Any tips for the Murcia area?

tiff

Have just booked what I think are bargain flights from Cardiff to Murcia in the school holidays, 2 adults and 2 children for £413 incl taxes and baggage charge. We have been offered the use of a friends villa on Mazarron Country Club. We have never been to this area before and wondered if anyone has any tips or advice on where to go and what to do. Are there any forums for this area or website links?

Have to say we are on a budget (isnt everyone lol). We are going for a week.

tiff

bump, anyone?

Dumyat

we flew in to murcia airport and stayed on a villa not far from the airport. it had its own pool and to be honest we didnt do much more than eat and swim in the pool. we did do a trip to Murcia which was a lovely city. We did plan a visit to Cartagena but didnt get round to it

tiff

Thanks dogrose. Found out that a car will pick us up from the airport then we have that car to ourselves for the week so we dont even need to book car hire. I have a feeling we wont do too much as it's meant to be a cheap week in the sun, but we would like to tear ourselves away from the pool at least once lol.

Will have a look online into Cartagena.

elleroo

Hi there, we wnet to Mazzaron last Summer and went to the country club to use the pool most days. It's lovely there, the pool area is clean and there is a small snack bar.

go into Mazzaron itself for meals out, the chinese just out of town by the supermarkets is really really good!

PM if you have any questions...

LesD

Hi Tiff,

We have a villa just down the road from the MCC and can highly recommend the area if you don't want the hilife of Benidorm!

The beaches nearby are superb and the restaurants offer excellent value for money. Try the El Saladillo nearby for a 4-course lunch including water, wine and coffee for €8.50.

Possible trips out with the car include Cartagena (lots of Phoenician and Roman excavations), Murcia town for the cathedral, Lorca (for a fantastic castle with a great story to tell), Jumilla vineyards and the Sierra Espuña (for magic wild life - including wild boars and eagles! - and scenery).

One downside at the moment is the amount of roadworks in the area. Great for the future with THREE new motorways being built! But a bit disruptive in the meantime! One of the roads will provide a direct link from San Javier (Murcia) airport and should be open by the time you go.

Let me know if you want to know more.

tiff

Gosh those meal prices are even better than Turkey (my favourite place) which used to be cheap but has seen dramatic price increases.

I'm actually looking forward to it now. I have never liked any of the places that I've been to in Spain, so didnt want to take up the offer of this villa before now. HAve been to Palma Nova Majorca (20 years ago), Gran Canaria, Salou and Tenerife and didnt fall in love with any of them although Palma city in Majorca was lovely. I had thought the Murcia region was very British but it seems that it might be the kind of place that we will enjoy. Even though we just want a cheap week in the sun, we are quite choosy about where.

Can you recommend any of the beaches in particular so we know where to head for? Good to know the Mazarron CC pool is nice, looks nice in the photos.

LesD

Here is the local municipality website with an article in English about the beaches....

http://www.mazarron.es/ingles/playas/playas.asp

They're all good and only 10-15 mins drive away.

It is true that villas at the MCC and on our urbanisation (Camposol - as featured in 'Living In The Sun' on TV yesterday!) are predominantly owned by Brits, but the towns and villages around are pure Spanish. However, if you hanker after a Sunday roast or fish and chips, you can find that for under €10 too!

simonhul

It is true that some of the Urbanizations, as the Spanish call them, in the Murcia region are predominately owned by Northern Europeans. The Mazarron Country Club has large number of British, German and French owners plus some Spanish. The area though is also the place where the Spanish come to holiday. My sister-in-law is from Madrid and she is familiar with the place as a tourist. It makes for a great mix of people and as far from the Benidorm/Magalluf type of resorts as you can get in Spain. It is quite lovely and relatively unspoilt.

Incapuppy

:spam: anyone?

cclarke12

Puerto de Mazarron is nice and not too far to drive. It is a Spanish seaside town (although a lot more English than there used to be). There are lots of restaurants along the promenade and we usually go to Avenida Restaurant for a great Paella (about 8 euros per head). This restaurant is at the end nearest the port. Avoid Camposol which is a large ‘British’ urbanisation outside of Mazarron which is ghetto for ex pats. Cartagena is nice if you drive towards the port and have a walk round the old town. Santiago La Ribera (close to the airport) is another pleasant Spanish seaside town. The area is certainly more British than it was 10-15 years ago and there has been prolific building of golf resorts, however, it is still not high-rise like many of the other Costas and it is still the coastal area is still very popular with Spanish for their holidays as well.