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A Walking Tour of our new home in Spain - the town of Nerja. This video covers the highlights of the old town which includes Nerja’s most famous attraction: the Balcon de Europa. I show you the main streets to help you get orientated and also give you a few recommendations along the way.
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ABOUT NERJA
Before coming to Nerja, we had certain ideas of what the town was like. It’s a seaside town so of course there are beaches. And every postcard of Nerja shows off the mountains looming behind town.
But we didn’t know what the town itself was like. Was it full of the ugly apartment buildings that the Costa del Sol is famous for? Is it modern? Or does it have the typical Andalusian architecture we’ve seen before in places like Sevilla and Granada?
We didn’t really know what to expect.
We read a post written by a blogger who wasn’t impressed by the actual town of Nerja (yes, he liked the beaches but didn’t think much of the town itself). That made us wonder if we would like the town. As we had previously found out in Alicante, it’s fine to read about a place but it’s very different seeing it with your own eyes.
It was 3 months ago that we arrived in Nerja. Since then we’ve explored most of the town and taken a lot of photos.
We were a bit nervous that the town might just be a beach town. It’s not. It’s a “little city” that has all the amenities of a bigger city and most of it caters to a local population who actually live in town. You’ll find hardware stores, furniture stores, and all other kinds of establishments that people who live in a town need. That’s important. When we were in Split (Croatia) we searched everywhere for a hardware store where we could buy nails. We asked locals, we went to the tourist office. The nearest hardware store that sold nails was one of those huge Home Depot-type stores in the suburbs. We had to rent a car or take a taxi to get there. In Nerja we’ve found anything we’ve needed within a few blocks. Two weeks ago I bought running shoes. I didn’t have to go to a shopping center outside the center, the store was just a few blocks away and I paid $60 for a great pair of Sketchers running shoes (ie. local prices, not tourist prices). Last week we bought a bed for our new apartment. It’s been a relief to see that Nerja has everything that we’ve needed, in fact more so than Split.
Nerja is also a pretty town. You won’t be blown away beautiful churches or plazas. Culturally it won’t blow your socks off. But it is a pretty town and it’s very pedestrian friendly.
Finally, I had mentioned that location was important. We didn’t want to be far from a major airport and being 45 minutes from Malaga we aren’t. For that, Nerja is the perfect base.
The above are the positives. Negatives? Initially we wanted to be in a more Spanish, more cultural city. We also didn’t want to be in a place with a lot of tourists and expats. Although there are many locals living in Nerja, I read that 25% of the population are expats. So Nerja isn’t the immersive cultural experience that we were initially looking for.
Nerja is going to be a great base for at least a few years. On top of that we have a great apartment that we will make home over the next little while.
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