Everybody works so hard nowadays and holidays are things that you look forward to all year 'round especially whilst dreaming at your desk whilst staring at the grey sky through the drizzle of a fugged-up office window! It's the third week in January...officially the most depressing time of year and summer seems so far away. So what better time than to flick through those glossy travel magazines (pornography for those with itchy-feet and an overdeveloped wanderlust gland) or, more so than ever before, type your destination into a search engine and scroll through the myriad pages of sites dedicated to your desired holiday location.
If you decide on Andalucia, the sunniest and most beautiful part of Spain, and you're not too sure about where to go remember that it is the largest of all the seventeen Spanish autonomous communities that make up this fabulous country. It is also probably the most diverse and if you have in mind a picture of where you want to be make sure you research your location as carefully as possibly. To simplify matters you could probably break this down into three main catagories: coastal, city and inland. If you're looking for beaches and nightlife then the Costa del Sol will satisfy all your desires but don't expect to experience much in the way of authentic Spanish culture. Most of the businesses are foreign owned and it is quite possible to spend your whole holiday without having to utter a single word of the native language. However, this is how some people like it ( especially the young singles) and as long as there is guaranteed sun then everybody is happy. For the more discerning traveller the 'big five' Andalucian cities of Jerez, Sevilla, Granada, Malaga and Cordoba are the main attractions and you'd be hard pressed to find so many architectural gems within a relatively concentrated area. Whether it's the old sherry bodegas, splendid cathedral, Alhambra, Picasso museum or Mesquita or indeed all of the above that are on your cultural hit-list remember that if travelling with teens or small children it is unlikely that any of these world famous sites will appeal.
So how do you keep everybody happy? The best location without a shadow of doubt has to be inland and the most beautiful area has to be the Serrania de Ronda. The reasons for this are quite straight forward. If opting for a vacation in a self-catering holiday let near Ronda you will be best positioned to visit the beaches of the Costa del Sol ( one hour's drive) and the 'big five' all as day trips. What better than to return to your lovely holiday villa just outside Ronda and soak away the dust of the city or sand of the beach in your own private pool before flashing up the BBQ in the privacy of your own terrace surrounded by your family and friends. Let's face it not everbody wants to spend their vacation rushing around from site to site, city to city and beach to beach...especially those with young families. In inland Andalucia you can chose to just relax some days under the shade by the pool with a good novel and a glass of the superb Ronda red! When the mood takes you just jump into that hire car and within 1 1/2 hours you can be strolling through Seville's Alcazar or sampling sherry in one of the ancient bodegas of Jerez. Other attractions on your doorstep include the wonderful ancient Moorish town of Ronda itself. No guidebooks can do complete justice to the 'casco viejo' (old quarter), the old bridges spanning the gorge and of course the gorge itself. You can happily spend a day wondering the winding cobbled streets being charmed by little gems around each corner. Whether little garden squares, impressive churches, old Moorish palaces and even a mineret there is something to delight the eye at every turn. Ronda is not one of the most visited towns in Spain without reason and ranks alongside the great cities in terms of tourism.
You've now settled on the best location and are already dreaming of practicing your rusty school Spanish with Paco and Manolo at the bar of a local family-run venta (bar/restarant) whilst quaffing a glass of the ubiquitous Cruzcampo beer. In your mind the sun is shining through the plump graped vines dangling through the terrace beams above you, locally picked olives await you on the table and the kids are running around with the local children under the watchful eye of 'abuela' (grandma)! You havn't a care in the world and in no time the stresses of office life, deadlines and meetings ease away.
The next step requires action. The dreaming and procrastinations are over. Inform the boss of your holiday dates, agree you destination with your family or travelling companions and get searching for that perfect slice of Inland Andalucian life. You've typed in self-catering vacation or holiday let near Ronda, Andalucia and up come pages of results and a huge selection to chose from. There are villas and apartments, farms and cottages, cortijos and townhouses and pretty much anything for anybody. Obviously your budget will narrow this down but remember that you get what you pay for as with everthing in life.
