Málaga Airport is the gateway to the Costa del Sol, a stretch of Mediterranean shore stitched together by palm‑lined promenades, whitewashed old towns, and the occasional lighthouse. Famously it can boast more than 300 days of sunshine a year, so whilst this makes the long sandy beaches an obvious draw for the sunseekers, beyond the beach bars lie traces of Phoenicians, Romans, and Moors, all of whom left their fingerprints on the landscape. This rich history is interspersed between sleepy fishing harbours, where old men still mend nets in the shade and exclusive marinas crammed with the high-tech super yachts of the rich. It’s a coastline that rewards wandering and, if you’re anything like us, has plenty of opportunities for the odd lighthouse detour.
From the organised chaos of the Málaga Airport car hire compound we headed west along the A7. An hour later, framed by Mediterranean on one side and the foothills of the Sierra Bermeja on the other, we rolled into the seaside town of Estepona which was to be our first base for exploring the Andalusian coast.
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| Marina, Estepona |
Once a quiet fishing village, the town has transformed over the last two decades into one of the coast’s most charming, less frenetic alternatives to Marbella. Its port, where we were staying, still retains a working-harbour feel beneath the gloss. The area is compact and sociable, lined with bars and restaurants that cater to locals, sailors, and winter escapees alike.
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| Punta Doncella Lighthouse, Estepona |
Estepona has invested heavily in its seafront over the last two decades, transforming it into one of the prettiest stretches of promenade on the coast. As a result, the Paseo Marítimo de Estepona is now a long, palm-lined esplanade tracing the curve of the bay and is a delight to stroll along at any time of the day.
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| View from the Mirador del Carmen, Estepona |
At the start of the promenade dominating the harbour entrance is the Punta Doncella Lighthouse which is perched on a natural limestone outcrop. The tower has guided ships along this coast for over a century, and it remains one of Estepona’s most recognisable landmarks.
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| Paseo Marítimo de Estepona |
To get the best view of the lighthouse, and the town make sure you ride the glass elevator of the nearby Mirador del Carmen, Estepona’s new cultural centre. The glass lift will whisk you up 12 floors to a viewing platform with sweeping panoramas. For three euros, the reward is a stunning vista: the lighthouse, the bullring, the beaches stretching east and west, and on clear days, the unmistakable silhouette of Gibraltar and the mountains of North Africa beyond.
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| Murals of Estepona |
In the old town, Estepona’s famous flowerpot streets are a joy. They are part of a beautification project launched in the early 2010s that helped transform the town into the “Garden of the Costa del Sol”. Each street was allowed to choose a colour of flower pot (macetas) and they adorn the whitewashed walls, balconies, and railings. Even in winter they bring a splash of colour which can't fail to lift your mood.
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| Flowerpot streets of Estepona |
Another wonderful regeneration project called “Ruta de los Murales Artísticos” has transformed the town into one of Spain’s best-known open-air art galleries. The project began around 2012 as part of Estepona’s urban renewal to beautify residential neighbourhoods, bring art out of museums and into everyday life and in the process turn non-touristy areas into cultural destinations.
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| Murals of Estepona |
The project involved hand-painted murals on the façades of apartment buildings, some several stories tall, some spanning multiple apartment blocks. These were painted by international and Spanish artists and are stunning. A fabulous idea and we enjoyed a lovely few hours tracing the colourful murals towering above us, splashed across entire buildings. The standout was Día de Pesca by José Fernández Ríos which depicts a fisherman catching sardines, stretched across three buildings and six façades.
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| Murals of Estepona |
Our first visit to an Orchid House was great fun. In the centre of Estepona the futuristic glass-domed botanical garden was opened in 2015. Inside are over 5,000 plant species and a 17-metre dramatic cascading waterfall. It is certainly in keeping with the green-fingered streets.
Storm Francis had arrived halfway through our time in Estepona which had grounded us for a day but we did manage to do some exploring. Driving east we visited Puerto Banús, the glitzy marina built in the 1970s as a playground for the rich and famous and now synonymous with superyachts, supercars, and super-inflated prices. Designer excess isn't our thing although the view of whitewashed buildings backed by the Sierra Blanca mountains was undeniably striking.
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| Puerto Banús |
A short drive and we were in the centre of Marbella which offered a more grounded stop. An okay seafront and a lighthouse standing bravely in front of ageing apartment blocks that spoke of earlier decades of mass tourism. Something that Estepona appears to have thankfully escaped.
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| Marbella Lighthouse |
Epiphany, Día de Reyes is one of Spain’s most important holidays, and Estepona was in a relaxed, festive mood when we returned. Evening brought the Three Kings parade: inflatable superheroes, floats, and an astonishing 16,000 kilograms of sweets hurled into the crowd (source local website!).
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| Three Kings parade in Estepona |
As we finished with a final beer on the walk home, it felt like we’d experienced the town in all its moods: sunshine and storms, fiestas and quiet afternoons, tradition and reinvention. Estepona doesn’t shout for attention like some of its neighbours, it simply gets on with being itself, and that, it turns out, is pretty cool.
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| Sun sets on the Punta Doncella Lighthouse, Estepona |
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