Malaga or Extend trip in Barcelona and do 2 days at the beach there?

Posted by chriswick on 06/10/18 07:33 PM

Family of four with 2 teen boys. Initial plan was to do Seville - Ronda - (Malaga or Nerja) - Granada - Barcelona.

We were going to do 2 days in Malaga or Nerja to get a little beach/coastal time in. However, I am disappointed as I am having a hard time finding a place to stay for the four of us that is close to the beach and perhaps has a pool.
Would we be better off saving those 2 days and head straight from Ronda to Granada and do the 4 days in Barcelona? Possibly 2 days in Sitges or another beach?

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

06/11/18 08:38 AM

29788 posts

Someone reported on this forum that there are health issues with the water around Nerja. I'm not a beach person and have not researched that, but I'd check it out before planning beach time in Nerja.

There are definitely beaches accessible from Barcelona, and I love that city. I know Enric has posted information on this subject before. You may find something with the Search function or by scrolling back through the Spain forum.

Posted by chriswick OP

06/11/18 09:22 PM

52 posts

Yes. We were originally going to do Cadiz when we had plans to do a day trip to Tangier. But since we have decided not to do Morocco, we excluded that area.

I think our options are to:
A) keep as is and find somewhere near Malaga. or another recommended beach near there. (Just don't get in the water) LOL (which will be hard for my teen boys.)

B) Omit Malaga and do Seville - Ronda - Granada. Leave Andalusia 2 days earlier and fly to Barcelona.
We aren't big city people, so I don't see spending more than 2 days in Barcelona.
Thinking once we land we could head to Tossa de Mar or Begur on a day trip or overnight.... and then back to Barcelona for 2 days before heading home?
Also are there lots of outdoor activities there? Between Nerja and Granada there seemed to be a lot of adventure types of activities.

Posted by Cheryl

Grand island, Ny

06/12/18 01:10 AM

271 posts

We were in Malaga in November. We actually did 5 days Barcelona, 3 days Madrid, 4 days Seville and 5 days Malaga with a day trip to Cordoba, Nerja and Rhonda. Of all we all agreed with loved Barcelona, but we absolutly loved Malaga. We will go back. It was just a fun area. We were right at the waterfront and Magalutta Beach. We rented a fabulous 3 bedroom 9th floor apartment from Sologa rental. Love Love Love Malaga. I did post a trip report on TripAdvisor. It is long. I will try to post on Rick Steves as well.
Good luck and enjoy. I am very envious I would love to be going back

Posted by JC

Portsmouth

06/13/18 07:24 AM

5876 posts

We stay in the Estepona/Marbella area pretty much every year and it's very easy to get to from Ronda. There are no issues with the sea water around there to my knowledge and there are some decent beaches. Accommodation shouldn't be hard to find although you don't state when you're going.

Posted by ellen.farre

06/14/18 12:49 AM

54 posts

I really liked Malaga but you couldn’t go wrong heading to Begur from Barcelona. We spent three nights there about five years ago and loved it. Very beautiful area with lots of gorgeous coastline to explore and swim! From there we did daytrips to Girona and Figueres before heading to Cadaques for a few days.