After leaving Gibraltar, we immediately bolted for Estepona where we had a hotel booked for our next night’s stay out on the road. Not much of a drive really. It is only 46.7 km between the two towns. We drove on the A–7 to get there rather than the four-lane AP-7, primarily to avoid paying a toll, but also because the drive along the coast is much more scenic.
ESTEPONA
Estepona is known as the ‘Garden of Costa del Sol” because of the effort that the city puts into offering floral displays all over town. The drive into town and walking around the old town really reflected that – job well done folks.
Arriving and Staying
Once again, in an effort to treat ourselves, we selected possibly the nicest hotel in town, the Hotel Silken El Pilar Andalucía. It is centrally located in the old town and a great base from which to explore the city.
I had contacted the hotel about parking, and they had directed me to the Paseo Maritimo underground parking lot. In spite of a bunch of new construction in the area, Google Maps took us right to where we needed to be. A bit of a hike from the lot to the hotel, was required, but not a bothersome one. The hotel we had selected was on the principal town square, Plaza de las Flores, and did not have road access.
Let’s have a look in and around the hotel.
I made a wee bit of a “faux pas” around the booking of our room. Actually, I will let you decide when it was a faux pas or just a Major Domo act of stupidity. 🙂 When we got to our room, my first thought was “I think I booked a bigger, better room than this”. I quickly searched on my phone for the reservation and discovered one that indicated a special room big enough for three people.
When we went down to the lobby to head out for lunch, I went to the front desk and pointed this out to them. I handed over my phone showing the reservation. They scrutinized my phone, and then said… “Sir, this reservation was for last year.” Ooops! When we were in Marbella, last year I had booked us in here, but subsequently canceled. Fortunately, they were very gracious about my mistake and found it all as amusing as I did… I think. Live and learn!
Eating In Estepona
Immediately after checking in, we went out looking for a place to eat lunch. We found a nice little place, La Casa del Rey, just off the main square.
You will notice some umbrellas covering a seam in the awning of the restaurant in the upcoming pictures. When we arrived and headed out, it was raining ever so slightly… This is only the second time I have ever felt rain fall on me in the five years that we have been coming to the Costa del Sol – and, the first time was two or three days before that. It was very unusual, except that I could barely feel the rain and felt no need to put up my travel umbrella or get inside. It ended just as quickly as it had started.
This little picture portrayal shows you the places in which we ate lunch, dinner, and then breakfast the next morning. I’ve also included photos of the receipts so you can see what the pricing is like. I am starting with this section because, honestly, after we had lunch, we didn’t do a whole lot of wandering around town before dinner because of the chance of rain.
This is probably a good time to speak about how we approach breakfast dining when we are on the road travelling. We definitely try to avoid eating the breakfast on offer in the hotels in which we are staying. You are seriously overpaying for convenience if you do so.
We will often do a little walk about around the hotel area looking for a place for breakfast before we pack it in on our first evening in town. On this adventure stop, we selected the “La Italiana” shown in the photos.
To give you an idea of the difference in pricing, our travel companions chose to eat at the hotel and paid €15 each, i.e. €30. They enjoyed the breakfast and didn’t mind paying the extra money for the convenience. As you will see, the total cost for our breakfast was €10.90, and the restaurant was just around the corner from our hotel so not much of a stretch to get there. This little system works for us, but we realize, as the French say, chacun à son goût.
The Old Town and The Waterfront
Although we did want Joan and Bruce to see this end of the Costa, we also had ulterior motives for going to Estepona ourselves. Having already stayed in Marbella and Nerja a couple of times each, and not being totally in love with Fuengirola, we wanted to see if Estepona would be worth considering for next year’s winter getaway. It is definitely under consideration.
Estepona has a very large old town, and it is well preserved and nicely kept up. And quite a bit of it is residential in nature, so a very vibrant community. Somehow, I had it in my head that Estepona was generally flat. I was mistaken as you will see in the photos. 🙂
This next photo grouping shows bits of the old town, one of the pedestrian shopping and dining streets, and the town’s waterfront. All within easy strolling distance of the hotel.
MARBELLA
Then, on to Marbella. This would just be a pitstop, not an overnight visit. It was a very interesting and different experience, pulling into town, basically as a tourist rather than as a resident.
Basically, we wanted to show Joan and Bruce the two places where we had stayed previously and then enjoy a stroll and a lunch on the waterfront. The less-than-ideal weather we had experienced in Gibraltar and Estepona was long gone the morning we woke up and headed to Marbella.
The photos reflect the fast and furious nature of our visit.
A simple driving tour up or down the Costa del Sol is a worthwhile undertaking while you are staying there. It is a good idea to see as many of the towns along the coast as you can to help you formulate an idea as to where you might best enjoy staying in subsequent years.
Home and chilled out in our new apartment. Perhaps it’s time to get dressed. 🙂
