Top tourist attractions in Malaga coast

By Loren in Andalusia

When I think of holidays in Malaga, I inevitably imagine those marvellous beaches full of colours beautifying the city.  Torremolinos, Marbella, Torrox, Manilva, Fuengirola, Estepona, Benalmádena, Vélez-Málaga… All these places and municipalities form some of the most important tourist centres of this Andalusian province which has been forged based on light, sea and culture.

The most traditional holidays in the Malaga coast are those that you can find in Torremolinos, where Mediterranean lovers go year after year to enjoy a leisure time with the entire family.  Hotels in this locality of Malaga make up a really mixed offer, making very easy to find a hotel for families next toAqualand or a complete accommodation in front of Torremolinos beach.

 

IBEROSTAR Malaga Beach

IBEROSTAR Malaga Beach

The advantage of booking an accommodation in Torremolinos over other areas of Malaga, is that it is at one step from the city and just 10 minutes drive from the airport.  Another option is to opt for a hotel in the centre of Malaga, since in the city is everything: leisure activities for children, a wide agenda of cultural plans during the whole year, nightlife and beach. Besides, in the beaches of the Malaga city are placed some of the traditional kiosks which will delight the gastronomy lovers.

Very close to the Malaga city, towards Levante, we will find another classic of the coastal holidays in this province: Rincón de la Victoria, a cultural beach tourist area, very appreciated by nature lovers: hiking, golf, water sports and, in general, all kinds of activities in the open.  It has a very homely atmosphere and a very traditional cuisine, standing out the boquerones victorianos (Victorian anchovies).

TRH Paraíso Beach & Golf Hotel

TRH Paraíso Beach & Golf Hotel

Estepona is other interesting option, less crowded but with excellent services for families and long sand beaches.  The accommodation in Estepona also offers a wide versatility, sticking out especially the hotels in the area of El Paraiso specialised in gold, wellness and family holidays, very close to another relevant tourist area in Malaga: the glamorous Marbella.

Puerto Banús, San Pedro de Alcántara, The Golf Valley… All the environment of Marbella is just spectacular and really recommended for a getaway with you partner in any time of the year. Accommodations in this area are usually luxury resorts and hotels in Malagadedicated to the golf or to the equestrian sports, some of them are authentic architectural treasures and offer an experience that goes beyond the destination.

But for those who have a tight budget, by Estepona towards the southern part, is placed the Casares bay, another important tourist area of Costa del Sol.  It is a less jammed and more traditional tourist area.  Accommodation is varied and, in general, inexpensive.  Casares is one of the most beautiful towns of Malaga and offers the opportunity of living different holidays, enveloped by an aura of magic and history.

In the outskirts of Casares is located Manilva, a small tourist centre of Malaga where you can enjoy the most traditional oenology and cuisine: baked sardines and fried fish, sweet and fruity wines… All this mixed with a really impressive cultural heritage and dream beaches such as Cala Chullera and Las Arenas Beach.  The accommodation in this area of the Malaga coast is less varied than in other bigger places with more tourism tradition, but, even so, it is easy to find a good coastal hotel or a golf resort in the surroundings of the town.

Pinares de Cartaya, the Huelva route for athletes

By Loren in Andalusia

The route going across Pinares de Cartaya, in the Huelva province, is one of the most famous for its excellent orography for extreme sports.  Scene of numerous competitions, as the recently celebrated XIII Marathon BTT, it offers spectacular spots which represent an unique added value for those who come to this area of Costa de la Luz in search of nature and sport holidays.

Pinares de Cartaya is an area of 29,600 acres where is placed the forest heritage of this municipality in the Huelva coast, mainly based on a Mediterranean forest where you can find the stone pine,  phoenicean Juniper, and the characteristic large-fruited Juniper, as well as examples of the Canary Island pine, holm oak, cork tree and bracken.

