The Real Spain?

[Epona]

We would like to visit Spain, the real spain not the costa del plonko. Our ideal holiday would be small villa near a fishing village with lots of restaurants no clubs and hire a car to visit places of interest. We thought about Andalucia , does anyone have any suggestions which would be the best area? We love swimming in the sea but hate crowded beaches. Thanks!

[boxtops]

Most places on the coast are commercialised now, so I wish you luck....

We used to go to the Carihuela out of season - no fishing boats but much used by the locals. It's in between Torremolinos and Benalmadena - so although between two tourist hot spots, it's a lovely beach and not much used by tourists out of season. Only 15 mins from Malaga airport, too, with lots of hotels set back from the beach.

[tamaris]

Fly to Almeria and heading towards Malaga( about 3 hour drive away) are a lot of small white villages inland or on the coast. Quite unspoilt, you will have gone into Granada.

[jno]

I once hired a car and did an Andalucian tour, staying in hotels along the way. Malaga - Granada - Cordoba - Seville - Ronda - Malaga in a week, I think it was (I'd have liked to squeeze in Jaen too) Beautiful country on the coast and inland, and wonderful towns and cities to visit.

[tamaris]

Look up La Rabita

[AB Editor]

Try Valencia? Or outside Barcelona, somewhere like Lloret.

[dzug2]

Northern Spain (Cantabria, Galicia) is also worth considering - though the weather can be a drawback

[jomifl]

Asturias or Galicia on the north coast do not suffer from package holidays as much as the costas. There are some unspoilt fishing villages and sandy coves, but the Spanish go to them to get away from the heat in the summer.

[237SJ]

I horse trailed in Andalucia. Flew to Gibraltar and went to the Costa le la Luz. We were out in the wilds most of the time but we visited Cadiz and Vejer de la Frontera. The area was fairly sparcely populated and there are deserted beaches as well.

[jomifl]

Have a look around Ribadeo on google earth

[sandyRoe]

What about somewhere near San Sebastian on the northern coast?

[Grimaldi]

About 1 hour drive south of Granada, which would be a great base, is the town of Salobrena, with a nice beach and restaurants.
The local youngsters provide entertainment by jumping off a rock into the sea.
The drive down from Granada passses through several small towns, e.g.Santa Fé, and to the north Pinos Puente and Illora, which has an open air communal swimming pool.

[Epona]

Thanks for all your great replies, can see I'm going to be busy tonight on google. jno, thats what we were thinking of doing, hiring a car and not staying in one place - was it easy for you to get accomodation? when did you go? We once did that in France and nearly had to sleep in the car one weekend as all the accommodation in the area was fully booked up cos some big horse race was on in Deauville.

[jno]

a long time ago, Epona, so things are bound to have changed. You might be able to google hotels and book nights before you leave home (we certainly couldn't back then). But the route was well worth doing and I wouldn't mind repeating it some day.

[Epona]

Thanks for the reply jno, research time tonight, really looking forward to an adventure now!

[jno]

I'd recommend not doing it in high summer, it gets very hot. (I think we were there in May.)