Culture, beaches, old town Spanish charm, ambience, food, tapas, markets, Estepona Spain has it all. If you want to enjoy a small town feel with the city conveniences, then this is the place for you!
Where is Estepona Spain?
Estepona Spain is a little gem on the west end of Costa del Sol. It is located in the province of Málaga, which is part of the autonomous community of Andalusia and just a 2 1/2 hour drive from Almuñécar. With a population of about 67,000, it is full of traditional Spanish flare along with modern conveniences and spectacular beaches. It is an excellent choice for a visit. You will love the gorgeous beaches, a modern sports marina with several tapas bars, shops and restaurant, all around a white-walled town center with flower lined streets and picturesque squares.
Estepona Spain Playas y Promenades (Beaches and Boardwalks)
Playa del Cristo is at the west end of town near Puerto Estepona. It is a small cove with lifeguards on station and also two “chiringuitos” or beach front bar/restaurants. There are several restaurants and tapas bars at the port and surrounding neighborhood. We loved the tapas at Antonio’s. With excellent customer service, good food and great prices, you should check it out. Just at the end of the port parking lot is a large dirt lot where RV’s seem to camp out. There is a small dirt road that leads just beyond that dirt lot to Playa del Cristo.
Estepona Spain – December 2013 Playa del Cristo
La Rada Beach begins on the east side of Puerto Estepona (Marina). You have great views of Gibraltar from the lighthouse at the end of the beach and you can enjoy over 1.5 km of promenade, lined with benches, parks, playgrounds and restaurants. About half-way down the promenade is the heart of Estepona’s Old Town. The sand is powder soft and there seem to be bicycle paths all over town.
Estepona Spain – December 2013 Playa La Rada
From what we have heard, there is also the popular naturist (nudist) beach of Costa Natura to the west of Estepona, which was the first official naturist site in Spain. We didn’t check out this beach, but the area seems to have several upscale urbanizations (housing developments). Do you remember our Naturist experiment? Check out our experience going to the nude beach in Spain, Alan’s thoughts and Heidi’s thoughts.
Our Costa de Sol Excitement!
Okay, we will now reveal to you what absolutely excited us the most during our week in Estepona, along the beautiful Costa del Sol in Southern Spain….
Are you ready?
We found a small grocery store open on Sunday! And the over-the-top excitement hit us when we found another small store open nightly until 2 am! That is unheard of in Costa Tropical.
Alan and I both had a good laugh when we realized these little things made us so happy. We wanted to go to the store late, just because it was open, even if we didn’t need to buy anything. I guess there are some real perks to being in the more touristy and popular area of Costa del Sol. We do love our town in Costa Tropical, but some of those modern conveniences would be nice.
Estepona Spain – December 2013
Estepona’s Old Town
Estepona Spain – December 2013 Costa del Sol
We were pleasantly surprised meandering around Estepona’s old town. We spent a couple of hours just finding our way through the maze of flower lined streets. Along the main street, Christmas music was booming from speakers everywhere we walked. The people were extremely friendly and it all felt very typical Spanish. We weren’t expecting this, as we were under the impression that Costa del Sol was more commercialized. This was a real treat and I just couldn’t stop taking photos. We will share the full gallery with you below.
There is so much to see, we can’t wait to return. If you are planning a visit, check out this great list of Things to do in Estepona!
Organized Tours
There are also many organized tours for you to enjoy from being active on walking or biking tour, to enjoying a food or wine tour. There is so much to do and Viator has so many great offers for you. Click here to see their latest Malaga Deals!
Where to Stay in Costa del Sol
We have the best Spain holiday rentals here:
- Apartments & Villas – click here for deals (Over 6000 listings for the area)
- Apartments, Villas, & more – click here for availability and pricing (Over 8000 listings, some have long-term rental pricing as well)
- Apartments, Hotels & more – click here for availability and pricing
Property Owners: you may list your holiday property or room rental for free!
Estepona Spain – The West End of Costa del Sol
Organized Tours
There are also many organized tours for you to enjoy from being active on walking or biking tour, to enjoying a food or wine tour. There is so much to do and Viator has so many great offers for you. Click here to see their latest Malaga Deals!
Wow, what a beautiful town, Heidi. I’m cracking up about the Sunday grocery store. A true miracle!!!!
It is gorgeous. We were there for the week doing a house sit over Christmas. It is crazy how excited we were to find out a store was open. LOL Simple pleasures.
Oh that’s so pretty! I haven’t been down there, only to Catalonia (loved it!) but it’s on the list for next year. I could handle just hanging out over there and filling my face with amazing food for a while 🙂
Oh yes Alyson, you do need to visit Andalucia. It is so gorgeous down here in the South.
Awesome pics Heidi, it’s so nice to see a clean beach-front, haven’t seen that in a long time in SE Asia! 🙂
Thanks Andrew. Uh oh, no clean beaches in SE Asia? We aren’t going to like that.
I really love the promenades that are typical of that area… makes it so nice to have a ramble anytime. California could learn something from them!!
Looks like a gorgeous place to stay. Love where you are in Spain. Jealous!!
Hi Anne, You are so right about California learning a lesson. I am from San Francisco / Oakland originally and the closest thing there was out at Ocean Beach or around Fisherman’s Wharf. I lived in San Diego for a while too and it just wasn’t the same as Spain. In Spain the promenade is meant to be used for social time. Love it! Thanks for stopping by.