We have been in Estepona for just over two weeks now, but I don’t think I can really write about the pros and cons of an extended stay here just yet. That said, I can share our experiences so far about getting to know the town.
And first amongst those experiences and wanderings around town would be the time we have spent strolling up and down the waterfront and wandering through the Old Town, or Old Quarter as it often is referred to in Maps and other documents.
As I begin to write this, I am wondering if I should be talking about how lovely it is here given how terrible the winter is at home. As you can see in the first picture, I am sitting out on the terrace of our first apartment working away on the website with the Mediterranean and beach in the background. Whereas, in the second picture, you can see what it looks like on our street at home… a neighbour sent me the photo.
As always, if you click on an image, it will pop up in a larger format for easier viewing.
So please accept my apology if you are offended by these photos of sand, surf and palm trees. For some of you, it may get you thinking about spending some time here next winter instead of having to go through another one like we are experiencing this year.
Map Of the Town
I think it’s best if I use an image from Google Maps to identify the general layout of the town, where we are staying, and where these various places I will be talking about are located. I will pinpoint some of these things in the map below. First of all, the little blue dot being pointed to by a red arrow is exactly where we are currently living in the old town… apartment number two
And, as you can see, I have labelled east and west because I will generally be talking about locations, etc. in terms of those Cardinal directions. I will be referencing the other things I have circled as we go along.
Although I won’t really be talking about it, I have also circled the bus terminal out at the east end of town. If you arrive by bus, that is where you will get off. You can catch a cab around the corner from the terminal to anywhere else in Estepona. Or, if you are travelling to another city by bus, this is where you will depart.
The Red Star
The “Red Star” marks what I consider to be an identifiable central location in town. Radiating up from that point is a red line I have drawn following a main retail street whose name is circled in red, Calle Terraza… the literal translation of that being Terrace Street. Calle Terraza is kind of the dividing line between the two halves of town… as I see it anyway. And definitely a major pedestrian shopping area.
I have pointed to Avenida de España with two large red arrows. It comes into town as a street out in the East End (Avenida Litoral flows into it) and runs as a car accessible road until it ends at a traffic circle at the red star on my map. After that it heads west as a very wide pedestrian walkway running in parallel to the beachfront Paseo.
1. So really, that Red Star sits right on the traffic circle. It’s where the street traffic ends, and the major pedestrian areas begin. Let me show you what you can expect to see at that point.
2. This image shows the incoming traffic on Avenida de España as it approaches the traffic circle from the east end of town.
3. Next up, the pedestrian area heading west begins. This used to be a roadway so that when you came into town as we did in 2017, you could drive straight through right along the waterfront.
4. Standing in the traffic circle looking up Calle Terraza as it starts to wind its way north… I will be showing you what that looks like in a later post. I have also indicated the other major pedestrian shopping street in Estepona, Calle Real, which runs parallel to Avenida de España. As you can see, it crosses Calle Terraza immediately north of the traffic circle.
5. Finally, here is the object I used to identify my “Red Star” location right down on the Paseo… This dog like object. Still not sure what it is, but it is large and easy to locate. I guess I’d better get down there and read the plaque embedded in the stonework. 🙂
So, let’s get to work. The first thing I want to present to you is the lovely waterfront area. It is quite long so I am going to break it down into two sections… east and west. First, we will walk westward from the centre of town to the port area. This is the busiest section of the waterfront… At least that’s how it appears to me. That will be followed by a walk eastward in a second post, which is a less busy, yet still an interesting walk.
The Paseo
There is a very large wide walkway, the “Paseo Marítimo de Estepona” that runs along the edge of the beach for the full length of Estepona from east to west and beyond. This is a common feature in most Costa del Sol towns.
I may well mention it again, but on Sundays, families come out in full force and stroll up and down the Paseo, followed by a lunch at a restaurant somewhere in town. The Paseo, of course gets a lot of use during the week as well, but it is very noticeable on Sunday… and often on Saturday as well if the weather is particularly nice.
