# Anyone here live in Nerja?



## MidwestDeva (Jul 12, 2012)

We are Americans considering a move to Spain... Nerja has popped up several times and looks like a nice town. If anyone on this forum lives there, could you describe a bit about your experience. We are looking for a non-touristy town but not too far from the beach, walking distance to a central market, train station, not interested in remote villages. That may be unrealistic in this tourist area but hey we're dreamers. Any tips on more info are also welcome. Thanks so much!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

MidwestDeva said:


> We are Americans considering a move to Spain... Nerja has popped up several times and looks like a nice town. If anyone on this forum lives there, could you describe a bit about your experience. We are looking for a non-touristy town but not too far from the beach, walking distance to a central market, train station, not interested in remote villages. That may be unrealistic in this tourist area but hey we're dreamers. Any tips on more info are also welcome. Thanks so much!


:welcome:

yes I do believe we have some members in/near Nerja.............

scroll down to the bottom of the page & you should see some links to recent threads


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Nerja is lovely. It is a tourist town, but not a big one. I dont think theres a train station tho. Have a look on google street view and you'll see what its like. I have friends who go there for the winter - which is lovely. Its quiet and the weather isnt brilliant, but its fine. There are a couple of posters on here who live in a village nearby, who may tell you more

Jo xxx


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## MidwestDeva (Jul 12, 2012)

thank you Jo, appreciate your response. We are also looking at Fuengirola. Any tips on that town? 

thank you!!
Di


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Nerja is much nicer! Fuegirola is very touristy and not very pretty. The seafront front is a long stretch of bars, cafes, souvenir shops, all in a line along the main road - the beach is the other side. Nerja is ........ more "spanish looking" More curves, ups and downs, and interesting IMO

Jo xxx


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We live just outside Frigiliana in the campo, on the road between Friggers and Torrox, so Nerja is our main town and where our Post Office is located etc. We used to go to Nerja for everything until we moved to our present house and now we use Torrox for most day to day shopping. Nerja is a wonderful town with something for everyone. The only downside I can think of is July and August when it is packed with tourists and most folk who live in the area tend to avoid it during those months. But the rest of the year it is simply wonderful. Because of it's location it still retains a really good Spanish village feel and cannot suffer from being hopelessly overbuilt. There are also a number of twons slightly inland which retain the Moorish Spanish infulence and are simply beautiful. Malaga is just 45 minutes away on a nearly empty motorway and is one of the best cities in Spain (not just an airport) with a myriad of museums, galleries, theatres and good restaurants and bars. The Christmas lights have to be seen to be believed. Obviously I wouldn't recommend anyone to simply uproot and move here without first spending some time on holiday because you just might not like it. ALso, there are so many different areas within Nerja where the living is quite different. We are also lucky enough to retain many private mini markets where food and drink is still significantly cheaper than (in our case) the UK. For example, I can still buy good fillet of beef for around €10 - €15 a kilo. And one of my favourite brandies is less than a third of what I used to pay in UK. But man cannot live on brandy and beef alone (although I'm prepared to give it a go for let's say a week) and most staples are still much cheaper (cheaper than other areas of Spain too).

As for Fuengirola, arrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhh. I first visited this sleepy fishing village around 40 years ago when the nearest entertainment could be found in Torremolinos, Mijas or Marbella and in between was nothing but open countryside. Now, what the hell was allowed to happen?? From Torremolinos to about 3 kms outside of Marbella it is just a wall of concrete lined, as JoJo says, with bars, souvenir shops and tacky places many of which closed down years ago. Of course, for some, this is heaven and many Brits still take their swollen beer bellies there for a fortnight of beer and 'fun'. I exagerate a bit but we hate the area; east of Malaga is still Spain and nothing like Blackpool in the sun. Now that might sound a bit harsh on Blackpool for which I apologise, but I don't like Blackpool either.

Come for a visit or three and find out for yourself and visit both east and west of Malaga so you can draw your own conclusions. And of course, west of Malaga and north a bit there are still some very pretty villages to found all with their own charm, so don't write it off because of what I say!! 

My wife wanted me to take her somewhere expensive last night, so I took her to the gas station.....


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## MidwestDeva (Jul 12, 2012)

Dear Thrax,

thank you so much for your detailed response! So kind of you to take the time. This is exactly what I had hoped to hear from someone who lives in the area we're interested in. We are planning an exploratory trip before the end of the year... just have a lot more research to do. Currently, we're wondering about purchasing a car (maybe renting?) if we decide on permanent residence because we'd like to do a lot of travel throughout Spain. Most of the properties we've looked at online don't really talk about garages or parking so I'm wondering how crucial it is to have a car at all. How do you get around? Are the trains, buses, rental cars adequate for exploring further a field? Nerja sounds like our best bet so far.

Again, thank you for your comments.

Di


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Obviously a car will make life easier. Not easy to explore some of the more rural areas without one. Cars arent mentioned as you point out, more because they are a "given" than because people dont use them, just like anywhere else, most residents have at least one (the spanish arent known for their courteous driving tho) . That said the buses are cheap and easy, but they can only ever take you to known places. There are some lovely areas up in the mountains where a car is really the only way, altho you could rent one for a few days to make those trips, certainly til you know if you are going to stay.

Jo xxx


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

My parents have a car but rarely use it. They live in a northern part of Nerja and 20 metres from their front door is the local bus stop. That takes them to the main supermarkets or the bus station from where they can go to nearly anywhere in Spain on public transport. More rural locations would require a taxi or their car which is more or less what they use it for. Public transportation (outside of taxis) here is incredibly cheap. Nerja to Malaga is about €8 return (although, curiously, it is less to go to Malaga and more to come back...). As they are retired, resident in Spain and registered on the Padron they get most of their public transportation for half price. 