Barcelo Punta Umbria Mar Hotel

Barcelo Punta Umbria Mar Hotel

The reservoir of the Piedras river, views of the beautiful Flecha de El Rompido, reservoir of Los Machos, Arroyo Gordo, Las Madamas or Alto del Madroño are some of the places that you can enjoy by this natural route.  Here you will contemplate a very diverse landscape, with stony paths winding up among the marshes and the native vegetation which is in all its splendour these spring months.

Some hotels in Punta Umbría, such as Barceló Punta Umbría Mar, offer the possibility of booking directly with companies of guided tours in quad bike or bicycle by this area of the marshes of the Piedras river. You can take part in the tours during the whole year, if you want to drive the quad bike, bear in mind that your driving license is required.

If you book a hotel in El Rompido, you can also go by the opposite route, visiting the marshes of the Odiel river and the natural reserve of La laguna de Portil, another treasure of this amazing area of the Huelva coast.

Garden Playanatural Hotel & Spa

Garden Playanatural Hotel & Spa

Nature and sport in the Dunas de Doñana Golf Resort

By Luke Durden in Andalusia

Today’s review is dedicated to the Dunas de Doñana Golf Resort hotel, an idyllic complex of studies and apartments located in a privileged place of Costa de la Luz, the first sustainable golf course in all of Europe. 

It is a hotel for families and couples located in Huelva, in the Matalascañas locality, a few 200 metres from the sea, next to the Doñana National Park and only a few 13 km from the small village of El Rocío.  In addition, around the complex there is extensive vegetation that creates a very special environment where you can spend pleasant holidays playing golf or just enjoying the place.

The complex has different kinds of lodging, studies, apartments with one or two bedrooms and master suites.  The studies have cosy spaces with kitchenette, terrace and agreeable visits to the golf course.

The apartments of Dunas de Doñana Hotel in Huelva have one or two rooms, especially made for families since it can take in several persons.  Besides it has complete services as kitchen, fridge, microwave or TV.

The master suites of the Dunas de Doñana Golf Resort are without a doubt the treasure of the complex, with spacious areas equipped with all the necessary amenities.  With two bedrooms, living room, four complete bathrooms, toilet, kitchen and private terrace, these suites are the perfect lodging where you can find the privacy that you need when you are on holiday with family,  An exclusive pleasure to enjoy all the amenities next to the sea, do sport and relax.

The Dunas Doñana Golf Resort complex is specially made for families and, that is why it has a series of services designed for this type of public, as social activities for children and adults, playground, mini club or equipped rooms for several persons.

Among its services, stands out the free car park, welcome amenities, buffet restaurant or the choice of booking preferential green fees in the golf course.  Besides, it also offers to its customers the possibility of living a “Rociera experience” with the visit to a typical house of the small village of El Rocío where you can taste the cuisine of the area and enjoy a flamenco show.

Hotel Key factors:

–       Golf course

–       Lodgings with kitchen

–       Free car park

The most natural coast of Andalusia

By Luke Durden in Andalusia

For those thinking about organizing active tourism holidays for 2014, there is an economical destination with services for all types of travellers, which combines incredibly everything that a nature and marine lover could ask for. It is the famous Costa de la Luz, between Cadiz and Huelva.

These stunning coastal marshes, canals and infinite natural parks together with long sandy beaches, extend from La Linea de la Concepcion to Ayamonte passing by such well known areas as Tarifa, Zahara de los Atunes, Conil de La Frontera, San Fernando, Punta Umbria and Isla Canela.

Confortel Calas de Conil Hotel

Confortel Calas de Conil Hotel

Nature here has names that are well known throughout the world as some of the most beautiful areas of the planet.  This is the case of the Doñana National Park, with the spectacular canals of Guadiana and the mouth of one of the most important rivers in Spain, the Guadalquivir.

The Doñana park, declared as World Heritage by UNESCO, is perfect to visit at any time of the year, but it is in winter when you can appreciate the enormous number of aquatic birds living there. According to a study of the area, this number can reach around 200,000 each year with 300 different species.

With regard to other animals living in the park, we must highlight the Iberian lynx, a protected species, native to the area and considered to be one of the most at risk of disappearing from the planet. For some years, there has been a very successful breeding  plan for the Iberian lynx .

