roadtripping Andalusia

Looking to escape winter in December, you can’t go wrong with Andalusia and neither did we. It is always sunny, the landscapes are absolutely beautiful, the food delicious and road-tripping is just so much fun.

The sides to visit and activities are countless so you might need to plan ahead, especially if you’re planning a short stay. Our trip was only 4 days long and we wanted to see as much as possible so the schedule was rather busy but hey, everyone does as they please. You can see our itinerary below - don’t hesitate to get inspired.

You can find a full map with all recommendations here.

Day 1: Malaga - Nerja - Frigiliana

Even though we travelled by a direct Ryanair roundtrip from London to Malaga Costa del Sol airport, we didn’t plan anytime in Malaga itself. Maybe because of it’s reputation as a touristic resort maybe not, the fact is that was off our list and after picking our rental car at the airport, we headed directly to the beautiful village of Frigiliana.

Located only 1-hour drive from Malaga, this was one of the highlights of our trip and definitely a perfect starting point. The village is absolutely beautiful, all white-washed and located on top of the hill overlooking the valley and the sea far on the horizon. The cobbled streets are absolutely picture-perfect, especially off-season like December (I can imagine they can get quite crowded in the summer).

Even though the most recommended place to eat in Frigiliana is Restaurante El Jardín (mostly because of its view), we decided to stop in a more inconspicuous place and had our lunch in this little gem of a restaurant: El Conventillo located on a cute square right in front of the church and serving delicious home-cooking by the nicest lady. Culinary kick off of the trip: Yum!
We stopped in El Jardin afterwards for a drink and a view is indeed beautiful!

For the night, we rented this amazing flat on Airbnb in the nearby town of Nerja. It is located outside of the city but right on the beach with a direct view on the sea from its balcony. Perfect. Visiting off-season, Nerja doesn’t have as much to offer (apart from its famous caves) but is a great opportunity for a scenic sunset walk on the beach. The main square is surrounded by various terraces where you can stop for a cerveza or two, but it’s further off the centre where you’ll find THE spot for tapas. It was a completely random and intuitional choice for us bur quickly gained the name of the best tapas experience EVER: La Puntilla on Calle Bolivia. Not convinced? All tapas come free with a glass of a beverage or €1 on its own. Total win.

Day 2: Competa - Sevilla

The next day we set our course to Sevilla but decided to leave the highway and get lost in the cordillera spreading along the coast. This way we got to stop for perfect morning walk and delicious huevos for breakfast in the village of Cómpeta - another scenic stop hidden in the mountains and serving beautiful views.

The ride is very scenic all the way until you meet the main highway again but takes a lot more time that following good old navigation. We arrived to Sevilla in the afternoon and because of some troubles checking into our Aribnb (still, amazing location and so typical!), we had much less time to discover the city than we would have liked to. Still, Sevilla enchanted us with its beautiful architecture and lively vibe - a must visit again. Even if only to try the famous bocadillo de serrano once more.

Day 3: Caminito del Rey - Ronda

Day 3 of our trip was planned for a hike in a famous Caminito del Rey - a walkway created on the steep walls of narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Ardales. It’s not a free walk, on contrary - it is a very organised and rather popular destination for both Spanish and foreigners but still well worth visiting if you like walking and being in nature.

In the evening we headed to the ancient city of Ronda to watch a beautiful sunset over surrounding mountains and eat wonderful seafood in Los Cazadores. Recommended to us by our Airbnb host, this restaurant has no set menu but serves whatever catch they have in the fridge this day. Amazing!

Day 4: Juzcar - Benalmadena - Malaga

Our last day was focused on slowly returning to Malaga as our plane was taking off in the afternoon. Once again we decided to leave the highway and take side-ways in the mountain to enjoy Andalusian landscapes as much as possible (what caused us fear for being stuck in the middle of nowhere with almost empty tank but that’s a different story…). We had our breakfast and the last Spanish huevos in Juzcar - village all painted blue for the recent production of the “Smurfs” (sic!) and stopped in Benalmadena to see the picturesque Colomares “castle” (it’s actually very tiny and opened only few days a week so make sure to check in advance!).

Andalusia is definitely on our list of the places to go back to - pass a whole weekend in Seville, visit Cordoba, Granada, Gibraltar… Next time!