Keeping it simple

To visit the local restaurants and ventas, one needs to go by car, as the property is a few kilometres from the nearest town of Guaro. Guaro offers small bars and Spanish cafes known as ventas, serving traditional, uncomplicated food. Along the roads towards Cartama, Coin and Alhuarin el Grande, one finds larger restaurants and the towns themselves are a more sophisticated choice. The towns have some lovely restaurants. For example, the superb Santiago del Calvario in the heart of Alhuarin. It serves great food in a most exquisite surroundings - in summer in the magical, candle lit courtyard, and in the winter, in the Moroccan influenced town house interior.

If one drives 30 minutes north from Guaro to the mountain village of Tolox you will discover Cerro de Hijas, a charming rustic restaurant some 650 metres above sea level. From the terrace you can see as afar as the Sierra Nevada range, the Mediterranean and Africa beyond.

There are plenty of small artisan shops in the villages, within the “Serrania de Ronda” (or Ronda range), as well as galleries that open in the summer season; whilst day-to-day supplies are easily found in Guaro and other nearby pueblo blancos.

Drive about 30 minutes south and you are in Marbella , one of Europe’s favourite playgrounds.