Having said all that, I think a car is essential; long term rental, in my opinion, is a waste of money; it's expensive. Your best bet would be to buy a new car - the car market here is in a state of near collapse so you can get some very good deals. Not long before a time when you buy a car and get a house thrown in for free!!! My parents recently bought a car for €8000 (new) which costs around €16000 new in UK. My OH parent's also just bought a new car and after negotiation got €6000 off the asking price. And both of them got a 7 year warranty.


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## klippenpisser (Sep 21, 2012)

*Nerja*

Hi, I'm single,Got my pensions sorted:clap2: income of euro 1200 to play with for rent and living costs can i do it in Nerja Studio or 1 bedroom plus balcony.Just a quite life? Here in UK rent £625 council tax £91 gas leccy plus plus cant afford here.Dont need a job but iff i stumble on one by the way few euros extra wont go a miss


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

klippenpisser said:


> Hi, I'm single,Got my pensions sorted:clap2: income of euro 1200 to play with for rent and living costs can i do it in Nerja Studio or 1 bedroom plus balcony.Just a quite life? Here in UK rent £625 council tax £91 gas leccy plus plus cant afford here.Dont need a job but iff i stumble on one by the way few euros extra wont go a miss


:welcome:

yes that should be do-able - have a look at these for rent - you'll certainly pay less in Nerja

fotocasa.es - Viviendas en alquiler en Nerja


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I've seen several studio and some bigger apartments for rent in Nerja for around €300 a month; if you are careful you should easily be able to afford a fairly decent lifestyle here. If you live in the town you won't need a car as there is a very good local bus service and an even better one to practically anywhere in Spain from the main bus station. Costs about €4 to get a bus to Malaga.


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## tarot650 (Sep 30, 2007)

thrax said:


> We live just outside Frigiliana in the campo, on the road between Friggers and Torrox, so Nerja is our main town and where our Post Office is located etc. We used to go to Nerja for everything until we moved to our present house and now we use Torrox for most day to day shopping. Nerja is a wonderful town with something for everyone. The only downside I can think of is July and August when it is packed with tourists and most folk who live in the area tend to avoid it during those months. But the rest of the year it is simply wonderful. Because of it's location it still retains a really good Spanish village feel and cannot suffer from being hopelessly overbuilt. There are also a number of twons slightly inland which retain the Moorish Spanish infulence and are simply beautiful. Malaga is just 45 minutes away on a nearly empty motorway and is one of the best cities in Spain (not just an airport) with a myriad of museums, galleries, theatres and good restaurants and bars. The Christmas lights have to be seen to be believed. Obviously I wouldn't recommend anyone to simply uproot and move here without first spending some time on holiday because you just might not like it. ALso, there are so many different areas within Nerja where the living is quite different. We are also lucky enough to retain many private mini markets where food and drink is still significantly cheaper than (in our case) the UK. For example, I can still buy good fillet of beef for around €10 - €15 a kilo. And one of my favourite brandies is less than a third of what I used to pay in UK. But man cannot live on brandy and beef alone (although I'm prepared to give it a go for let's say a week) and most staples are still much cheaper (cheaper than other areas of Spain too).
> 
> As for Fuengirola, arrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhh. I first visited this sleepy fishing village around 40 years ago when the nearest entertainment could be found in Torremolinos, Mijas or Marbella and in between was nothing but open countryside. Now, what the hell was allowed to happen?? From Torremolinos to about 3 kms outside of Marbella it is just a wall of concrete lined, as JoJo says, with bars, souvenir shops and tacky places many of which closed down years ago. Of course, for some, this is heaven and many Brits still take their swollen beer bellies there for a fortnight of beer and 'fun'. I exagerate a bit but we hate the area; east of Malaga is still Spain and nothing like Blackpool in the sun. Now that might sound a bit harsh on Blackpool for which I apologise, but I don't like Blackpool either.


Sadly I hate to do this but have to agree about Blackpool as I am a sandgrown un but that is progress in a bad way.Now stag do's ,hen parties but over the years brought a vast amount of pleasure to thousands and thousand of people form the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire when thats all they could afford and Spain was in it's infancy and for somebody to come here 40years ago was virtually unheard of.As comparing Fuengirola to Blackpool totally disagree with your remark as lived in Fuengirola for 7years and apart from souvenir shops and bars absolutely no comparison to Blackpool.Now if you had said Benidorm I would agree with that as at one time they used to advertise it as the Blackpool of Spain but like everything things change and we get older and there is nothing we can do about it.Frigiliana is nice been there quite a few times for our pots plates planters.The only downside there is you have got to have a car as one way in and one way out also enjoy Nerja but even that has been built up to extreme.Y ears ago used to go to the Sunday market right in the centre of Nerja and then they moved it and built apartment block after apartment block and you have still go a rake of Brit bars there and if you like your fish and chips you have got your Cod Father


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## klippenpisser (Sep 21, 2012)

thrax said:


> I've seen several studio and some bigger apartments for rent in Nerja for around €300 a month; if you are careful you should easily be able to afford a fairly decent lifestyle here. If you live in the town you won't need a car as there is a very good local bus service and an even better one to practically anywhere in Spain from the main bus station. Costs about €4 to get a bus to Malaga.


Super! many thanks for positive answer.:clap2:


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## klippenpisser (Sep 21, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> Many thanks! yes half the price i pay here and possibly no damn council tax to pay?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

klippenpisser said:


> Many thanks! yes half the price i pay here and possibly no damn council tax to pay?


the 'council tax' is usually included in the rent

however on some urbanisations with communal pools & gardens there is a community charge to pay - again, sometimes that's included in the rent - but sometimes it isn't, so you need to check before you sign any contracts


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