Algarve vs Andalucía?

octatonic

Is there anyone here who is an expert in southern Portugal/southern Spain?

Never been to the Algarve, been to Malaga a few times- we are looking for a winter sun place and want to get the right area.

McToot

Not been to the algarve but my dad is from the Gibraltar area and I know western Andalusia very well. They've had shocking shocking weather there recently it has to be said, but there are some lovely places: coastally, cadiz is cooky but very interesting and the seafood of San Lucar is famed. Clearly you then have Jerez not far away and Seville just up the road (I spent a year there at uni - loved it to bits); also you have all of the 'white towns' up in the hills, which are really earthy and 'proper'. Further east estepona has come up in the world a bit (my uncle has a place there), though much of it was washed away by the recent rains... the rest of the andaluz coast is a bit chatty and overbuilt: the mountains and hills are better. 

octatonic

Yes, we don't want the 'vomiting tourist' area but don't want to be too remote either.
We'd have motorbikes with us most of the time otherwise hiring cars.

This will be the place to get away from it all.
We'd be flying in some of the time (like winter) and getting the ferry over with the motorcycles the rest of the time.
Looking for a lock up and leave- not worried about letting it out.

ESBlonde

Algave and Costa experience. I know people living in both, Spain has relative low property price but lots of new development.  Algave has fewer eastern Europeans it seems and brits seem to integrate well enough. Algarve is behind the times and quaint by comparison but very relaxed. An hour or two drive get's you into Spain. In both the coast is expensive compared to inland, even a few miles. Take a long weekend and visit each. 

exocet

Western Algarve from Luz to Cape St Vincent is nice and unspoilt in my opinion. Road connections are now pretty good. spectacular Atlantic coastline....cold water!

Evilmags

Andalucia is a very big place, the Algarve is a very small one. What do you actually want? Malaga is incredibly unrepresentative of Andalucia as a whole. And expensive. Do you want to be an expat in a British community or go native? Do you just want a beach, or are mountains and winter sports important? Do you want a cold Atlantic Winter or a warm Med one? How much property for how little money do you want?.  

Jalapeno

Love Seville & Grenada (& the Alhambrah).  Really enjoyed the "roots" flamenco at La Carboneria in Seville.

viz

Go to Andalucia and drink sherry and listen to the Moorish/Flamenco style of guitar playing - it's unique and awesome!

octatonic

Evilmags said:

Andalucia is a very big place, the Algarve is a very small one. What do you actually want? Malaga is incredibly unrepresentative of Andalucia as a whole. And expensive. Do you want to be an expat in a British community or go native? Do you just want a beach, or are mountains and winter sports important? Do you want a cold Atlantic Winter or a warm Med one? How much property for how little money do you want?.  

Hi mate- you are out there, aren't you?

I guess I should probably have specified Costa Del Sol, rather than Andalusia.
Looking for a place in the summer but also a winter escape.
This in place of returning to Australia, which neither of us really want to do but we're also both missing living (rather than 'holidaying') in a warmer climate, especially during winter.

We might use this up to 3-4 months of the year in 2-3 week blocks but nothing more at this stage.
Won't be renting it out but would like to be able to have that as an option.

Don't want ex-pat ghetto but would like to be able to dip in and out of that world.
Don't need to be near 'nightlife' (as in clubs etc) but would like to be in a place that has things you can do in the evenings, without having to drive.
A place with a music scene would be nice too.
Do want to be able to cycle, motorbike, play tennis.
Plan on learning Spanish but I guess everyone says that- would like to give it a good go at least.
Beach much more than mountains- we live in the Cotswolds now so want something different to what we have.
Warm med winter as much as possible.

Don't need a lot of property- this is a bolt hole- but I need a garage as I'll keep a motorcycle there all the time and we will regularly ride there with the touring bikes and want it secure.
If we has 1000sq ft of living space then we'd be happy.
Pool (communal, I guess) would be nice but not essential- we grew up near the beach so would prefer to go there.
Want it walking distance to the beach if not ridiculously expensive.

I want to do as little maintenance as possible as I have quite a bit that I need to do here in the UK.
I can do a place up if it is significantly advantageous though- I don't *need* another project though.

Looking under £250k (all in) for a 2-3 bedroom apartment- I see a lot around half that, don't know exactly what you get for your money out there.
I realise this is a wish list- don't expect to achieve everything on the list but as much as possible.

