Nice Places in Spain to go

[vim_fuego]

Hi All...I want to hear about nice places in Spain. I'm looking at booking a holiday with a short flight involved due to the bin lids. To help with my enquiry here is a list of things I don't like about the Spain I know:

Resorts packed with Brits
Egg, chips and beans for tea
reserving sunbeds at 0600 around a hotel pool
Drinking Tetleys bitter next to groups of other Brits
beach stacked with sunbeds all full of Brits and being hassled by Nigerians selling me fake sh1t.
pavements littered with flyers by 1700 everyday
Vendors telling me their trips are the best when they patently are no different to any others
tacky markets sold as being 'authentic' Spain
High rise hotels...one after another

What I do want to experience:

Authentic Spanish food
Nice villa or hotel that isn't like a cattle market with nice pool
smaller/quieter beaches
Local town with local Spanish people living there
Something for the kids to do like a water park et al within a bus ride or drive from where we are staying
Local festivals
authentic markets


I think thats the scene set. Who has been somewhere as I describe/aspire to? Please tell me of it!!

 

[Warwick Hunt]

Hi All...I want to hear about nice places in Spain. I'm looking at booking a holiday with a short flight involved due to the bin lids. To help with my enquiry here is a list of things I don't like about the Spain I know:

Resorts packed with Brits
Egg, chips and beans for tea
reserving sunbeds at 0600 around a hotel pool
Drinking Tetleys bitter next to groups of other Brits
beach stacked with sunbeds all full of Brits and being hassled by Nigerians selling me fake sh1t.
pavements littered with flyers by 1700 everyday
Vendors telling me their trips are the best when they patently are no different to any others
tacky markets sold as being 'authentic' Spain
High rise hotels...one after another

What I do want to experience:

Authentic Spanish food
Nice villa or hotel that isn't like a cattle market with nice pool
smaller/quieter beaches
Local town with local Spanish people living there
Something for the kids to do like a water park et al within a bus ride or drive from where we are staying
Local festivals
authentic markets


I think thats the scene set. Who has been somewhere as I describe/aspire to? Please tell me of it!!

Have you ever thought about the Costa De La Luz, the Coastal area to the west of Gibraltar up to Cadiz and beyond to Portugal? I got to know the area like the back of hand during my 3 years in Gibraltar and it really is a stunning part of Spain to visit. The area up towards Cadiz is still relatively unknown by Brits and they are where the Spanish go on their holidays, places like Barbate, Vejer De La Frontera and Zahara de Los Atunes are lovely little towns with big beautiful Atlantic coast beaches, cracking tapas bars and authentic Spanish restaurants - definitely not part of the Brit tourist scene and being Spanish, are very family orientated. However, it is worth taking along a Spanish phrasebook as little English is spoken. Then there's also Tarifa which is a bit more touristy as it caters for the surfing crowd ( if that floats your boat it's one of the best surfing resorts in the world). There's a fantastic hotel along the coast from the town called the Hurricane Hotel - four star, in a stunning secluded location with it's private beach and views over the Strait and it's also quite reasonably priced - http://www.hotelhurricane.com/en/index.html. Up the road you have the historic cities of Seville, Cadiz, Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria if you want a change of scenery for a day and have lots to see and do. These places are easily reached from the UK with flights into Malaga, Jerez and Gibraltar. To top it all off, staying, eating and drinking are considerably cheaper than the Costa del Sol. There's a water park on the outskirts of Algeciras which is good value and worth a visit. If you're prepared to take a ferry ride, there's a huge pool complex in Ceuta which I recommend too. If you're feeling adventurous, Tangiers is reachable very quickly from Algeciras and Tarifa (from Tarifa, you're looking at about 20 minutes).The Costa Del sol and all of the activities available there are also in really easy reach, as is Gibraltar. For details of fiestas, etc, have a look at http://www.andalucia.com/, the website of the Junta de Andalucia which is in English and goes into depth into everything you need to know about the region.

For something completely different, there's also Galicia in the north west of the country, which is famed for its rugged coast but absolutely stunning countryside.

I absolutely love Spain and was really fortunate in being given an opportunity to really get under the skin of it. There's a lot more to it than you think and it's so easy to get away from other Brits and the Brit tourist scene, you just need to know where to look.

Let me know if you need any more gen.

 

[Kipper Fleet Bloke]

Arrrrrr Costa Del Azahar around Valencia is pretty nice too. Downside is that it takes a little more creativity to find flights etc and they might be a bit more expensive as you won't be rubbing shoulders with the Chav estates ****ed up finest on the cheapest charter flights/Chavair planes that Easyjet/Ryan Air run.

 

[norfolkred1]

Been to Mojacar (Mohaca) just up the Coast from Almeria close to Vera. Not too touristy and still has a Spanish feel about it, The front is split into two halves with the old part low level due to having a rocky background. Short drive from the film set for the film 'A Fistful of Dollars' Think wherever you go in Spain your going to get your John Smiths and Egg + Bacon but there still are few that are not too spoilt. Cannot understand how the STFU thingy came up

 

[Hu Jardon]

For somewhere to stay try this site which hosts private landlords places we've had some great spots at decent prices and all with no fekkin drunks rolling in an out at all hours. There are some really honest reviews too

http://www.homeaway.co.uk/

 

[wgaf]

I'll second the costa de la luz. Especially the sancti petri area. It's clean, friendly and has miles of beaches that I have never seen overly busy.