Periana
Periana is our local village, a traditional pueblo blanco, with around 3,500 inhabitants just under 4 km east from Casa Rosa. It is a quiet place to walk around, you will meet friendly people and can relax with a drink or food in one of the bars. We recommend Verdugo which is very friendly and inexpensive.
Local Produce
Periana is famous for its olive oil and you can visit the cooperative where it is made. The cooperative's olive oil makes a great gift to take back home, and they now sell a delicious selection of local produce. Follow the signs below the church: Aceite de Periana.
The local farmers don't just grow olives they also grow peaches, lemons, pomegranates, avocado, oranges and algarrobo or carob. The carob trees grow amongst the olives and produce a long brown pod which was previously used as a chocolate substitute and now more usually for animal feed.
Cultural Attractions
The top three cultural places to visit from Casa Rosa have to be
- The Alhambra Palace in Granada (pictured) (1.5 hours away)
- the Caves at Nerja (45 minutes away) and the Picasso museum in Malaga.
Tickets to all of these can be organised directly or through our concierge (The Alhambra in particular gets very booked up so organise your trip early to avoid disappointment).
Other worthwhile destinations are the historical towns of Ronda and Antequera, as well as Acinipo - a Roman amphitheatre 12 miles northwest of Ronda.
Beaches
There are many beaches within an hour’s drive of Casa Rosa, the closest being at Torre Del Mar, 25 minutes away. Small beaches with good chiringuitos can also be found at neighbouring Caleta De Velez and Algarrobo too. We often go to the beaches at Nerja (pictured) and beyond to smaller, quieter places like Maro or El Canuelo, which are both small coves with one bar.
Lake Vinuela
Beautiful Lake Vinuela is within 20 minutes' drive (Hotel Vinuela is excellent for al fresco dining on the sunny terrace overlooking the lake) with the old, handsome town of Velez Malaga just a little further down the broad valley towards the Mediterranean beaches. La Bohemia in Velez serves excellent tapas and great steaks too!
Malaga
Malaga (which was quoted in the Sunday Times 2017 as being "a city that has undergone a Barcelona-like transformation... into the most agreeable destination in Spain") is just an hour away and offers culture, shopping, cafe society, beach-life (Playa de la Caleta is best), marina, superb tapas bars and Roman ruins & architecture - more than enough to justify an overnight stay, perhaps at the Parador de Malaga Gibralfaro. As well as the Picasso museum (Picasso was born in Malaga), there is the Carmen Thyssen museum, the Pop-up Pompidou Centre in "El Cubo" in the port (until 2020), the Russian Museum in the architecturally splendid old tobacco factory building, which is the first overseas branch of the St Petersburg's State Russian Art Museum and, as of December 2016, the new Museo de Málaga in the Palacio de la Aduana, which has a mixture of fine art and archeology. There's even a bus from Periana.
Granada
The magnificent city of Granada with its remarkable Alhambra Palace (pictured) is within 90 minutes by car.
Cordoba and Seville are also within comfortable reach.
Comares
The spectacular mountain-top village of Comares (pictured) is a must-see on any visit to this area and the well known pueblos blancos of Frigiliana (pictured below) and Competa are well worth discovering too.
More towns, villages & other attractions within easy reach by car
Ventas de Zafarraya
Is a small village with approx 1,000 people live there. It is an important place for the vegetable trade being in a very fertile growing region. It has spectacular views.
Baños Arabes hot springs
3km out of Alhama. These original Roman and Moorish baths are in the basement of a spa hotel. You can visit the old baths and relax in the hot water.
To get there, take the road out of Alhama leading to Granada. About 1.5km out of town, it is signposted – Balnearios – to the left just before a bridge.
Puente Don Manuel
Half way down the road towards the coast between Periana and Velez Malaga is Puente Don Manuel, where there are plenty of bars and restaurants (excellent tapas at Meson Sara on the corner). Most notably it has two shops selling British products, one of which, “Arkwrights” is open all hours every day and sells English newspapers. Across the road is a very good Spanish bakery open almost every day of the year. There is also a vet close to Arkwright's.
La Viñuela
This is a pretty village of about 1500 inhabitants some 5km beyond Puente Don Manuel on the old road to the coast. Here there is a 24 hour medical centre.
Alcaucin
A very nice small town about 3km up above Puente Don Manuel, nestling against the “Sierra Tejeda”. It is sign-posted to the left as you exit Puente Don Manuel in the direction of the coast. From there you have access to the Natural Park “Sierra Tejeda” – beautiful and great for hiking.
Alhama de Granada
Alhama is a very old town of around 6,500 people, only 45 minutes’ drive from Casa Rosa. See the “Tajos”, a deep ravine (similar to Ronda), with two large abandoned mills at the bottom and a Roman bridge. Like all Spanish villages it has interesting churches and some beautiful old houses.
Mondrón
Lies about 6km out of Periana, and is almost as famous for its olive oil as Periana. There is a museum of Olive Oil with antique machinery etc. There is also a shop where you can buy olive oil. Their oil is lighter than the “Periana Gold” but interesting to compare.
Alfarnate and Alfarnatejo
Above Baños de Vilo is a good asphalted road that you can see zig-zagging up over the mountains towards Alfarnate – a pretty little village. Quite close by, but very different, is another small village – Alfarnatejo – and from there you can take a wonderful drive back down through the mountains to the Periana/Rio Gordo road again.
Rio Frio
Not far past Alfarnate is a small town of Rio Frio situated alongside the Málaga to Granada motorway in the foothills of the Sierra de Loja. Trout fishing here is recorded back as far as 1664, and in recent times there have been record catches with brown trout up to 5.2kg. The river runs through the village and the fishing season lasts all year round, but if you do not wish to fish you can always sample the trout in one of the many restaurants. You can also book a tour around Riofrio Caviar which produces organic caviar - carlos@caviarriofrio.com
Baños de Vilo
Leave Casa Rosa and go back towards Periana and turn left at the roundabout and head out of town. Stay on the road in the direction of Rio Gordo and after c 3km there is a right turn. There is an old Roman sulphur bath on the left about 400m after turning off and before you reach the sweet hamlet itself. This is worth a visit and to enjoy a bath in the cold sulphurous water is refreshing and very good for skin problems.