Andalucia, a Wonderful Holiday Destination.

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Thursday, 20 November 2008

By:Ruth Polak

The Costa del Sol has long been one of the most popular holiday destinations

in southern Europe, and quite rightly so as it has much to offer in the form

of reliable sunshine, beautiful safe beaches, good restaurants and nightlife,

good quality and affordable accommodation along with plentiful and cheap flights

from a vast choice of airports. However The Costa del Sol is only a very small

part of the wonderful Autonomous Region of Andalucia.

Rural tourism has opened up this superb area of southern europe and it is

now possible to rent a villa in many outstanding and remote areas hither

too unexplored by the vast majority of tourists. To a large extent the

countryside has been unspoilt by the recent developments along the Costas

and there are still many out of the way and remote areas to explore. In

recognition of this several new air routes have now been opened up

with very reasonable flights into both Jerez and Granada airports.

The white villages, or "Pueblos Blancos" are a good starting point as in the main

life goes on in them much as it has done for centuries. Casares, Gaucin, Benaojen,

Estacion de Cortes, Cortes de la Frontera, to name but a few, are all

delightful places to spend a few hours ambling around, marvelling at

the architecture, the slow unchanging pace of life and sampling the

various tapas bars. During the summer months every village holds a tradtional

feria with music and dancing in the streets all night long.

Andlaucia is of course the home of Flamenco dancing and bull fighting. The oldest

bullring in Spain is to be found at Ronda, and whatever your feelings are

on this rather emotive sport it is an interesting building to visit as is the

adjacent museum. The old part of the town is also a lovely place to visit

with its amazing Tajo ( gorge) and wealth of old buildings. A train ride

from one of the white villages further down country such as Jimena or Gaucin,

is a lovely way to arrive at Ronda as the train passes through some beautiful

countryside not visable from the road.It also continues on upto

Granada which is a must for any visitor to Andalucia with its stunning

Alhambra Palace, old gypsey quarter and many other places of interest.

The wildlife in Andalucia is amongst the best now left in Europe with an

astonishing array of birds, both resident and migrant, it is particuarly

well blessed with birds of prey such as Griffon and Eygptian Vultures,

Bonnelli's and Booted Eagles,Peregrine falcons, Red and Black Kites, to name

but a few. These magnificent birds are a common site soaring majestically above the

mountain ranges of Andalucia. It is also home to wild boar, mongeese and genets

most of which are not particuarly well appreciated by the local population

as they do alot of damage to gardens and live stock, however they are all

now protected by law. In the spring the countryside puts on a stunning

display of wild flowers, some of which are now quite rare in other parts of

Europe.

There is much unspoilt countryside where one is quite at liberty to walk

and camp, just being careful with fires in the dry summer months. Whilst

official footpaths and signposting are rather limited there are few real

restrictions as to where you can wander as long as you just use common sense

with regard to rubbish, fires etc. However always take water with you

as you can easily find yourself in the middle of nowhere with no natural

source of water nearby.

So take a holiday away from all the hustle and bustle, rent a private villa,

hire a car and just enjoy exploring this delightful region of Spain.

Article submitted by Ruth Polak the owner of http://www.costadelsol-
vacationrentals.com A web site specializing in holiday villas and
apartments on the Costa del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. You will also
find lots of information about Spain and Andalucia, in particular.

Article Source: http://www.dailynewarticles.com