Nerja, Frigiliana and the Axarquía, Málaga's eastern hills

Drive east from Málaga along the coast and, after the last of the resort towns, the landscape changes. The mountains come closer to the sea, the shore breaks into cliffs and coves, and the hills behind fill with white villages scattered along the ridges. This is the Axarquía, the eastern corner of the province of Málaga, and its best-known town is Nerja, on a low cliff above the sea, with Frigiliana in the hills a few kilometres behind it.

The Axarquía is a farming country first. Its steep slopes were terraced for vines long ago, and the Moscatel grapes grown here are still dried in the sun into raisins on the hillsides; lower down, in the warm valleys near the coast, the old crops have been joined by avocados and mangoes, which grow here as they do in few other places in Europe.

Nerja and the Balcony of Europe

Nerja's centre is a promenade on a headland that juts out into the sea: the Balcón de Europa, the Balcony of Europe. On Christmas Day 1884 a strong earthquake struck this part of Andalucía, and in the following weeks King Alfonso XII toured the damaged towns. When he came to Nerja he walked out on to the headland, admired the view, and, the story goes, gave it the name it has kept ever since. A bronze statue of the king stands at the rail.

The view he admired is still the reason to come: the coast running away in both directions, small beaches tucked into the coves below, and the mountains behind. Around it, Nerja is a pleasant, whitewashed town of narrow streets and small squares, busier in summer than in winter, with beaches on either side of the headland.

Nerja's other great sight is under the ground. In January 1959 five local boys, out hunting for bats, squeezed through a narrow hole and found a series of enormous caverns full of stalactites and stalagmites. The Caves of Nerja are now one of the most visited sights in Andalucía, and they hold more than formations: the remains of people who lived and painted here many thousands of years ago. The largest chambers are so big that concerts are held in them.

Frigiliana

Frigiliana, on a hillside a few kilometres inland, is the village people come to the Axarquía to see. Its old quarter is Moorish in its layout, a maze of steep, stepped, cobbled lanes winding up the hill between white houses, with pots of geraniums on every step and doorway, and glimpses of the sea between the roofs. It is small, very pretty and, in the middle of the day in summer, very busy. Come early or late, when the day trippers have gone and the lanes are quiet.

Around the village, the old paths run out into the hills: along the irrigation channels, up into the Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama, and down to the coast. It is fine walking country in the cooler months, when the air is clear and the hillsides green.

Holidays that go there

All three holidays here are from Just You, for solo travellers, and all three are based in or near Málaga for seven nights, with Nerja and Frigiliana among their places.

Treasures of Andalucia has Malaga, Ronda, Mijas, Frigiliana and Nerja in its list: the city, the mountain town on its gorge, a white village above the Costa del Sol, and the two places of this piece.

The other two are Christmas holidays, and the Axarquía makes a lot of sense in winter. Andalucia at Christmas and Christmas in Andalucia have the same places in their lists: Malaga, Mijas, Frigiliana, Nerja and Ronda. Málaga's Christmas lights along the Calle Larios are famous in Spain, and a Christmas on the Costa del Sol is milder than one at home.

Choosing the season

The winters on this coast are mild, and from November to March the days are often bright and warm enough for lunch outdoors, though the evenings are cool and the sea is cold. Spring brings wild flowers to the hills and the best walking weather. Summer is hot and busy, and the coast is at its most crowded in August.

Wherever you are based, give the Axarquía a day of its own. Take the road up from the coast into the hills, stop in a white village whose name you do not know, and have lunch in its square. The famous places are famous for good reasons, but the region is full of others like them.