Lagos Bus Station on the Algarve

"Look there's the Lagos bus station!" called my wife as I was putting our suitcases into the boot of the car in the morning. We had spent the night at the Marina Rio Hotel in Lagos before moving on to San Bras de Alportel, inland from Faro for another two nights over Easter. She knows my interest in bus stations and bus stops!

I grabbed my camera and got a picture of the Marina Rio Hotel to show how close it was to the Lagos bus station in the background on the left. Coincidentally when I got back there was an email waiting for me from Katie asking about travelling to Portugal by bus from Granada via Gibraltar and La Linea , so refreshed by my latest trip to Portugal I put together a page for her about taking the bus from Granada to Faro on the Algarve

Let me just say along the way that the Marina Hotel which overlooks the marina is brilliant value for money. The hotel is clean and modern and the direct reservation and check in experiences were excellent. It was 67.5 euros for the night including a first class breakfast, the kind you want to linger over.

We had left Marbella in pouring rain on Easter Thursday morning, been stopped by a hail storm just outside Sevilla, braved the western exit from Sevilla and then driven to the Algarve, exploring Isla Cristina in Huelva just before reaching Portugal. It was from here that Cristopher Columbus set off from here in 1492 to discover the Americas.

The weather in Portugal was fine over the weekend, the usual big Atlantic rain clouds but the sun shone and the wine and sea foor was great as always. On the way back, still on the Portuguese side we explored the stretch of coast inland from Olhao to Monte Gordo on the very banks of the river Guadiana just over the river from Ayamonte in Spain. A very interesting looking area.

We chose the Utrera Ronda route back from Sevilla, always my first choice for scenery in rainy or cloudy weather. The traffic was surprisingly disciplined. Maybe it was the eye in the sky helicopter.

Write to me if I can help you with any travel queries. Use the comments link below. I'll be putting up a new contacts page shortly.

Three hours to Marbella

"Three hours? Forget it!" You could drive from Seville to Marbella and back again in less time than it took us to walk from Istan to Marbella along a new track last week.

A new track for my walking friend Philip and myself because we worked out that we have now climbed La Concha, the mountain behind Marbella along 7 different routes.

Do you remember in my October blog last year I told of how low clouds and rain blowing in sideways forced us off the mountain? We waited as patiently as we could for the first opening in the weather this year before setting off again.

We left from just behind the hotel perched above Istan, the little pueblo blanco about 17 kms inland from the coast. A sign marks the departure point and indicates a walk of 3 hours to get to Marbella. It's a great route, very scenic and not at all direct, following the ridges, valleys and contours of the mountain above the La Concepción lake.

The picture shows the summit of the ridge seen from the other side above Marbella. We nearly didn't make it again, you can see the clouds curling from either side of the faint track.

Ten hours after starting out we dropped down onto the coast, just behind the big La Cañada shopping centre. Don't believe all the timings on the signs on the walking tracks you come across on the Costa del Sol!

Saturday morning in Sevilla

Saturday morning in Sevilla in the shadow of the Giralda Cathedral saw these two grooms carrying out running repairs. One is holding the hoof whilst the other swings a small hammer. In the background a driver is discussing prices with two prospective clients.

I took the Málaga Antequera route to Sevilla this time, just for a change. It's about 30 kms longer than the route through Los Barrios down in Cádiz but it's faster. I like to go one way to Sevilla and make the return journey on a different road. One of my favourite roadside ventas is about 50kms before Sevilla. The coffee and local olive oil on toast is to die for.

I was back in Sevilla and checking out the two big bus stations. I get quite a few enquiries about buses from Marbella or Malaga to Portugal and I wanted to sort a few things out although when the AVE (Spains high speed train) connects Sevilla with Malaga later this month and brings the journey time down to 50 minutes, not so many will use the bus for this leg. If you are thinking of taking the bus from Sevilla to the Algarve I have put up some photos of the Estacion Prado de San Sebastian and the Estacion de Plaza de Armas bus stations

I love Sevilla on a Saturday. Smartly dressed Sevillanos proudly board their immaculate new trams and others sit in the sun all around the city sipping fino and eating tapas. They do it with such style as well!

I drove back via Ronda and on the way checked out Zahara de la Sierra. It's a lovely little pueblo blanco (white village) about 19 kms before Ronda, about 16kms from Grazalema and is perched on a peak above a large lake. I'll definitely be spending more time there soon. I have passed it countless times but I'm really glad I had a look around.

The hypermarket in Ronda on the bypass, just on the coast side of the railway line is well worth stopping at for a coffee before dropping down the coast.

Can I help you with any travel enquiries? Leave a question for me in the comment box below.

Christmas Lights in Malaga

Marbella Old Town Christmas lights seen here in side street just over the road from the Plaza de Alameda represent both austerity and hope for the future. It'll take another eight years to balance the books after Jesus Gil's systematic looting of the municipal coffers.

Whereas Gil would spend 400 000 € every year on Christmas lights, (money which Marbella never had) and dazzle his supporters, Mayoress Angeles Muñoz has spent less than half of that this year. Less light bulbs and extravagance but Marbella's future has never looked brighter.