I’m going to begin this little photo tour with a video clip I shot on February 4. We had walked up from apartment number one, which is in the West end of town up to this central spot… my “Red Star” area. And it really encompasses a lot of why we come here in the winter. Warm temperatures, sitting on patios, enjoying beverages and good food, and just chillin’. Have a watch.
Heading Westward
1. So, let’s head Westward along the Paseo. As you can see in the first image, there are lots of apartment/condo buildings all joined together that run along this section. And generally, that’s the way it is all the way down to the port. I tried to convince the Love-goddess that that penthouse atop the first building would be a nice spot for us if it ever came up for sale. I think she probably assumed we would have to go back to work to pay for it, so she wanted no part of that. 🙂
2. There are three of these large-scale chessboards set up and we have seen people playing chess with them on several occasions already. A very nice feature.
3. And here you have a full view of the Westward portion of the Paseo. I think I should probably point out that to the right of the Paseo are many wide planted or multipurpose spaces and further to the right there is more walkway and a bike trail. Most of the buildings along this section have storefronts on the ground level. This picture was taken on a Saturday. Gibraltar is off in the distance.
4. Here you can see one of the multipurpose spaces I mentioned. A children’s play area in this case.
5. And on the other side of the multipurpose spaces, you see people walking along in what would have been the old Avenida de España before it was closed and limited to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. So, this whole waterfront pedestrian area is very wide and a lovely spot to spend some time wandering about.
6. Beautiful plantings, but I’m sure absolutely none of these floras are native to this area.
7. One of the things that I like about the Paseo here in Estepona, compared to other towns, is that it has this low concrete wall running for most of its length which is perfect for sitting on. And you do see people like this “tourist” parking themselves on the bench-like feature to rest or… as in this case, a photo-op. 🙂
8. As in most cities and towns along the Costa del Sol, there aren’t that many restaurants that sit directly on the beach, but this is one of the few that does so here.
9. It offers a few tables on the Paseo itself and some indoor seating in the main building, but most of the seating is right down on the beach as you will see here in a second. Note that you often see signs in both Spanish and English on the Costa.
10. And here is the actual beach seating. Some tables sit on a covered deck-like feature and some are right down on the sand.
11. Most of the restaurants that sit directly on a beach in the Costa have one of these small boats filled with sand where your meal can be cooked for you over a wood fire.
12. There is a nice wide bike lane along the waterfront. We will certainly be renting bikes and exploring the route sometime soon. I quite like how they have marked it out. As you can see there are occasionally white bicycle symbols painted on the route, but there are also little round metal symbols embedded in the tiles which you can see better in the next photo.
13. These little guys line both sides of the bike-lane a couple of metres apart.
14. This tower invites more investigation. From a distance, I thought it was a condominium or an office tower. But what really got my attention, the first time I saw it from a ways off was the people standing on the absolute top of the structure, gazing around. If you zoom in you can see people standing on the top in this photograph. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is just an ugly concrete tower that holds a bar/restaurant and observation deck on top and nothing more. I think all the interesting looking shrouding does is hide the ugliness. 🙂
15. Walking westward, you eventually end up at the city’s port. This overhead view is from the website “Marinas del Mediterraneo“. This is the only way I could provide you with an overview of what the whole thing looks like. Interestingly, in this photo, you can also see the local bullring in the background. 🙂
16. Of course there are boats, but there are also a number of condo units and restaurants here as well.
17. And yes, there are fish swimming around in the port. I think these guys are a Mullet species but I’m not absolutely certain. I have seen them in every port we have visited along the Costa del Sol. No one seems to be fishing for them so they’re probably not a desirable species for eating
18. This particular port is also very much a working fishing port as you can see from the number of fishing boats lined up here.
19. There is also a wholesale fish market, Mercamálaga, where catches are auctioned off. This photo is from an article in the regional newspaper “SUR In English” showing potential buyers examining some of the fisherman’s wares. Apparently, no one gets too upset if people wander in just to observe.
20. We will definitely be eating at this restaurant one day when it is less busy. This was the first Sunday after we arrived, and you can see what I mean by all the restaurants are full… or have huge lineups like this.
