Marbella Day 11 - Trip to Estepona

This is our last day here. Our intention was to go and hike the Caminito Del Rey, a spectacular canyon trail with a suspended boardwalk. Unfortunately we discovered too late that you require reservations and they were all booked up for today when we inquired earlier this week.

We decided to take a short drive to the next town west of here, Estepona, which has a nice beach and a flower filled "old town".

It was only a 20 minute drive and we found some expensive underground parking right at the beach. We started off walking through the whitewashed old town area. The cobblestone streets are a little wider here but just beautiful.

Everyone has hanging flower pots and each street must co-ordinate the colour of their pots! Blue Street....

Green Street....

Green with Polka Dots Street....

You get the idea...

They have a number of buildings painted with beautiful murals. We passed by a few of them...

We got a first hand look at the Spanish Parking Police in action. This is why parking on the street is so risky. It's just about impossible to interpret the parking regulations and if you make a mistake, the hook or the clamp and about 100 euros to get your car back!

We had heard about a greenhouse called the "Orchidarium". A huge greenhouse filled with orchids from around the world so we spent some time looking at the marvellous plants. Lots of orchids!

We had some tapas for lunch at the Plaza de las Flores - probably the best deal yet, 4 tapas plates, one small beer and one glass of wine for 8.80 euro!

We checked out a few more old buildings and churches then headed to the promenade.

An absolutely beautiful promenade running the entire length of the town beach. All sorts of lush gardens. Niagara-on-the-Lake is nothing compared to the floral displays of this place!

We ended up at the marina for a look at the boats and then did a reverse direction walk on the promenade back to the car park.

We returned to our villa and got a start on getting things packed for our departure tomorrow. We made reservations for a harbour front restaurant downtown and got to enjoy a leisurely supper with a front row seat on the popular strip.