On the subject of Christmas lights, I got an email just before Christmas from Yvonne.

She wrote, " Hi, I want to travel to see the lights in Malaga, can you advise the best way to travel there? I live in Marbella, have a car and am willing to park and ride (train or bus) Also, what times does public transport finish at night (for returning)?

I'd appreciate your advice asap. Many thanks, Yvonne"

I wrote back to Yvonne the next day and I'll put my letter onto my local transport page in a day or so

Los Boliches Train Stop in Fuengirola

I always pick up my emails when travelling and so it was that earlier this month whilst I was in London I replied to an email from a gomarbella reader.

John A had asked me “Can I pull my suitcase between the Los Boliches train stop and the Yaramar hotel on the Paseo Marítimo in Fuengirola, or should I take a taxi?"

Back on the Costa del Sol the very next day, I missed the midday Malaga airport bus to Marbella by minutes and rather than hang around for the next bus I decided to check out the advice I had just given to John and catch the train to Fuengirola, check out how far the Los Boliches stop is from the Yaramar Hotel and then take the bus home to Marbella from Fuengirola.

It was a great train ride from Malaga airport to Fuengirola. Los Boliches is the second last stop before pulling in to the underground train station and I was able to write again to John before he left the UK to come to Spain.

I was lucky with my connections and it worked out that by taking the train to Fuengirola and then the bus to Marbella I got home about 15 minutes faster than if I had waited for the next bus from the airport to Marbella bus station. I had fun on the way home too!

Got any questions about traveling on the Costa del Sol? Write to me on the blog page and I’ll do my best to help you.

Istan to La Concha (6 hours)

Istan is a little white village set back about 17 kms from the coast overlooking the headwaters of the La Concepcion lake. To get to Istan, you turn off inland next to the mosque which is opposite Hotel Puente Romano. La Concha at 1217m is the summit of the Sierra Bermeja range of mountains just behind Marbella.

My walking friend Philip and I had a long standing date to try a route that was new for us from Istan to the top of the La Concha range. This morning I looked up from my terrace just before setting off from home and the clouds which had been hanging over the range seemed to be lifting. We had scheduled this route two months ago so that seemed to be a good omen, I should have checked the weather forecasts on the gomarbella webcam as well!

Setting off from the car park just behind the new Istan Hotel the path was reasonably trodden and marked with small cairns. Some readers might have done the route from Istan to Ojen (6 hours) up the ravine behind the polydeportivo, our path led off in a more south easterly direction to intersect with the top of the range.

A rare patch of sunlight lit up the Istan village in the photo above about half an hour after setting off. The Istan hotel can be seen in the foreground. A stream of clear water gushing from the mountain below us supplies drinking water to the village all year round.

After about 2 hours the clouds began to settle back down, obscuring the peaks. An hour later it was raining and there were clouds blowing upwards from behind us. When the path ended and the only further indications were cairns at intervals on a wet rock knife edge rising above us, with about 25 metres of visibility we took a reality check. I always advise walkers on La Concha to avoid the range when the summit is blanketed in cloud, it is easy to get lost and the work of the local rescue teams is complicated as a result. We turned back.

We'll do it again in the spring next year when we can see where we're going. Would you like to join us?

Spain now and then

Spain now and then seems to have been the pattern of my life recently.

Earlier this week I was in New Malden in London, teaching an 11+ exam revision course for the Extra Tuition Centre. I spent 3 days from 9am to 1pm helping well motivated young students prepare for their selective secondary school entry process and then from 2pm – 9pm each day I was with my 22 month old grandson. He is also selective about what he learns, preferring diggers and dump trucks to wolves sliding down hot chimneys.

On the way home to Marbella this morning, I enjoyed the BA check in procedure at Gatwick airport complete with touch screens and smiling, helpful ground staff and the leather seats, headrests and hot meals on board.

Last week I was in Essen over the weekend for a very pleasurable family birthday celebration. Taking the 6am Easyjet flight out of Dortmund on the way home I was back for in Marbella in time for my 1pm class at the hotel and tourism vocational training school. With 3 new classes starting next week, it’s going to be a little tighter to find time for European travel!

I always pick up my emails on my travels and so it was that last night from Battersea, London I replied to a gomarbella reader wanting to know if he could walk from the Los Boliches train stop to the Yaramar Hotel, Avenida Los Boliches s/n in Fuengirola.

To give him the best advice I thought it would be a good idea to check out the Los Boliches train stop personally and take the train from Malaga airport to Fuengirola on the way home today instead of the airport to Marbella shuttle bus. I’ll try to find time to get some pictures up this week.

In Gatwick’s carpeted North Terminal this morning the passenger assistance buggies moved sedately to and fro with blinking orange lights and muted bleeps. In Malaga airport this morning the buggies raced along the marbled passages honking passengers to one side and jumping the single immigration queue.

Wouldn't Europe be boring if we all acted exactly the same way?