Our trip to Spain is over last two weeks of May. We will have a rental car and are two adults in our mid 50s and our 21 year old daughter. We start with three nights in coastal area of Calp (north of Alicante) After two nights in Granada we have three nights before we arrive in Seville. we are looking for recommendations on where to spend those three nights. We always love the beach and wonder if there are any quieter areas recommended in the more southern coastline. We are also open to other ideas as long as there is some element of nature to enjoy out of the hustle and bustle of the more urban environments we will expect in Granada and Seville. Our budget is moderate. We enjoy exercise, the sun, the water, good food and music!
Thank you for your advice.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7428 posts
The end of May is in the main tourist season, so expect most beach areas to be busy.
Salobreña, an hour south of Granada has a nice beach. Heading west you get to the Costa del Sol that is always busy. Past there as you approach Cádiz you can check the area around Zahara de los Atunes. Any town between Algeciras and Cádiz will be small and probably won’t have a large selection of restaurants and hotels. Cádiz has a beach as does Rota. Rota is across the bay from Cádiz.
For slightly less busy towns look at Chipiona and Sanlúcar de la Barrameda. If you don’t mind a little more driving, a place not on most tourists’ radar is Mazagón, just east of Huelva. It has the advantage of being near Doñana National park.
Posted by
new york
157 posts
There are beautiful beaches that should not be crowded in May, along the Costa de la Luz.
Those would include Zahara de los Atunes, Conil de la Frontera, Canos de Meca, and El Palmar de Vejer.
Any of those would be easy to drive to from Sevilla and should have many moderately priced lodgings available in late May. There are also lovely places to stay in the rural countryside within a 15-minute drive or so from the beaches, and in the towns, for example, of Conil or Vejer de la Frontera; the last is among the most beautiful white hill towns of Spain. Much of this area is not "discovered" by Americans tourists. All are east of the city of Cadiz. Cadiz also has beaches.
Posted by
8570 posts
We stayed at Costa del Sol some years ago and didn't care for the beaches. Also, the crowds were terrible.
Posted by
new york
157 posts
Costa del Sol is not nice for beaches, I agree. The ones I mentioned are beautiful, with light-colored sand.
In El Palmar de Vejer there are cows grazing in the dune grass above the beach.
https://www.andalucia.com/province/cadiz/elpalmar/home.htm
Bolonia has what I believe is the highest sand dune in Europe, right next to an incredible Roman site with a wonderful small museum.
https://www.andalucia.com/province/cadiz/bolonia/baelo-claudia.htm
This area is legendary for great seafood!!
None of them have any high-rise hotels like you might find on the Costa del Sol.