Nerja sits at the foot of the Sierra Almijara on cliffs high above the sea, 50 km east of Málaga. It is a pretty and still relatively undeveloped corner of real Spain — quite unlike the high-rise resorts elsewhere on the Costa del Sol. The whitewashed lanes of the Old Town climb back from the cliff-top Balcón de Europa and its row of cafés and palm trees.
Below the cliffs is a string of small coves and beaches — Calahonda and El Salón right in the centre, the larger and livelier Playa Burriana twenty minutes east, and the protected Cliffs of Maro-Cerro Gordo beyond. The headline attraction is the great cave system at the Caves of Nerja just east of town; the white village of Frigiliana in the hills above is the standard half-day excursion.