# Does anyone have knowledge of these towns and villages ?



## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

Hiya,

We are thinking of spending a day in a few typical Andalucian towns and villages and were wondering if anyone has any information they wish to share on the following places: -

Antequera, Cartama, Yunquera, Churriana, Alcaucin, Frigiliana, Motril, Amunecar and Alcala la Real

I'm pretty sure someone mentioned one or two of these recently, possibly Steve

I await your replies. Cheers, Dave


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Antequera is IMHO definitely worth a day trip - a historic town centre and a nice enough day out but to me the jewel in the crown of your list would be Yunquera. A charming little town with amazing scenery so the trip itself is worth doing. Depending on time you could double with Ronda and Benaoján.

Alcalá la Real is a fair drive from the coast into Jaén but again a lovely little town steeped in centuries of tradition. You could visit Salinas, Rute and Iznájar on your trip. Stay the night at my best friend's B&B? 

Frigiliana is quite small but doubled with a trip to the caves of Nerja perhaps or on to Almuñecar/La Herradura would make a pleasant day I am sure 

Alcaucín - here's a journey I think you will love: Málaga, Casabermeja, Colmenar, Riogordo and into Alcaucín. STUNNING scenery and some lovely bars etc on the way - if you did it in reverse and went on a Tuesday there is a pleasant enough little expat market at Los Jardines de Trapiche near Vélez Málaga. 

Churriana is not much more than an industrial estate at the back of Málaga airport. With the exception of a pleasant enough bar - La Parada - and a huge Mercadona there's not much else I can say. (unless I am allowed to lust over one of the girls in the CAM!) 

Motril is probably my least favourite town in Spain. Huge industrial estates on the Med side of the traffic jam that I always seem to sit in and the "nice" areas inland. Surrounded by mile after mile of plastic sheeting to force-grow fruit and veg. 

Almuñecar - again nothing special IMHO - it's little sister La Herradura is pleasant enough for a coffee or lunch. 

Cártama Jojo will comment on

Obviously these are very subjective opinions and if you are in love with Motril I am happy for you.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

SteveHall said:


> Antequera is IMHO definitely worth a day trip - a historic town centre and a nice enough day out but to me the jewel in the crown of your list would be Yunquera. A charming little town with amazing scenery so the trip itself is worth doing. Depending on time you could double with Ronda and Benaoján.
> 
> Alcalá la Real is a fair drive from the coast into Jaén but again a lovely little town steeped in centuries of tradition. You could visit Salinas, Rute and Iznájar on your trip. Stay the night at my best friend's B&B?
> 
> ...


Thats the kind of info I was hoping for, thank you very much Steve.

We have already seen Ronda (very nice), but I suppose we could do Yunquera and Antequera in the same trip. Sounds promising anyway.

I will take Churriana and Motril off our list.

Have you ever made the trip to Cadiz, if so, what did you think of the place ?

Dave


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Churriana, as Steve says is behind the airport, but I suspect he hasnt been into the main centre which is quite a pretty village although a tad on the scruffy side. Sadly it is right next to the runway, so isnt as peaceful as it could be.

Cartama is a busy town, I'm not keen on it, cos altho is relatively unspoit by expats, tourists... its quite scruffy and has a lot of thru traffic and usually has traffic jams. "Cartama Estaçion" is the other end of Cartama and is where my childrens school is, altho it seems ok to me, it has a bit of a reputation for having a lot of non working expats!!

neither of these places would fill up a days sight seeing, however, if you wanted to have a look around them, you could also pick my kids up from school and drop em of home lol....Joking!! I'd be more than happy to meet up and have a coffee with you both and baby tho!!?

jo

Jo xxx


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Cádiz is an interesting town - remember it has only got a population of ca 120k and the population is actually diminishing. As so much of the town has preservation orders on it and as it is built on an isthmus there is almost no land to build. The gaditanos are very very proud of their town and everything that goes with it - culture, food, history, football (passionate!) 

Definitely worth a day there. 

As I say others will have other opinions and I would hate to deprive you of something if somedody can say something positive about, say, Motril.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

jojo said:


> I'd be more than happy to meet up and have a coffee with you both and baby tho!!?
> 
> jo
> 
> Jo xxx



Yes lets, coffee sounds a good idea. We don't tend to plan anything during the week, but if you are free maybe we could meet up in Fuengirola one weekend.

