Driving around Andalusia: Cadiz to Marbella

Day 1 to 5: Malaga to Cadiz
Day 6: Drive Cadiz -> (Medina Sidonia) -> Vejer de la Frontera -> Zahara de los Atunes -> Tarifa (2.5 hours); stay at Tarifa at an Airbnb
Day 7: Visit Bolonia
Day 8: Diving and beach day in Tarifa
Day 9: Drive from Tarifa to Marbella (1.5 hours); stay at Marbella at Eden Roc apartments
Day 10: Visit Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda
Day 11: Explore Marbella
Day 12: Fly back from Malaga


Driving from Cadiz to Tarifa through Vejer and Zahara

I think by now, we were slowly getting closer to the heart of Andalusia, with its changing landscapes and breath-taking locations. The drive from Cadiz to Tarifa turned out to be much greener. There were some hills on the way and many green farms with windmills. And we saw people paragliding from those hills, all along the route. There were also many bull cutouts put up on top of some of those hills, which were visible from very far. And as we drove past the fields, we did see a lot of bulls on the farms too, being bred for local bull-fighting – it was clear which part of the country we were in 😊.

Streets of Vejer de la Frontera

We first stopped at Vejer de la Frontera, a charming village in white located on top of a mountain. We initially landed in the newer part of town which also had all white houses but felt quite new. Then we walked to the old town and feel in love with the place. The architecture in the village showed some definite Moorish influence. The narrow market streets in white, winding paths going up the castle, small shops selling all types of handicrafts and flowers everywhere. It just had a very fun vibe to it. 

Art on the streets

Streets of Vejer

Vejer de la Frontera

We walked up to a viewpoint from where you could see the whole city below. We passed by a few of the churches and the Castille on the way. They were all closed though. At times we passed some interesting architecture, like archways above the paths. We saw some interesting art on the streets, passed by a square which was in the same Pathaan song as Cadiz and also passed by a statue of the nuns from the convent here (which looked more scary than inspiring).

Square in town

The whole time, we just kept exploring the streets of this beautiful village. We also had lunch at a restaurant on the edge of the city, called Singular speciality coffee. The coffee was nice, but it was too windy and relatively cold that day, so wasn’t as fun to sit outside.

Our next stop on the way to Tarifa was Zahara de los Atunes. When we took the detour to drive into town, we wondered if we had come to the wrong place. The buildings and the look felt quite non-descript. Spread out and totally empty. Till we walked onto the beach where we saw our best beach sunset of the entire trip.

Sunset at Zahara

The beach at Zahara is huge, very wide, with soft sand and spread out till where the eyes could see. And there was no one on the beach. The sun was just setting and the colours of the sunset were reflecting on the sand where the waves were wetting the sand. It was a dazzling scene all around. The weather was comfortable too, with a warm breeze blowing. I don’t think I can explain how magical it was to be there. We walked along the beach for a while and loved every moment of being there. Apparently this is one of those locations where the Spanish holiday, so it was empty when it was ‘colder’ in Spain. The beach is apparently brimming with activity in summer, but come falls becomes deserted.


Tarifa and around (Bolonia)

While staying in Tarifa, we mostly chilled as we had had such a hectic past few days. One of the days, after sleeping in all day, we drove to a nearby beach town of Bolonia. And we were awestruck again. First of all, it’s a hidden town. When we turned from the highway, we had to drive a bit through forested mountains (which were totally fogged out while where we came from was at 20 degrees!) before we finally got to the town.

Roman forum at Bolonia

And then suddenly the beach and its surroundings came into view. Archaeologists have found Roman ruins right on the beach, and these ruins are open for the public to explore. As you walk there, you can see the remains of the old Roman forum, the shops, workshops, market square, amphitheatre and so on, while being right between the beach and sea on one side, and green forested mountains on the other. It was quite a pleasure to be there. The ruins are quite well preserved actually, with even the statues in the temple still standing. (These ruins were also spotted in the 5th season of Crown. Its interesting after coming back from this trip, I keep seeing lot of those spots in movies and series I watch. It looks like Spain is quite popular with location hunting for sure).

Sunset at Bolonia beach

After the ruins, we walked to the beach and had a seafood lunch at one of the shack restaurants, called the Otero Bolonia. By that time, it was time for sunset and we saw another spectacular one, orange on one side and pink on the other. We had initially tried to walk up to the big dune to see the sunset, but we didn’t make it in time, and just saw the colours down below from the beach.

The next day we spent exploring Tarifa. It is known as the southernmost point of mainland Europe and is only 20 miles from Morocco. In fact, you can see the mountains of Morocco (Tangiers) on the other side of the sea, from anywhere in town. The locals also run ferries from Tarifa to Tangier on a daily basis for tourists.

Meeting of the seas

Tarifa is a town more popular among Spanish tourists, mostly as a wind surfing spot, as given its location, it’s always windy there. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side, rougher but with beaches. And the Mediterranean on the other, bluer, calmer but with rocky edges. We also tried to walk to the southernmost point of mainland Europe but it was closed. We did however get a good photo of where the seas meet, and saw how different they are.

During the day, I went diving nearby and had a good dive, spotting octopuses, flounders and many other kinds of fishes in the water. We had lunch at the El chiringuito, a seaside eating which was a nice place by the sea to have a meal. The rest of the day we walked along the beach which was quite huge and warm. There were also lot of other ruins and old buildings everywhere in town. 

