1. Suggested routes in Almuñecar where no car is needed.
Route no. 1: “The Historical Route” Start the tour from the big rock at the beach front called “El Peñon del Santo”– it is just in front of our apartment no. 5 (marked as A.5. on the map). It is worth walking up all the stairs to the top of the Rock where you besides the Crucifix have beautiful views to both sides of Almuñecar centre. Here you get a feeling of how the Romans structured the village where they made a factory for salting fish.
After have this view, we suggest you continue your walk towards the Park “Parque Majuelos” – you will pass by the small Spar Supermarket where you find all kinds of international products. But before you go into the park then pass by the local tourist office “Palacete de la Najarra”. It is worth a visit not just because of the tourist information but because in the garden you have a selection of fossils, and the building of the tourist office is beautiful – in Arabic design.
The park “Parque Majuelos” is a beautiful botanical garden where you the find the largest European collection of sub-tropical trees – more then 400 types. Mostly from Cuba and Brasil. And the interesting thing is that the botanical garden has been made around the remains of a Roman salting factory. These salting chambers where started by the “Fenics” in the 4th century BC, and later extended by the Romans. Under one of the largest trees in the park there is a small eating place. Kitchen usually opens after 14 . Her you will get the best Octopus “Calamares” in town. Nice place to sit when it is to hot for walking around. Only open June, July, August until Mid-September. In the park there a lot places with names of the Spanish regions. Normally close to the small eating place there is an old lady making craftwork. You are welcome to look on her work and to speak with her.
Just on the border of the park you find an excellent tapas place called “LA CABAÑA” – all tapas places is described more in detail in a separate Gastronomical Chapter below. If you have time then take some tapas in “LA CABAÑA” if not then you continue the walk by taking the steep road (back road to centre) up to the “San Miguel” Castle. Now you are very close to our apartments 1 and 6 (marked as A.1. and A.6. on the map).
Take a tour inside the Castle (check time table and you must pay), and if time allows then just have a stroll around in the small streets around the castle – and if you are interested then go and see the small museum “Las Siete Cuevas”. If you get lost then remember that you can always get back to the Castle by walking up. The Castle is on the top point. When you finish then head for our apartments 1 and 6 because they are placed just on the corner in between calle San Miguel and Calle Antigua – by walking down the Calle Antigua – you will get to the municipal square (Plaza de la Constitucion) here we definitely recommend you to sit down and have something to drink….and feel the Almuñecar atmosphere. Not far from the municipal square you have the popular tapas bar “Los Pajaritos” (marked as T.4.) – check out the location - but save this experience for another day. Behind this square – you have another square called “Plaza de los Higuitos” – in the corne of this square – Sandra from Sweden has a cosy bar “GRANOS DE CAFE” – where she serves the best shrimp sandwich in the world (in Swedish “smoergaas”) The final point of this route is the local fresh food market “Mercado Municipal” (marked I.2. in the map) where all the locals buy their meat, fish and fruits. Quality is good. In one of the strees besides the “Mercado Municipal” you find an excellent bar/restaurant called “Bocateria La Patata” where the serve many different kinds of baked potatoes. Try it!! “La Patata” is on the street named “Torres Quevedo” where you also have a bike store on the corner called Berbikes.
Route no. 2: “Forgotten Beaches” Maybe the name “Forgotten Beaches” is not the most correct one – but we just want to illustrate that these beaches is not the first that a standard tourist normally will find. Bring cold drinks and sandwiches for this beach day. About drinks and food: Alhambra makes a fantastic special beer called “1995”, or you can just try the normal Alhambra or San Miguel beer. The redwine from “Ribera del duero” is a good alternative to the wellknown Rioja wine. The best white wines are “Barbadillo” or “Rueda”. You can bring: Jamon Serrano (ham), Fuet (sausage), Chorizo (sausage) and olives with you as tapas on the beach. The Sand beach “Playa Calabajio” is “hidden” in the far end of Almuñecar. It is a long walk – so take a local bus or take a taxi (2017 price EUR 7-10). Mostly Almuñecars other beaches are stone beaches. Not far from “Playa Calabajio” but closer to town (besides Velilla) you have the smallest but most beautiful beach in Almuñecar called “EL TESORILLO”. This beach is a stone beach surrounded by rocks and with 2 well operated bars/restaurants – in Spanish called “Chirinquitos”. These are recommended for eating and drinks – try the Andalusian “Paella”.
