What is the town of Nerja like?
We came to Nerja in November of 2020.
Before coming to Nerja, we had certain ideas of what the town was like. It’s a seaside town so of course there are beaches. And every postcard of Nerja shows off the mountains looming behind town.
But we didn’t know what the town itself was like. Was it full of the ugly apartment buildings that the Costa del Sol is famous for? Is it modern? Or does it have the typical Andalusian architecture we’ve seen before in places like Sevilla and Granada?
We didn’t really know what to expect.
We read a post written by a blogger who wasn’t impressed by the actual town of Nerja (yes, he liked the beaches but didn’t think much of the town itself). That made us wonder if we would like the town. As we had previously found out in Alicante, it’s fine to read about a place but it’s very different seeing it with your own eyes.
So I thought I’d do a photo post showing people what Nerja looks like. I also tell you the reasons we decided to settle in Nerja.
LOTS of photos below (note: many were taken during Covid times. That’s why you see so few people around…)
As you can see above, you won’t see ugly garish buildings in Nerja. Most buildings are typical, low-level buildings whitewashed in Andalusian style. But even highrises (and there are some tall apartment buildings outside the center) are consistent with the style. It makes for an attractive town.
Nerja is a real town with everything that a real town should have. It’s a popular place for tourists and some describe it as a resort town, but I think that’s misleading. In Nerja we’ve found everything we need, something that can’t be said for Split (Croatia) where we lived for over a year. We have a favorite panaderia (bakery), a fruteria (fruit & vegetable store) where the owner is always friendly, a hardware store where we’ve already spent a fortune. We have a large Mercadona supermarket where we do our shopping, a huge appliance store where we’ve bought a toaster oven, a bed store where we bought a new bed. All are within a 10 minute walk. We have everything we need here. We think that’s great.
A few more photos
Related: What’s it like living in Nerja? The Pros and the Cons
Related: Our Cost of Living in Nerja
I’d really love a review of the different urbanizations in Nerja. As a couple who is planning on exploring this as a living option I’d love to get more information on what the option are.
Thanks Joana. I’ll actually got a post coming up in the next few weeks that will be written by a Real Estate Agent we know here in Nerja. She’ll be writing about the general market here, the various neighbourhoods and urbanizations. So stay tuned! 🙂
Hi Frank, How easy is it to get to public transportation in Nerja?
Thanks and looking forward to your post featuring your real estate agent friend! Very intrigued by Nerja!
Hi Jeanne,
Do you mean within town or to go outside?
You have about hourly buses going to Malaga or in the other direction towards Motril. In town there is a city bus and we’ve seen people using it – but I’m sorry, we don’t have any experience taking it. Nerja is quite small and anywhere central is within a 15 minute walk so really we walk everywhere.
A couple of newer posts: What’s it like living in Nerja? The Pros and the Cons
And here is the real estate post: What you need to know about Real Estate in Nerja
If you ever have a question don’t be shy to ask! 🙂
Sorry Frank I meant to go out of town toward Malaga, so you answered my question. Thanks!
Thanks for your very informed view of Nerja. It is a town I hadn’t heard of. It seems lovely. Is this a place that would be suitable for a person who is retired to live i.e. not a spring chicken? Curious.
Definitely Agatha! Most people here are older 🙂 It specifically caters to that crowd.
I’ve enjoyed your photos and blog posts on Nerja; thank you! I don’t recall mention about cost of living, particularly for housing. Might you comment on that? Also, I read somewhere that Nerja gets a good deal of rain and isn’t overly warm in the winter months. Have you been there long enough to comment on the weather?
Hi Deborah,
Funny because I’ve been thinking of doing a post on the cost of living in Nerja (we’ve just hit the 7 month mark of living here).
We rent a large townhouse (3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths) with tons of outdoor space for which we pay 800 Euros/mo. But most apartments we looked at previous to choosing this one cost on average 700/Euros. Electricity is another 60 Euros, internet another 20 Euros.
Hmm, no, that’s not true as far as rain and cold weather. I guess it’s all relative, but having lived winter here I’d say 5/7 days are sunny and average temp in high teens. I don’t think you can find much better anywhere in Europe. We lived a year in Croatia and Nerja definitely warmer in winter. I’d say weather here pretty much ideal.
Thank you, Frank! This is GOOD info to have. After I wrote, I found another post somewhere that gave me a link to a real estate site on which I saw many places in my price range. Surprise, surprise!!! And even CHEAPER than my price range, which would be even better if they panned out to be as nice as they look. I also found that the Costa del Sol has an average of 300 sunshine days per year. Duh, I should have figured that given its name! LOL You have given me inspiration with your blogs! Thank you so very much! I have family in Scandinavia where it is next to impossible to be an expat, but I am determined to move closer to them, and all your info, especially about air travel, is very helpful to me. Also, if we were located in a southern/beachy climate, they would def come visit a lot, and it would be way cheaper than flying to the States to see us. This pandemic has been super depressing in that regard. I have a grandson (the only male) I’ve never held who will be walking/talking before I can “meet” him. Sigh. So you’re site has been an incredible blessing to me! Keep posting! I love it!
That sounds great Deborah. Nice story about your grandson, I can only imagine how excited you’ll be meeting him for the 1st time.
Thank you for all the kind words and for taking the time to comment 🙂
Lovely photos of Nerja. Brings back many wonderful memories of our time spent there one winter. Have you visited Frigiliana as yet?
Hi Prunella! No 🙁 . Pretty pathetic right since it’s only 6km away? We’ve just been very cautious with Covid.
But we’ll get there soon.
Are you from Frigiliana?
Hello,
I’m considering moving to Nerja. I’m currently living in Barcelona.
What’s the atmosphere for sn young expact? Is it easy to meet people?
Hi Carol,
I can’t really tell you being that we’re in lockdown and everything being as it is currently. We haven’t tried to be social considering that. I will say however that the expats we have seen tend to be on the older side, mostly 60s and 70s. That may well change when part-time residents come back but for now that’s what we’ve noticed 😉