On this post I will highlight what we visited in the small time we spent in Marbella. There are many things to do in Marbella, Spain even in a limited time frame. However, I think the time we spent there was enough to have an idea of what the Marbella has to offer.
After spending a great day visiting Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda (see my last post), we headed in the direction of Marbella to discover the best of Marbella.
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It took us about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there from Ronda, again in a very easy drive through a large and empty motorway. We arrived in Marbella at about 4 pm and went straight to our hotel.
Below is a map showing the places we visited or passed by in Marbella:
We booked Linda Boutique Hotel in the old town in Marbella. This hotel does not have a car park, so we unloaded the bags, and my husband went to park the car in a car park nearby.
Linda Boutique Hotel is a lovely hotel, very well located. Although the room we stayed in was very small, it was clean, very nicely decorated and very comfortable. We were very pleased with our accommodation and the hotel in general.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MARBELLA
Marbella is a city in Andalusia and is part of the Costa del Sol. It is located between Málaga and Gibraltar.
Historians believe that a Phoenician settlement was present in Marbella since the 7th century.
There is evidence that the Romans also inhabited Marbella in the place where the Old Town is today. There were discoveries of Roman remains scattered around town to support this statement.
Later in the 10th century the Caliphate of Córdoba constructed a citadel, the Alcazaba and a wall to protect the town.
In 1485 the Crown of Castille captured the town without any resistance or bloodshed. The Catholic Monarchs planned a new city in line with the Castilian urban design and that was when Plaza de los Naranjos and the buildings around it were built as part of the project.
Throughout the years the beautiful town survived the Spanish Civil War, the First and the Second World War and soon started to be developed into a touristic town.
In the 1990’s Marbella was known for a scandalous case of corruption by the Mayor of Marbella, Jesús Gil at the time.
Nowadays, Marbella is considered the glamorous town of Costa del Sol where the rich and famous have big mansions and have been visiting for decades.
VISITING THE BEST OF MARBELLA
After freshening-up in our room we headed out to explore the “Casco Antiguo” (Old Town), one of Marbella’s places to visit. We went through the maze of narrow roads with flowerpots on the walls and typical whitewashed houses.
We stopped at Plaza de los Naranjos, full of bars and restaurants and picked one of the bars to sit down and have a drink.
We just sat there for a while relaxing, enjoying some drinks and people watching, just soaking up the Spanish life.
Our arrival in Marbella was late in the afternoon, so there wasn’t much time to do a lot. All we did, after some drinks, was to walk around the Plaza and visit the little “Ermita de Santiago”, which is a small historic Catholic Church.
Afterwards, we returned to our hotel for a shower and headed out again for dinner. This time we picked an Italian Restaurant called “Café Flore” as after having too many Spanish tapas and let downs we were craving for some good, simple pasta.
It was a very attractive restaurant with tables outside under various orange trees and bougainvillea on the walls.
They gave us some “amuse bouche” to start with. It was a “salmorejo soup” served in a little bottle that was delicious and very charming.
We ordered a Burrata Salad that was served with a syringe with a lovely pesto sauce to inject in the burrata. Very creative and it was very tasty!
The main dishes were Gnocchi for me and Mushroom Risotto for the husband. Unfortunately, my gnocchi were very hard and difficult to eat, so left most of it on the plate. The husband’s risotto was OK.
We finished our bottle of wine, (that was really good!) and went back to the hotel.
Next day we woke up to a wet Marbella. It rained during the night, and it showed everywhere.. This was the first time we had rain on this trip.
We also woke up with an e-mail from British Airways saying that our flight back to the UK, later in the day had been cancelled!
We would have to call them to re-book another flight. I tried to call, but could not get through, so just decided to get on with our plans for the day and left to resolve this problem when we arrive at Gibraltar airport, at the desk with a real person.
We had our breakfast and after that we left to see a bit more of Marbella.
We headed in the direction of Parc de la Alameda, an elegant 18th century park that is located between the Old Town and Avenida del Mar.
It is a small park, but it is very beautiful with a large fountain in the middle decorated with tiles.
There are many benches also decorated with Andalusian tiles scattered all around the park and within the high palm trees and lush plants.
It is a nice place to go to find some shade from the sun when it is very hot. On that day all was wet though because of the rain during the night.
We pressed on and went a little bit further to “Paseo Maritimo”.
On this pedestrian avenue you will find the bronze statues of Salvador Dali. There are 10 statues on this avenue that were acquired by Marbella Town Hall in 1998 by the then mayor Jesús Gil.
The statues are impressive, more than two metres high and weighting between 200 and 400 kg each. They represent the surrealist and extravagant style of the artist.
The “Paseo” is an open-air free museum where art lovers can indulge themselves during the day or night.
We had a quick look at the statues, but didn’t spend much time there, (everything still wet), and the rain was threatening to start again soon.
We went to the promenade to get a view of the sea and the beach, but not much was happening. I suppose it would have been very different if it were a nice sunny day!
By then it started drizzling and we decided to go back to the hotel, check-out and drive to Gibraltar earlier than planned.
We wanted to get to the airport to sort out the return flight home as soon as possible.
So, this was the end of our quick but pleasant visit to Marbella. I hope this post clarifies to you the things that what can be done in Marbella, Spain in such a limited time. I also hope my post helps you to plan your own itinerary when visiting Costa del Sol and Marbella, Spain.
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MARBELLA TRIP
Below you will find a list of what to visit, where to stay and where to eat in Marbella. I classified each place as follows:
BOLD – Visited, tried and recommended
NOT BOLD – Not visited or tried, but planning to visit or try and heard very good reviews
RED – Visited and tried but do not recommend, avoid or be cautious
*** – Excellent
** – Good
* – OK
£££ – Expensive
££ – Fair and affordable
£ – Cheap
BEST THINGS TO DO
ATTRACTIONS
1 – Explore the Old Town – ***
2 – Plaza de Los Naranjos – ***
3 – Ermita de Santiago – ***
4 – Murallas de Marbella
5 – Parc de la Alameda – ***
6 – Statues of Dali – ***
7 – The beaches
BEST PLACES TO STAY
HOTELS
1 – Linda Boutique Hotel – 4* – ££ – ***
2 – Amare Beach Hotel Marbella – 4* – ££
3 – El Fuerte Marbella – 5* – £££
4 – La Fonda Heritage Hotel – 5* – £££
5 – Hotel Baviera – 3* – ££
6 – Hotel Monarque El Rodeo – 3* – ££
If you prefer to look for your own accommodation just search and book via the below widget:
BEST PLACES TO EAT
RESTAURANTS
1 – Café Flore – ££ – **
2 – Marbella Club – £££
3 – Restaurant La Virginia – ££
4 – The Farm – ££
5 – Casa del Mar – ££
6 – Skina – £££
If you tried any of my recommendations above, please send me a message and tell me about your experience good or bad, so I can update the list accordingly. Thanks!
If you enjoyed reading this post you might also like to read:
On this trip to Spain:
1 – Experiencing Gibraltar -Day 1
2 – Experiencing Gibraltar – Day 2
3 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 1
4 – Cádiz, The Jewel of Andalusia, Spain – How to spend Day 2
5 – How to Explore Jerez de la Frontera and Seville – Day 1
6 – Seville – Day 2
7 – Córdoba
8 – Granada – Day 1
9 – Granada – Day 2
10 – Setenil de las Bodegas and Ronda
11 – Marbella
12 – Gibraltar – Day 3
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