The town was not as charming though, it felt rustic and slow. The old town was fine to walk around but not as grand and imposing as some of the other places we had visited. It was still pretty though with colourful houses everywhere, small corner shops which were always open and lot of people around. We walked through the old town even at night but it was quite empty actually, as it wasn’t the peak summer season.

Sunset at our airbnb

We stayed in an Airbnb, the Tarifa apartments and it was mind-blowing. The Airbnb was so nice, that we actually decided we should spend more time chilling in the apartment and making use of it. It was a very well setup apartment slightly away from the city centre and the sunset views from the balcony were to die for. The first day itself we saw a deep red sunset, which was mind-blowing. Overall, we enjoyed our stay in Tarifa a lot.


Marbella

The drive from Tarifa to Marbella was quite short, it was all along the coast and lined with resorts and really luxurious settlements and holiday homes all along the way. The views all along were breath-taking. You could also sense it just by looking around, how popular and luxurious the whole coast is.

Marbella beach

Marbella felt a lot posher than the other places we stayed in. And it was also a lot more crowded than other places we went to. Marbella stretches out all along the coast, providing easy access to the beach everywhere. It had wide tree lined avenues, and lot of new modern buildings all around. And tons of shops, restaurants and anything else needed for a busy seaside resort.

Sunset from our airbnb

We stayed near the city centre, around the del Faro beach, in an Airbnb looking out onto the beach. The Airbnb was not as great as the pictures indicated but its location was perfect. We were right on the waterfront, with all eating places right outside our door. We saw some captivating sunsets and sunrises from our windows, and also had good music from the restaurants giving us a nice background score during the evenings.

Every morning very early on, we could hear noise from cleaning trucks and realised that the streets were washed every day in the morning. No wonder all of Spain felt so extremely clean to me. Also no one used to be on the streets before 12 on any day, it really helped us get more lazy too by the end of our trip 😊.

The days we stayed in Marbella, we didn’t really go anywhere. We would just walk out and walk all along the beach, once this side and once the other. It was lined with beaches, palm trees, lighting and lot of crowds all the time. We also ate at a few places, the Bungalow and the Tiantra. And this was the first place during our trip we found the food to be expensive.

Running in Marbella

One day I went running for quite a distance, all the way till Playa des Nagueles. And once the waterfront promenade ended, it turned into a kachcha track. And there I felt was a place where one should stay, where there were less crowds. It felt slow and nice there, so different than where we had stayed. Overall, we didn't do much in Marbella, though I am sure there were more things to do around like some hikes etc.. But we didn't explore enough, just the beaches, as the rest felt too touristy and crowded for my taste.


Ronda and Setenil

Streets of Setenil

One of the days, we drove to some villages near Marbella which are quite popular. The first one was Setenil de las Bodegas which is built in white, over rocky outcrops and next to cliff walls. The drive there was through vast fields and huge villages in the valleys.

Setenil

In Setenil, we first walked through the shops which were quite busy, and then we just walked along the village wherever we wanted to. We came across some very pretty streets and squares, which were just a pleasure to walk around.

Cave houses of Setenil

Lot of the houses which were built right next to the cliffs, and had the cliff faces as one of the walls of the houses. They were all called cave houses but I would say they were cliff houses 😊. The village was quite spread out, and we walked up and down quite a lot, enjoying a nice lazy lunch too on one of the climbs.



After that, we drove to Ronda which even on the outskirts felt like a huge rich town. We parked somewhere, and then walked through the market towards the main cliff. As we kept walking through the streets, we were impressed by the vibrancy and culture of the place. The markets were full of some great stuff to buy. It was quite obvious, there was something different about this town, I still don’t know what it is though.

Ronda

We crossed a bull ring, and then reached the famous cliffs (nad bridge) – what a view that was. The buildings coming to an end, the sheer drop down and an empty vast valley below. We also realised that the centre of the city was at its edge, not the centre. We walked along the ridge, and past the famous bridge.

Bridge of Ronda

We then walked down an unpaved path to get a full view of the arches of the bridge. The place was magical, right out of something like Lord of the Rings. It was great to be there and felt like this city is from a different era. We just kept walking around like this, enjoying the view of the houses on the cliffs, the wonderful bridge, and wondered what made them construct it like this.

We had a great day at these two villages and it was tough to come back. We took a different route while coming back, and this one was through high mountains with too many turns. It was not a pleasant drive since we could not see much around. But the moon followed us all around, almost full by this day. And soon we were back in the madhouse called Marbella.


Coming back

View from Stupa

For the drive back from Marbella to Malaga (for my flight), there were two options – to take the highway or the coastal road. And I chose the small coastal road as smaaler roads are always more interesting. And it was a stunning drive. All along was the sea, the cool breeze, the road and then the resorts – there was something exhilarating about this drive, and it is one of the best drives I have done. Totally worth it. I also midway stopped at the Benalmadena Stupa. It was a quiet place to enjoy some peace and admire the whole expanse of houses below. It felt here like the whole south coast of Spain was a long stretch of holiday homes and resorts. Everywhere. So after the drive, the airport and flying back felt so drab.


Overall, I loved this driving trip around Andalusia. The old Moorish towns and the seaside relaxation, it was such a good combination. My favourite town was Granada. Favourite beach was Zahara. And favourite village to visit was Ronda. Overall, I loved the diversity of places to visit, in terms of landscape, history and beauty. It was perfect in every sense. It also feels like Spain is slowly becoming quite a favourite destination of mine, slowly… 😊


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