Dave


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

jojo said:


> Churriana, as Steve says is behind the airport, but I suspect he hasnt been into the main centre which is quite a pretty village although a tad on the scruffy side. Sadly it is right next to the runway, so isnt as peaceful as it could be.
> Jo xxx


A friend had an alarm shop in the centre but I never remember it as much more than a couple of fairly scruffy streets and I wondered why people would come to Spain to live under a flight-path. Convenient if you are working at the airport but not a place I'd want to retire to! Nice churrería I recall where Angela had her coffee breaks. 

You could aplways drop in on several of your proposed trips, if Jojo has whetted your appetite. 

You have not mentioned Málaga city - a place I could wax lyrical about!


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## camerond52 (Sep 21, 2011)

SunnySpain said:


> Thats the kind of info I was hoping for, thank you very much Steve.
> 
> We have already seen Ronda (very nice), but I suppose we could do Yunquera and Antequera in the same trip. Sounds promising anyway.
> 
> ...


I know I'm late to this party, however, I'll add my two cents about Churriana. I think it's a very nice, quaint little town and worth at least a couple of hours if not an entire day. Churriana has a 2000 year history which is nothing to sneeze at. The locals are very nice and hospitable. There are monuments, mountain views, fiestas, etc, although on a much smaller scale than a Sevilla or Granada. Yes, you can drive through it without noticing, however, give it a chance and you will find it has a lot to offer.


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2011)

Salobreña (just before Motril), on the Costa Tropicana, is quite an interesting place to visit. The hill fort is quite impressive, as is most of the raised bit of the village. There are a few good bars/cafes near the fort. 

Down on the beach, there are is a fantastic restaurant at the end of the promenade (built onto rocks extending into the sea - can´t miss it). The seafood is usually excellent and the service extremely friendly and efficient, but given the location, it´s not cheap., but definitely worth the extra shekels. They do excellent sardine on skewers, in a skiff converted into a firepit. Oddly, it is the spitting image of the Coble, found in the North East (Tyne and Wear, Northumberland etc)

Motril is messy and not worth the detour. I go there for the ITV centre, on the outskirts and never going into the town anymore.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

SunnySpain said:


> Hiya,
> 
> We are thinking of spending a day in a few typical Andalucian towns and villages and were wondering if anyone has any information they wish to share on the following places: -
> 
> ...


Alcalá la Real is my nearest town (7km on the old Granada-Córdoba road N432a or 12km by the new N432).

It is well worth a visit if just for the Fortaleza de la Mota - try to catch the very good AV presentation, you will understand why it took the Christian Kings almost 200 years to get past here. Otherwise AlR is not much.

Other places nearby worth a visit are Montefrío, Alcaudete, Zuheros (especially if you are into bat-caves) and as someone else said Iznajar, Rute (especially near Christmas when all the places that produce sweets and other treats (including aguardiente) have big selling sprees. A little further afield is the troglodyte village of Purullenos just outside Guadix.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

The only one I've been to is Antequera, where we once spent a couple of nights at its very comfortable and modern parador. 

More churches per capita than anywhere else in Spain, and olive trees as far as the eye can see. Nice town but not exceptional.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

SunnySpain said:


> Hiya,
> 
> We are thinking of spending a day in a few typical Andalucian towns and villages and were wondering if anyone has any information they wish to share on the following places: -
> 
> ...


I didn't live in Spain when this was posted and now I live in the Frigiliana campo. Friggers (as we prefer to call it) is an exceptionally pretty town with an extraordinary history re the civil war. It is very pretty but quite expensive as it caters to the tourist industry. Only one supermarket (which is always open on Sundays) but that too is expensive so trips to Nerja are a must for essential shopping. Nearby Torrox has a Merkydonna, SuperSol and Eroski food centre all in a line which is very useful. But to live in Frigiliana would be a bit of a nightmare. It is noisy at night and most places have nowhere nearby to park, so it's great if you don't need a car. Almunecar is quite large but a nice beach and Alcaucin is packed with illegally built houses that might now be made legal under the 'amnesty'.


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