My husband and I have just returned from a week in Nerja. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who gave us tips before we left.

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza Cavana, booked through Portland Direct. It's a lovely little hotel, perfectly located if you want to be in the centre of the town and surrounded by hustle and bustle. I'll post a detailed review of the hotel seperately.

Excursions in and around Nerja

It was a relaxing week for us, so we only did a few excursions:

- We got a taxi (9 euro) to Nerja caves (7 euro each) and caught the bus back (90 cents). The caves were amazing and really worth the trip out there. I recommend getting there when the caves open at 10am - you'll have the place to yourselves!

- We had a stroll around the market, which takes place on a Tuesday morning. I wasn't expecting much but we really enjoyed it - it was bigger than we'd expected and was very cheap.

- We got a taxi to Frigiliana (11 euro) and caught the bus back (93 cents). It's a lovely little village. We got there early and again had the place to ourselves before the packed public bus from Nerja and most of the tour buses arrived! Pick up a free map from the Information Office - they'll point out the best walk around the village, which you might miss if you don't have a map with you.

- We caught the 10.10am direct bus to Malaga, which cost just 6.40 euro return, and took just under an hour. Malaga is a lovely city; far nicer than we'd expected. We jumped on the 'hop on hop off' Malaga Tour bus at the bus station, which cost $15 euro each. Great value. We did the full tour of the city, which lasted about 90 minutes and then got off at the Cathedral to grab some lunch before getting on again to visit El Cortes Ingles, a massive department store near to the bus/train station. The 3.15pm bus back stopped at quite a few places and took about an hour and 15 minutes.

Just an obervation, virtually every bus we caught was packed - so be prepared for a scrum getting onto them at bus stations (people don't form an orderly queue like they do in the UK!) - it was every man/women/child for themselves! People had to stand on the buses and the drivers couldn't stop at some bus stops because they physically couldn't get any more passengers onboard.

Recommended restaurants

Nerja is a food-lovers paradise - there's something that will appeal to all tastes! We ate at the following restaurants - I've written my comments about each of them:

- Bella Roma (Italian) off the square at the end of the Balcon. Lively and popular. We paid just 33 euro for two starters, two pasta main courses and three drinks. The pasta was fantastic. Get there early if you don't want to queue to get in. Service not that friendly

- Cielito Lindo (Mexican), on El Barrio. It cost 55 euro for a starter, 2 main courses and 3 drinks. Not much atmosphere but I can image that it's good fun when there's quite a few people in there. Service okay - not blown away by it

- Cafe New Oreans (Cajun?) on Calle Los Huertos - what a gem! This was my favourite meal of the holiday. The food was awesome and the service very friendly. Make sure you make a reservation - we saw quite a few people turned away. We paid 56 euro for 2 starters, 2 main courses, 2 puddings and 4 drinks

- Buenos Aires (Argentinian) opposite the Hotel Monica - steaks to die for and excellent service! They don't accept debit/credit card - fortunately we had enough cash to pay the bill. It cost just under 55 euro for two starters and two main courses and 3 drinks

- The White Truffle (modern European cuisine) tucked away on Manuel Marin. This was my husband's favourite meal of the week - the food was fantastic and the service was very friendly. It's a shame that it was so quiet in there - I think it's because it's a fairly new restaurant and it's not located somewhere where you'll just happen to be passing. We paid 49 euro for 2 starters and 2 main courses

- Mandarin Palacio (Chinese) opposite the Hotel Monica - just 35 euro for a fantastic 3 course set menu and two drinks. Friendly service

- The famous Ayo's (Spanish) on Burriana beach. As much paella you can eat for 6.50 euro. Just a tip, if you don't want your clothes stinking of BBQ sit away from the area where they prepare the food!

- Antica Roma (Italian) has a terrace with wonderful sea views and overlooks the Balcon. Service okay - again, not blown away by it. The lasagne was wonderful - probably the best I've ever tasted.

- We ate lunch a few times at La Biznada (Spanish tapas bar), next to the Church in the square at the end of the Balcon. Good food but the service on the terrace was slow and unfriendly. It's quicker (and cheaper) if you eat indoors and we found the service better here too!

- Big Al's (English) - hubbie had a fantastic all day English breakfast there. Friendly and cheap.

Recommended bars

- We ended every evening with a coffee/beer (and sometimes an ice cream) at the Cavana Bar, underneath the Hotel Plaza Cavana. Friendly service and nice atmosphere

- We spent an evening in Annie's Bar, Edficio Algarrobo Bajo, just off C/Chaparil. What a fantastic place. We were there on a Wednesday night when they had a wonderful Irish band playing. Friendly atmosphere and friendly bar staff - very impressed

- Cochrans Bar, just off the square at the bottom of the Balcon, has a nice outdoor terrace with superb sea view. We ate/drank there a few times and were very disappointed that the service slow and unfriendly. Not impressed. I dread to think what it's like when it's the high season!

- Irish Harp Bar, C/ Carabeo. They have live music on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. We went on a Monday night and the two guys singing were good. It's quite a small bar so get there early if you want a seat. It also got very smoky in there.

U2fan