As there is quite a bit of competition amungst the owners of vacation rentals in the Serrania de Ronda rates are set carefully. If you don't want to drive that rules out all the places outside of town. This will mean you almost certainly won't get a pool as most villa rentals just won't have the space for one. If hiring a car you probably don't want to base yourself in a town either as parking and driving in the streets can be more than a trifle daunting as you negotiate your way through ever narrowing cobbled streets, tucking in the mirrors and worrying about the small print in your rental contract! Also, finding a parking space each and every day of your holiday can be a nightmare as most urban villas and hotels don't have private parking. So far better to be in the 'campo' (countryside) with a car but not far from, say, Ronda itself.
You then have two further choices to make. Ok...there's probably a load of criteria and conditions, subject-to's and boxes to tick before you actually settle on one, but the main two are as follows: do I mind a shared pool and do I want the owners to be on hand in case anything goes wrong. Well there are pros and cons to both choices with each being subject to your own particular circumstances. If wanting a quiet, romantic 'couples' getaway then a private pool in a place without any discernable neighbours is what you should be searching for. If this is a family holiday then we all know that children are easily bored. The last thing a stressed out parent needs is whining children tugging at their sleeve (just when you've sat down with that glass of red and holiday potboiler) moaning that they don't know what to do. Enter shared-pool and the family renting the other holiday-let nearby! Within no time all the kids or varying ages will be splashing around in the pool, laughing and shouting at each other and generally getting along famouly. Unlike us fussy adults kids are pretty undiscerning regarding whom they befriend and by the end of the week and it's time to fly home little Joshua from Boston and Dannielle from Lyon will be exchanging e-mail addresses and be firm friends on Facebook! So the problem of child boredom is solved and the parents can enjoy the peace and quiet they've been craving since the last time they managed a romantic week-end in Paris six months earlier.
But this leads us neatly on to the parents themselves. After a couple days of settling in and getting their barings the novelty of being abroad has worn off. They've seen a few sites and had a couple of family evenings out but secretly they wouldn't mind searching out a bit of new company. The owners living across the courtyard become a curiosity as do the parents from Lyon in the other villa. Inevitably conversations are struck up and the excitement of meeting new people is satiated. It's fun dipping into peoples lives from other parts of the world which you'd probably never really do back at home. The owner being on hand is vital for other reasons as well. Not only is he an invaluable sourse of local information but he is there to fix any little thing that may go wrong. It's true that if you've booked your accomodation through an agency they will have a maintanance man at the end of a phone should you need him but it's just not the same and you lose the personal touch. Also, if you do decide to go the agency route remember that you'll pay up to 30% more for your week(s) as they are in business to make money. Most local owners, however, do it for the fun as well as to earn a bit of extra cash during the summer months.
One common error made by the majority of enthusiastic vacationers is to try to do too much in a short space of time. The longest period booked by most people is two weeks and if coming from afar at least a day each end is spent in the air or re-couperating from jetlag. If you booked to see the Alhambra (which you have to do...you can't just show up) on the Monday, Tuesday's earmarked for the Mesquita of Cordoba, Wednesday you thought you'd get in the car and drive around the best of the famous white villages of Andalucia, Thursday sample the sherry in Jerez etc...etc...by the time you've reached Sunday and it is time to go home you've left no time for rest and relaxation and the spontanaity of just getting up early one morning and deciding to go for a lovely walk in the countryside. So good advice would be to plan to do something every other day with a day lazing by the pool in between. Remember...you can always come back. You probably will!
Nick has a small but successful holiday-let vacation rental business just outside Ronda, Inland Andalucia, Spain: fincaretama.com fincaretama.com
For appraisals please click on: tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g265784-d1148856-Reviews-Finca_Retama_Farmstead-Ronda_Andalusia.html tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g265784-d1148856-Reviews-Finca_Retama_Farmstead-Ronda_Andalusia.html
Come and visit and have the holiday of a lifetime!
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