once you are in Malaga City itself, it is very easy to get to Nerja and you don’t even need to much of an adventurous spirit to do so.
From the airport buses the C19 bus runs from directly in front of the terminal to the Estación de Autobuses (Malaga Bus Station – 1.20 EUR, approximately every 30 minutes), or if you are impatient like me (23 minutes to wait? No way!) it is very easy to get the local train (just cross the road from the bus stop, you can already see it!) towards Malaga Centro and get off at Maria Zambrano (15 minutes, 1.70 EUR). The bus station is just outside Maria Zambrano station.
From the bus station, the ALSA bus company has buses to Nerja running every 30 minutes. The journey takes around 1 hour 15 minutes, and the further out of Malaga you go, the more beautiful the scenery becomes and the city turns into coast and undeveloped land, as well as groves of olives, tomatoes and avocados. One you arrive in Nerja, it is an easy ten minute walk downhill into the Old Town to find your accommodation.
So there you go! Now you know all about Costa del Sol’s best kept secret and have five fabulous reasons why YOU should put Nerja on your Spain travel itinerary. Have you visited the Costa del Sol before? Did you make it to Nerja?
Paul Bachant says
You have discovered what I’ve known since I was 12 years old…I lived in Nerja for 5 years as a teen, and now, 31 years later, I’m going back for good. Goodbye Canadian winter! I have never been able to forget that wonderful place…Don’t spread the secret too much!
Cyra says
Thanks for reading Paul. In the short time I got to experience Nerja it felt like many people from all different backgrounds and walks of life who were visiting were visiting because they loved to be there – I think you are a perfect example of that too. Trading in Nerja for Canadian winter, I don’t blame you (not that I have ever been to Canada but I have heard about the winter from my Canadian friends.) Enjoy it! 🙂
Jim says
Loved the way you have written this. Quirky and funny with all the right ingredients to Visit Nerja. Great stuff.
Cyra says
Thanks for your kind comment Jim, I am glad you liked it 🙂
Rena says
I enjoyed your article and found it very accurate. For a short stay you really seem to have got your finger on the pulse. I would like to add though that there are several very high class restaurants offering a wide selection of food types that would rival London for quality but not price. So when the man in your life wants a ‘real meal’ and not tapas or he just wants to treat you, you will be spoiled for choice.
Cyra says
Thanks for your comment Rena, I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for the tip! We tried one restaurant, I can’t remember the name but it was a Thai restaurant, and we really enjoyed it. We live in Spain, so to be honest we were just so happy to have some “different” food, as where we live there is no international restaurants at all and it is even hard to buy good quality ingredients to cook Asian/international foods. I will look forward to trying more restaurants next time in Nerja. 🙂
Mandy Bowkett says
I visited Nerja twice in the past two years to visit my boyfriend, who is now my husband. He lived in Nerja for 15 years, teaching English to Spanish kids and adults as a self-employed tutor. If I did not have bills here in America to pay – I would have moved over there in a heartbeat. It reminded me very much of living in southern Italy. I grew up in the Puglia region and the climate and way of life is very similar. He lived in the outskirts of town, did not have a car, so we walked into town or would bus into town from his neighborhood. That is one of the things I miss about living in Italy – walking everywhere we needed to go. We could walk down the hill to Lidl and grocery shop for the necessities…it was only about a 10-15 minute walk to the Balcon de Europa…we took back streets to the weekly market – passing the avocado groves..I was at peace! He just moved to the states last October and we married in December and although he wants to be wherever I am — I told him I prefer the way of life overseas – whether in Spain or Italy — it left an impression that I will never ever shake. We did take a train and bus from Nerja and I enjoyed taking pictures of the coastline and the architecture in the towns that we passed through. I miss it and look forward to returning — and just as I feel Puglia is a best kept secret – it is becoming increasingly popular as it is discovered by the world…as I’m sure Nerja will be at some point.
Cyra says
I loved reading your memories of Nerja, thanks for sharing 🙂 It sounds like you had an amazing time visiting there. I agree totally with you, I grew up in Australia but now after living in Italy and now in Spain, I much prefer the way of life over here. I also love walking everywhere that I need to go, and it amazes me how back in Australia everyone (myself included) goes in the car even for short distances.
marianne says
Hey Cyra
Glad you enjoyed your trip to Nerja. I always think of the area to the east of Malaga as the AUTHENTIC Costa del Sol!
Just thought I should let you know that there are TWO buses each day from Nerja to Malaga airport (operated by ALSA), one at 8.10am and another at 3.10pm with return buses from the airport to Nerja at 11.45am and 5.15pm. The cost is 4.52 euros one-way or 8.18 euros return.
PS Just so you know, your “comment luv” plug-in doesn’t appear to be working correctly.
Cyra says
Hi Marianne, thanks for stopping by! I really enjoyed it, I hope to be back soon. Ahh I didn’t know that about the buses. Our flight arrived in the evening, so that makes sense that we missed any buses going straight to Nerja. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂 Also I didn’t realise about the comment luv plugin either, so thanks again.
Mark Davies says
My wife and I searched the Costa for home in a decent Spanish town. We settled on Nerja and bought a house in 2006. The recession came and went. The Spamish tourists from Madrid etc. come & go in July/August. The rest if the year is a joy. There are far too many attractions, walks, sights, history etc to mention. It is Paradise. But…….we don’t want anyone else knowing about it!
Cyra says
What a great place to end up buying a place 🙂 I would imagine that July and August are crazy. We purposely went in the first week of June so that we could experience Nerja without potential madness. I can understand why you wouldn’t want anyone else knowing about it 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Escape Hunter says
I’m already curious about Nerja. Perhaps I’ll pay a visit to it when I manage to take that long-awaited and long-planned trip to Andalucia.
Haven’t been to the Costa del Sol at all, but I’ve found the Costa Blanca intriguing, alluring…
Cyra says
You should! I actually have never been to the Costa Brava and I am going for the first time on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it. But Nerja is definitely one of the best places to check out on the Costa del Sol.