To visit the Doñana park, a good option is to reserve a hotel in La Barrosa, one of the most beautiful beaches of Chiclana de la Frontera, or a hotel in Punta Umbria, near to another outstanding natural park, Los Enebrales of Punta Umbria. This area is also a perfect place for an active family holiday because it offers many activities with children in Huelva and additionally is very near to the centre of the city.

A little further on, following the coast to Ayamonte, we find a paradise of sea and sand by the mouth of the river Piedras, the beach of El Rompido, one of the few extensive virgin sandy areas that remain in Spain.  This is the perfect destination for a romantic break and as a matter of fact in the surroundings can be found some of the best hotels for Adults Only in El Rompido, perfect with good prices.

Passing the marvellous marshes of the River Piedras, the nature of the Costa de la Luz offers us another singular place where it is essential to dedicate at least a morning, capturing with your camera the extraordinary lights and colours of this outstanding area.

These are the marshes of Isla Cristina, very near to the area of resorts in Isla Canela and hotels in Islantilla, but preserved from all human pressure.  The marshes are intact and full of life, but nearby to golf courses, leisure centres, the most beautiful beaches in Huelva and the charming villages such as Ayamonte.

Barcelo Punta Umbria Mar Hotel

Barcelo Punta Umbria Mar Hotel

To plan a journey to the Costa de la Luz is relatively easy because connections are good and the price of accommodation is within budget. It is also an interesting route for those with young children, thanks to the outside activities offered by the destination, combining beaches with natural landscapes where they can always learn something new about the environment.

Before leaving it is important to check out the events offered by the town halls and tourist offices of the towns and villages you will be visiting or where you will spend the night.  All have an ample offer of workshops, guided hiking trips, ecology courses etc. that can be the perfect complement.

As a starting point for this route along the Costa de la Luz, you could book the hotel in Calas de Conil Cadiz and follow the coast to the frontier with Portugal, spending at least one night in the places we have underlined.  This is it, the perfect plan for a week, next to nature, the sea and fun with the family.  Who’s up for it?

 

 

 

Confortel is committed to their hotels in Andalusia

By Luke Durden in Andalusia

The summer season of 2013 is almost over, and the time comes to make assessments and evaluations.  Although, in general, it seems that this year the results have been positive for the tourism industry, some tourist areas have performed better than others. Majorca continues to lead the month of August, compared to the Canary Islands which have the months when it is cold on the mainland. Andalusia is improving, without a spectacular increase, before the northern parts which still have a long way to compete against destinations like Malaga, Huelva or Cadiz.

Hotel Confortel Fuengirola

Hotel Confortel Fuengirola

If we look at the support for Andalusia as destination, a Spanish hotel chain that has shown great efforts in this regard, is Confortel Hotels, that has 4 hotels in the region and stands out for its commitment to ensure a quality hotel service, even at mature destinations as is the case of Fuengirola.

Hotels Confortel en Andalucia

Hotels Confortel en Andalucia

Besides being a pioneer hotel chain in the construction of upmarket tourism in the Andalusian coast – Confortel owns the first hotel ever in Islantilla -, it has continued to advance in its idea to offer something more to travellers who choose the south of Spain as a destination to spend their summer. In its portfolio, you can find from one of the best all inclusive hotels in Calas de Conil to a design hotel on the beach of Fuengirola.

They are all 4 star hotels offering full services, a cutting edge design and a privileged location. In addition, the majority offer free Wi-Fi, conference and meeting rooms, parking, mini club and areas for relaxation and sport.

Confortel’s idea has been taken up, with more or less success, by other competing hotel chains, raising the level of services offered at hotels in Malaga, Cadiz and Huelva, areas in which the spectacular weather and its traditional market position as top holidays destinations had clouded certain aspects of a professional tourist service, all of which are of key importance for the traveller of the XXI century.

The implication of the hotel industry to provide a higher quality product is essential to maintain the level of income tourism provides in Spain: waiting for external matters benefit our country before another is simply not an solution.