The COSTA DE ALMERÍA has very varying landscapes with surprising contrasts and goes from San Juan de los Terreros to Adra. From San Juan de los Terreros until the town of Garrucha there are many clean and wide beaches, of which Vera Natura (Vera Playa Club) the nudism area is. Than we pass the town of Mojácar, better known as the white village. This is a tourist spot due to the unique bendy shopping alleys, which are built again a mountain slope and are situated in different levels. We follow the coastline and enter the town of Carboneras, a town with over 16 kilometre of beaches like the very impressive Punta de los Muertos (beach of the death). More inland we find Nijar, this characteristic Andalusian village is specially famous because of its handmade ceramics. From this town you can make hikes into the mountains of Sierra de Alhamilla and to the dessert of Tabernas. In one of the most southern parts of Spain we find the beautiful Cabo de Gata and the Parque Natural Cabo de Gata. This area has a few spectacular views and on one of the beaches, where some famous movies have been shot (like Indiana Jones and the last Crusade), lies Playa Mónsul an impressive rock shaped as a wave. After this point you reach the reserve of Las Salinas, a breeding place of Flamingos.

Mojácar

Punta de los Muertos

Cabo de Gata

Playa Mónsul

Almeria is the capital of the Costa de Almería and is a melting-pot of all different cultures. This city has a nice sea promenade and a living centre. One of the most beautiful monuments in Almería are ‘La Alcazaba’, an Arabic Castle and the Arena. From Almería you can take the coastal road to Roquetas de Mar, a true holiday paradise. This town is an open air sportscentre. The beach of Roquetas de Mar is bordered by a lively wide promenade and near the fishing harbour there you can see the fish market. In the point after Roquetas de Mar you will find the nature reserve de Punta Entinas y Punta Sabinar, the living space of over 150 different seabirds. Within this reserve you will find the nudist beach Cerillos and a beautiful lighthouse. Just before the last town of this Costa is the nature reserve Albufera de Adra situated, a sanctuary for numerous swim birds, that breed in three different lagoons. Adra, the last town of the Costa de Almería, is a village dedicated to agriculture and fishing on the border to the Costa Tropical and has all tourist amenities.

La Alcazaba in Almería

Roquetas de Mar

Punta Entinas y Punta Sabinar

The COSTA TROPICAL goes from La Rábita to La Herradura and has a coast with numerous sheltered beaches, varied with bays with crystal clear water. Here the sun shines, just like in the Costa de Almería 320 days per year and causes an average temperature of 20 °C. This Costa starts at the town of La Rábita and belongs to the town of Albuñol. From here you can make beautiful hikes on the mapped out hiking tracks that lead you inland, like to the area above Albuñol, Las Alpujarras. This area, with its original villages with small streets and nice squares, radiate a picturesque atmosphere. Back on the route along the coast after La Rábita we arrive in Motril. This town has a 20 kilometre long coast where you can find seven different beaches. Also the well known beach Playa de Poniente, that is very crowded on warm summer nights with its beautiful sea promenade and a golf course of 200.000 m². Motril is, together with cities like Calahonda and Torrenueva, situated in the Cape of Sacratif, one of the biggest tourist centres of this area. The capital of the Costa Tropical is Granada. This city once was a symbol of the Arabic and Christian culture which causes a rich history and culture historical treasures. The district Sacromonte has famous cave houses and in the quarter of Albaicín you can find a tangle of shopfilled streets with the most beautiful views on the Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada. Alhambra is the most impressive monument of Granada. This is a complex of palaces that can partly be visited.

La Alpujarras

Playa Poniente

Alhambra

Sierra Nevada

The Sierra Nevada starts in Granada at the highest situated mountain road of Europe. This is a very popular skiing place with excellent hotels and other facilities. Here one can practise 6 different winter sports from the late autumn to the middle of the spring. This skiing place has 62 km skiing slopes of which a small number is situated in the Costa de Almería. The road back to the coast leads us to the village of Salobreña, a small village with white houses agains a rocky background that runs into an Arabic fortress. At the foot of Salobreña you can find beautiful beaches seperated by a large rock rising from the sea. After Salobreña we arrive in the town of Almuñécar. Here the Romans and Arabs left a part of their inheritance and this is the oldest town of the whole Costa Tropical. In Almuñécar one can learn more about the rich history in the castle of San Miguel and the archeologic museum, situated in the largest of the Seven Palaces or one can take a walk on the sea promenade with views at the beautiful sea landscape. The last town in this Costa is La Herradura, an old fishers town situated at a lovely bay that has grown into one of the most remarkable tourist centres of the Costa Tropical. La Herradura offers the posibility to practise all kind of watersports. There is a sport habor where one can practise the underwater sports and there also are 2 nudist beaches in the surroundings (Cantarriján and El Muerto).