We are going out at Easter- first time I'll have a chance to go as I have to go back to Australia fairly soon.

Evilmags

octatonic said:

Evilmags said:

Andalucia is a very big place, the Algarve is a very small one. What do you actually want? Malaga is incredibly unrepresentative of Andalucia as a whole. And expensive. Do you want to be an expat in a British community or go native? Do you just want a beach, or are mountains and winter sports important? Do you want a cold Atlantic Winter or a warm Med one? How much property for how little money do you want?.  

Hi mate- you are out there, aren't you?

I guess I should probably have specified Costa Del Sol, rather than Andalusia.
Looking for a place in the summer but also a winter escape.
This in place of returning to Australia, which neither of us really want to do but we're also both missing living (rather than 'holidaying') in a warmer climate, especially during winter.

We might use this up to 3-4 months of the year in 2-3 week blocks but nothing more at this stage.
Won't be renting it out but would like to be able to have that as an option.

Don't want ex-pat ghetto but would like to be able to dip in and out of that world.
Don't need to be near 'nightlife' (as in clubs etc) but would like to be in a place that has things you can do in the evenings, without having to drive.
A place with a music scene would be nice too.
Do want to be able to cycle, motorbike, play tennis.
Plan on learning Spanish but I guess everyone says that- would like to give it a good go at least.
Beach much more than mountains- we live in the Cotswolds now so want something different to what we have.
Warm med winter as much as possible.

Don't need a lot of property- this is a bolt hole- but I need a garage as I'll keep a motorcycle there all the time and we will regularly ride there with the touring bikes and want it secure.
If we has 1000sq ft of living space then we'd be happy.
Pool (communal, I guess) would be nice but not essential- we grew up near the beach so would prefer to go there.
Want it walking distance to the beach if not ridiculously expensive.

I want to do as little maintenance as possible as I have quite a bit that I need to do here in the UK.
I can do a place up if it is significantly advantageous though- I don't *need* another project though.

Looking under £250k (all in) for a 2-3 bedroom apartment- I see a lot around half that, don't know exactly what you get for your money out there.
I realise this is a wish list- don't expect to achieve everything on the list but as much as possible.

We are going out at Easter- first time I'll have a chance to go as I have to go back to Australia fairly soon.

My wife is Andaluz so I know the "Comunidad Autonomo" well. The thing about Andalucia that you have to remember is that any part of it that is away from a major source of cash is poor in a way that Northern Europeans don´t understand. Malaga in general (in Spain a province takes the name from its biggest city). In terms of beach lif and general well being I would focus on Granada province and the space between Portugal and Gibraltar. Do not go near Almeria and Murcia, they are social shitholes.

If a Med style beach is really what you want, Look at Catalunya. More expensive, yes, but so much more on offer. Barcelona, Tarragona, wonderful scenery and highly rent-able.  (Andalusia to general Spain is like Darwin compared to Melbourne in terms of sophistication). 

However, if you really want to fall in love with somewhere, look at the north coast. From San Sebastian to La Coruña. San Sebastian is Europe´s best city for beaches, surfing, Jazz festivals and Rock gigs,. The food is beyond mind blowing, and it´s not full of twats.....

If you want a chat on the subject send me a PM and I´ll call you. For the cash you´r talking I could find a 6 bed house with a private pool and big garden in the south of madrid, so you could possibly find something in San Sebastian, which is basically the world´s best town...

Evilmags

hs

That is why I go North for a beach holiday.

octatonic

How is the north in winter?
I am thinking of spending at least one of the winter UK months away.
San Sebastian looks amazing and it would be more convenient as we could get a ferry from Portsmouth with the bikes.

warhead

octatonic said:

How is the north in winter?
I am thinking of spending at least one of the winter UK months away.
San Sebastian looks amazing and it would be more convenient as we could get a ferry from Portsmouth with the bikes.

Take into consideration that the Northern coast of Spain is much colder during the Winter........the Northern coast of Spain is drop dead gorgeous, but is definitely not a "Winter sun place"

Nikko

My Wife and I stayed in a town called Arcos De la Frontera when we went to Andalucía and loved it. The town itself doesn't really offer much (touristy), but that isn't why we went there. Its pretty quiet, with some great bars/restaurants, and is close enough to Jerez, Seville and Cadiz (if you want a beach) to make day trips easy.