Route no. 3: “Market day and Flamenco” Start the day with a typical Spanish breakfast consisting of:
Tostada con Tomate (o Mermalada) – toasted bread with pressed tomato (or Mermalade)
Café con leche (café cortado) – coffee with milk (or expresso)
Zumo natural de Naranja – freshly pressed Orange juice
You can get this breakfast in most of the bars around the Friday market – this market is organised on the parking place “Paseo Blas Infante” – each Friday all year around (with very few exceptions) Mostly our guests find the Friday market interesting and it is a good place to shop and take souveniers with you home. If or when you get tired of shopping – then take a walk down the pedestrian street “Pintor Manuel Rivera” and end the shopping day with a drink and tapas. Try f.x. the tuna bread in bar “Café del Mar”.
In the evening (normally Fridays), you can enjoy the best Flamenco show in Almuñecar in “Venta Luciano”. Price in 2017 is EUR 33 for adults (discounts for children). It is obligatory to reserve beforehand. You can make reservation by phone – Venta Luciano 0034 958 631 379. For this price you get more than you can eat and all the wine and beer you want to drink. You will try tapas, sangria, and great food from barbecue. Dessert is water melon. Venta Luciano is placed outside Almuñecar, so either you have to use your own car or take a taxi. We recommend Pacos taxi: 0034 617 792 408 or Sonias Taxi 0034 649 121 831.
Route no. 4: “Food and Tapas” Begin either the tapas tour in “LA CABAÑA” (described in tour 1) or in the tapas street “Calle MANILA”. We make this suggestion because in the final part of the tapas tour the kitchens (Antonia Andaluzi and La China) are open all day around where as La Cabaña and most other bars close the kitchen around 16-17, and then only open in the evening again. You can find detailed descriptions of “LA CABAÑA” and the other suggested tapas bars in the Gastronomical guide section. Here we just give a short introduction:
“Calle Manila” – the “Tapas street” (marked as T.5. in the city map) – all bars in this street serves tapas, so you can freely choose, try and find your favourite. If you want to try both the tapas street and “LA CABAÑA” then you should start early. From the end of the tapas street – then take a stroll along the beach front in direction “EL PEÑON del Santo” (close to A.5. on the city map) . You pass it and search for the “Parque Majuelos”.
“LA CABAÑA”(marked as T.4. in the map) – we think that in very few parts of the world you will find a place where you from a menu can select your free food (in Spanish called “Tapas”). After this bar then head for the San Cristobal beach and walk along it (it is probably a 10-20 minutes walk) until you reach “ANTONIA ANDALUZI”. When you walk along the San Cristobal beach then you can note the location of 2 good eating places right on the beach– restaurant “C.2.BOTOS” and the chirinquito “C.1.PILIKI” (only open in medium/high season)
“ANTONIA ANDALUZI” (marked as T.1.A.) – in our eyes this is the best tapas bar in Almuñecar. Antonia is originally from Bulgaria but she is a fantastic person and has learned the Andalusian cuisine.
“LA CHINA” (marked as T.1.B.) – this bar is hard to describe. You should simple just try it – they serve very good and large tapas. Joaquin is the owner. His son David and other great persons are helping in the bar and creating an excellent and joyfull atmosphere – if you mention our names “Ana from Cuba and Brian from Denmark” – then they will now you are our guests. We are quite sure you will not walk hungry home.
Please note that all these tapas places are described in the FACEBOOK PAGE “FERIE I ALMUNECAR” and also in the Gastronomical guide.
Route no. 5: “Your Own Choice” Based on the descriptions below you can make your own route for this day.
Leave your car in the parking place “Paseo Blas Infante” (I.1.) – except Friday and Sunday where there is market places in the big parking place.
From “Paseo Blas Infante” (marked I.1. in the map) you have easy access to 3 supermarkets:
LIDL – newly renovated in 2017, and has a lot of German products. Beers and wine are fair when you compare quality and price – especially the Spanish wines.