Salobreña

Kasteel San Miguel

La Herradura

Cantarrijáan

SPORTS

Both Costas are ideal regions to practise water sports. In the coastal towns you can find all kinds of facilities. Especially scuba diving and snorkelling are very popular because of the clear waters and the beautiful underwater world with its nature. More in-land and in the various nature reserves you can find tracks for hiking, mountain bike and horse riding. In the Costa de Almería you can find special tracks for 4x4 vehicles in the park of Cabo de Gata. In the Costa Tropical you can enjoy skiing, langlaufen or practise one of the other snow sports.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Costa de Almería: at the town of Sorbas the natural reserve Paraje Natural Karst en Yesos de Sorbas is situated, a wonderful underwater world over 6 million years of age, shaped by dripping stones in a gypsum platform with over 1000 holes. The natural park Cabo de Gata-Nijar at the coast beneath Carboneras is a paradise under sea level with nice rocky beaches and wide white sandy beaches where some famous movies have been shot in the past twenty years.

Costa Tropical: the biggest nature reserve here is the Park Nacional de Sierra Nevada. This mountain chain has the most southern situated skiing resorts of which a small part is situated in the Costa de Almería. From the highest mountain top (Mulhacén) one can see the North African coast on clear days as well as the Spanish ibexes.

PLACES TO GO OUT

In the Costa de Almería one can visit many open air markets where you can find folk art and craft work. Or visit the working places in the Costa Tropical where people work with handicraft or one of the workshops specialized in art. In the nice coastal places you will find a good night life and sea promenades with shops, restaurants and bars en discotheques for the lovers of nightlife.

FOLKLORE AND CELEBRATIONS

In both Costas fiestas are held the whole year round, some of them have a tradition for many centuries. To honour the virgin of the see a big annual market with all kind of activities is held in Almería in the second half of August. They celebrate Carnival in March, the ‘battle’ between the Mores and the Christians in June and the sea procession of the Virgen del Carmen in July. During the Easter Week the villages within the nature reserve Cabo de Gata-Nijar celebrate this fiesta in a traditional way.

GASTRONOMY

In the Costa de Almería especially in the summer one is used not to eat in the restaurants, but in the famous tapa bars. Besides tapas these bars serve a wide offer of sea food and shell fish and fresh starters like fish soup, gazpacho or white garlic soup. For desert they serve fresh fruit and sweet Arabic delicacy all year round. In the Costa Tropical the main ingredients come from the sea and the vegetable garden. Every village in this region has its own gastronomic specialty. Motríl for example is famous for its stove pot with goat meat in a sauce with spices and shrimps.

Onderwaternatuur

Karst/Yesos de Sorbas

Virgen del Carmen

Tapas en Gazpacho

	Cave houses: you can visit cave houses where people still live in in Cuevas de Almanzora.
	Caves in Sorbas: visit the caves in Sorbas. There are 4 routes and you always will be accompanied by a guide.
	Mini Hollywood: In the dessert of Tabernas you can visit the western villages which have once been built for famous movies like the Seven Samourais. You experience the Wild West with horses, cowboys that fall from their horses, fights in the saloon, shootings and dance parties.
	AquaVera: a water adventure park in Vera, with all kind of water activities and slides like blackhole, body ski and an adventure river (you also find a water park in Roquetas de Mar => Mariopark).
	Reserva Zoológica de Tabernas: a zoo in Tabernas where you can find lions, elephants, zebras, reptiles and many more animals.
	Nature reserves: Parque Natural de Sierra Maria, Paraja Natural Karts and Yesos de Sorbas, Parque Natural Cabo de Gata-Nijar, Reserva de las Salinas, Desierto (dessert) de Tabernas, Reserva Natural de Punta Entinas y Punta Sabinar, Reserva Natural Albufera de Adra and Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada.
	Museums and architecture: in these Costas you can find museums in every city and village. The most impressive are situated in Granada, the Alhambra, and in Almería, the Alcazaba. Here you also can find some unspoiled archaeological sites. In many cities and villages you can find beautiful architecture.
	Play golf: in the Costa de Almería the golf lover can go to the luxury and beautiful golf course in Almerimar, designed by world champion Gary Player, or the many other golf courses. In the Costa Tropical you can play golf near Playa Granada and in Las Gabias.
	Skiing: in the Sierra Nevada you can ski from December to April. You also find a nice night life there.

	Temperature: average annual temperature of about 20 °C ( max. ca. 33 °C / min. ca. 7,9 °C) and the sea water average 20,5°C (max. ca. 19,5 °C / min. ca. 13,5 °C)
	Flights: airport Almería and airport Granada. Amsterdam – Almería / Granada = ca. 3 hours , Brussel – Almería / Granada = ca. 2 hours 45 min.
	By car: Utrecht – Almería = ca. 2351,5 km in about 22 uur and 12 minutes. Utrecht – Granada = ca. 2195,5 km in about 21 uur and 15 minutes.
	By train: Utrecht – Almería = ca. 32,5 hours. Utrecht – Granada = ca. 33,5 hours.