Weekend in Marbella, Spain

I wish I could say I escaped for the summer to Marbella, but the truth is this was my very first trip outside of my new home town in Spain.

To celebrate the lifting of the covid restrictions in early June, I promptly booked our bus tickets from Fuengirola to Marbella, for an extended weekend break to at least get a glimpse of what normal life used to look like.

The 30 mins bus journey was an experience in itself, driving on the highway with stunning sea views and admiring the gorgeous apartment blocks and luxury villas on the way.

Most hotels at this point were still not open (this is post two months full-on lockdown) so we found an Airbnb close to the coastline and within walking distance everywhere.

As we walked out, we hit the promenade with very strange statues which I soon found out were made by a local fella called Salvador Dali, just casually hanging out in the middle of the promenade.

Rest of our crew was more impressed by the water features while I was taking in the gorgeous trees and flowers blooming all around.

The park by the main road is a like a little green oasis in the middle of the city, complete with giant fountain that lights up at night and – of course – benches covered in Spanish tiles with local motives.

We headed straight to the old town and without any research on restaurants, stopped by at the first one that was actually open.

Locals tend to eat quite late and that applies both for lunch and dinner, so quite often we end up struggling to find a place that’s already open for lunch when we’re hungry.

I would happily go starving for another hour because the old town was like a little candy box – you never know what you get when you turn the corner – new gems to discover everywhere you look.

Without too much orientation we landed at the Plaza de Naranjas, the main square in old town with town hall and old church (and also some questionably overpriced restaurants).

As you would expect at midday, everything was closed which my husband was very happy about as that meant we could continue exploring further in the 30C+ midday heat.

As they say all roads lead to Rome, same goes for old town in Marbella.

Pretty much all the main routes will lead you back to one main square or another, making it quite easy to find your way around.

The old town is filled with cute little boutiques with the prettiest dresses and accessories, little hidden alleyways, contrasting with a few old crumbling buildings and a bit of history breathing at you from every corner.

As you can tell the streets were pretty empty and we were one of the first groups of visitors arriving in Marbella that weekend.

There was noticeable emptiness especially in the old town, while the coastline was more alive and vibrant.

Not something I will complain about, but certainly a strange way to explore the city in – what it should be – the height of the tourist season.

The restaurant below was also found by a complete chance, just wondering off following one of the pretty streets.

They have just opened it up as we arrived, so we toasted to the gorgeous view with a fresh brew of coffee and a round of chasing cars on the table.

We watch the locals go about their normal life as we counted ourselves lucky to experience a taste of freedom after being locked up for two months in an apartment.

As we were staying in Marbella for three days, we had plenty of time to explore, so took a whole afternoon to see Puerto Banus and the Golden Mile.

I had no idea what to expect, apart from a lot of posh boutiques, expensive cars and overpriced properties. I was pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was and not as flashy as I imaged it.

Obviously we went window shopping for our future mega yacht.

The coastline here is so pretty and there are plenty of places along the way to stop for a break, so well worth taking a taxi to the far end and walking your way back to the city.

On our last day, we took the most out of the old town by one last walk to make sure we didn’t miss the best bits.

We ended up having food mostly around the coastline, but found one little gem in old town that I need to tell you about!

This is the Farm Restaurant, well hidden gem in Marbella old town that happened to be one of my favorite places from the trip.

Authentic setting, delicious food and the atmosphere was amazing! They even do live flamenco shows in here on Saturday nights! I have more photos ready for the next blog post, can’t wait to tell you all about it.