MERCADONA – our favourite local market – great quality and good prices
DIA – the discount market – where you find a lot of discount products but also fruits, bread and meat.
After you leave your shoppings in the car in “Paseo Blas Infante” go in direction of the McDonalds – just on the other side of McDonalds and the police station (where you can get tourist maps) you will will 2 interesting shops:
A small butcher “Boutique de la carne” (marked S.5. on the map) which sells great meat and at very reasonable prices. The owner is specialist in cutting out the cured ham “Jamon Serrano” and he also can pack it (vacuum) so that you can bring it home without any problems.
Just besides the butcher you find a shoe store “Base Activa” (marked S.5. on the map) – here you can find brand sports shoes for cheap money.
Not far from Mercadona you have 1 out of several shops where they sell barbecued chicken. It is called “Asadero de Rio Verde” – it is placed just in front of the public school with the same name “Colegio Rio Verde”. Delicious and fair priced. And you can bring it with you and eat at the beach? This place is more less placed in between I.1. “Paseo Blas Infante” and U.3. Official taxi place. If you cannot find it then just go after the wonderful smell of barbecued Chicken. Of course, the only barbecue chicken around lunch time or in the evening around dinner time.
ICECREAM. Almuñecar has many fantastic ice cream places so we limit ourselves just to recommend 2 where we have always been satisfied:
On the San Cristobal beach – not far away from apartment 5 (marked A.5. on the map) – you will the small icecream bar “D´Jorge” – he has many desserts based on ice cream but also a fantastic cone icecream
Even though “D´Jorge” has a great quality of icecream, the ice cream bar “La Italiana” is a must in our eyes. But we recommend that you do not eat the ice cream desserts before or after a dinner because they are ENORMOUS. The icecream desserts are meal in themselves, so you can even choose to share. “La Italiana is placed just besides the bank “Banc Sabadell”. If you cannot find it then locate U.3. Offical Taxi stop – from here you can see the Bank.
By the way, just besides the U.3. Official Taxi stop, here you will find the speciality shop “Olivares” – they have a lot of international products that you cannot find in the Spanish supermarkets. Furthermore, Olivares also have one of the biggest wine selections.
Just besides “Olivares” – Poul from Denmark has a small office “MW Services”. Poul is an expert in helping foreigners with all the documents – let it be Spanish ID (NIE), tax declarations, so go and see him if you need some paperwork done.
Not far from Almuñecar you have the nice villages of Otivar and Lentegi – these villages are placed in a beautiful mountain area. Take a drive – less than 1 hour each way, and enjoy the peace of these villages. When driving from Almuñecar in direction Jete/Otivar then make a first stop in Torrecuevas, and see the Roman monument. In Jete you will find the most popular local wine producer “Calvente” – you can go wine testing but you MUST make reservation beforehand. In Otivar there is a famous restaurant “El Capricho” where they make Chicken in apple – a local specialty. For lunch and dinner the restaurant gets full, so you have to order beforehand.
Spanish lesson. Would you like to learn some basic Spanish so you can communicate with the locals then we can also help you with that. EUR 10 per time (45 min.) per person. Discounts 10 times for EUR 80. If you already know some Spanish then we can also help you with improving this level. We focus on communication and speaking – not on grammar. Contact Brian Nesgaard Nielsen [email protected] and further information.
Dance lessons – Salsa and Merenque – with Cuban dance instructor. Have fun and at the same time you will learn how to dance Salsa and Merenque. EUR 8 per time (app. 50 min) per person. Discounts – 10 times for EUR 60. More than 1 person – special price just ask. If you are interested contact Brian Nesgaard Nielsen [email protected] and further information.
Route no. 6: “Agua Tropic” – Almuñecars Water Park The water park in Almuñecar “Agua Tropic” is a great place to spend the day with the children. It is placed right by the beach in Almuñecar, and the water in the different swimming pools is cleaned sea water. Agua Tropic is only open in the summer period from End June to beginning og September. You are allowed to bring your own food and drinks to the water park (just not glass bottles and glass materials).