We had a short trip to Andalucia between Xmas and New Year 2022, leaving on Boxing Day.
First stop was the cave town of Guadix, a drive of just under 4 hours from Orba. Gaudix is famous for its cave houses, where a large percentage of the population live in the Barrio de Cuevas. The landscape of sandstone and clay formations and chimney pots is quite spectacular. Several movies including one of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed here. It was very interesting to look round the cave area, and there are some viewpoints that are worth the climb for fabulous views over the town – Mirador de la Magdalena and Mirador el Cerro de la Bala. It is definitely worth visiting the interesting and informative Cave Museum on Plaza Del Padre Poveda – open 10-2 and 4-6 – which is set up in a cave, and shows what a cave house would have looked like in the past.
The Cathedral in Guadix is also worth a visit. It’s open 10.30 – 2.30 and 4 – 6 and be sure to climb up the narrow winding staircase to the bell tower for views over the city. It’s quite a climb, but worth it.
Worth a mention is the fantastic restaurant we visited in Guadix, Vinoteca El Refugio. We had a great meal including an amazing salad with the most delicious burrata mozzarella we have ever eaten, and morcilla toast with the tastiest morcilla (black pudding) we have ever eaten. The wine (Kabila) was so nice we bought a bottle to take away!
We stayed in Habitaciones Las Termas, a nice place in the centre, just along from the Cathedral. The hotel is built round a courtyard, has lots of character and charm and the owner was very friendly. Our room was comfortable. We didn’t have a fridge but liked the fact that each floor had a water cooler so you could get fresh cold water whenever you wanted. Breakfast isn’t included and we struggled to find somewhere close by (there seemed to be a lack of bars and restaurants for the size of the town) but eventually found a place called Cafe Park Pepe where we got coffee and tostada. We didn’t need to have lunch because we had a couple of drinks and were given substantial free tapas each time (a great thing about bars in Andalucia!)
We stopped in the village of Iznájar on our drive to our next stop Antequera. There are two things there that make it worthy of a visit – the beautiful blue lake and the lovely Patio de las Comedias full of flowers and blue plant pots. Unfortunately as we drove into Iznájar we could see that the lake was really low, and although it was a sunny day, the colour was more snot green than bright blue! The patio was very pretty though.
Next stop was Antequera. We’ve been there before so we had done the touristy things such as the castle, the fascinating Dolmens and the spectacular rock formations at El Torcal. We liked the town though and decided to spend another night there. Their Christmas lights were beautiful and the town had a real buzz about it. We stayed at Hotel Infante which was very nice and centrally located.
After leaving Antequera we drove to Ardanes to do the Caminito del Rey. We have published several photos on another blog – so, click here to view them, along with video links and more information on this spectacular walk.
Next stop was Mijas. It’s a pretty white village on a hillside with spectacular views over the coast. It is quite touristy, but in a nice way with some nice craft shops, bars, restaurants, etc. There is also a small modern art museum with exhibits from Picasso and Dali.
We stayed at La Posada de Mijas and our room was spotlessly clean, with a comfy bed, large fridge & kitchen area and a walk-in shower – excellent value for money. It’s in a good, central location and staff were very friendly. Breakfast wasn’t offered but there are plenty of places to go nearby. We liked La Panaderia de Maria Quero, where you can get a very nice coffee, freshly made croissants, etc. If you fancy a more substantial breakfast, Mango Cafe offers a large selection of english breakfast foods, bacon, sausages, rolls, eggs benedict, etc.
We had a couple of nice meals in Mijas. The first night we had dinner at Restaurant La Reja, partly because it appeared to be the only place open after 8pm!! Normally in Spain, places don’t open till 8pm and we thought that a touristy place would be busy till late – wrong!! Anyway, we had nice food. The Chicken La Reja was delicious and the Pork Stroganoff also nice.
The following night we ate at Restaurant Meguinez, where we had duck with fruits of the forest sauce and a chicken and vegetable skewer with the most tender chicken. Another success!
We struggled to find bars open in the evening but worth a mention are the friendly Muskoka Cafe and La Bodega del Pintor which seemed to be the only place that opened late. Both places seemed to be popular for food too.