We wanted to stay away from the drunken touristy Spain as much as possible, and it was perfect for that. There didn't appear to be many English speakers in Arcos either, which made us make more of an effort when communicating with the locals. It was good fun, and I got to learn some Spanish

Evilmags

The North is a fair bit colder, but has better food, beaches, festivals, ect. Also has good skiing, spectacular countryside and better wine and beer. 

Also look carefully at local property law. Not all autonomous communities are the same. 

Snap

Personally I would avoid Andalucia. As has been said, it is a very depressed part of Spain, the poorest. The rest is orange tourist central.

If you want a good climate year round, and want beach Spain, I would look around Denia. its touristy, but in a nice way, busy, and not too expensive. Popular with Madrid people. Javea/Xabia the other side of Montgo from Denia is nice too, but again touristy, but the whole peninsula is very very picturesque. Both places have cheap property for sale. If you head inland from here, just a little, there are some lovely villages, with cheap houses to be had.

Valencia county is a great part pf Spain, with some good little places that aren't over run. The climate there is often better than Andalucia/Costa Del SOl.

If you want further south, I would look at Huelva province/Cadiz area. Less developed, seriously nice beaches.

Estepona IMO is a dump, stayed there for a week, near the marina. Not great.

Algarve I know very well.

Tavira and the area is nice, and the Islha De Tavira is the best beach in the Algarve, with the warmest water. Its massive, and easy to find a quiet isolated spot. YOu need to cross the water to get it, via a couple of minutes ferry, water taxi, your own boat, or the train track further down from Tavira. The other good part of the Algarve is the far west. Lagos (busy but nice), Bergau - lovely (think Cornish village with heat) and round there, all very good.

Also, I would look at the Costa Lisboa, if you want a cool part of Portugal, and the proximity of Lisbon.

Final word on Andalucia - the people are the gobbiest in the whole of Spain.

and one final word - depending on budget and preference, have to put a word in for Barcelona. Has everything, and you'd be surprised to see that apartments are not that expensive.

exocet

Snap said:

Algarve I know very well.

Tavira and the area is nice, and the Islha De Tavira is the best beach in the Algarve, with the warmest water. Its massive, and easy to find a quiet isolated spot. YOu need to cross the water to get it, via a couple of minutes ferry, water taxi, your own boat, or the train track further down from Tavira. The other good part of the Algarve is the far west. Lagos (busy but nice), Bergau - lovely (think Cornish village with heat) and round there, all very good.

Don't mention Burgau, I purposefully didn't - you're supposed to keep it a secret . I've been going there since 1996, I love the place. it's not for everyone - not particularly lively and is a little grubby but if you fall for its charms you'll be hooked forever. Superbok for 2Euro a pint at Ruis Cafe is always a winner too.

ToneControl

octatonic said:

Is there anyone here who is an expert in southern Portugal/southern Spain?

Never been to the Algarve, been to Malaga a few times- we are looking for a winter sun place and want to get the right area.

easy answer, especially for an Aussie (I'm guessing you prefer warmth)

in August,  Algarve is 28C in the day, 18C at night,  I was quite cold  in the evenings
in the winter, it's not much warmer than the UK
It's on the Atlantic, and a lot of Brits like it because it gets cool in the evenings in the summer (I assume)
Andalucia is properly hot, and the only place in western Europe  with wintersun

If you want genuine winter sun,
I'd say Cyprus, Lanzarote, Tenerife, in that order

ToneControl

btw I've been through the logic of "what would I do with the year if I was retired and  the kids were adults" before, and you have my conclusions above

Trouble is they are still at school, and I can't afford to retire yet

btw I'd rent for year 1

ToneControl

also: bear in mind service charges if you are not renting out
especially with apartments

For Islands, Tenerife and Cyprus are massive btw, both have hot bits and cold bits, and both excellent for motorbikes

mart

Evilmags said:

The North is a fair bit colder, but has better food, beaches, festivals, ect. Also has good skiing, spectacular countryside and better wine and beer. 
...

And cider. Spent a merry afternoon in San Sebastián drinking cider. It was great though I don't remember much of that evening.

And yeah, San Seb is one of the most beautiful locations I've ever seen.