Uk Shopping In Spain - Consumer Advisor

Thought i would start a thread for people to report great places to visit!! After all we are here to live the dream and fun..am I right??

I want to start with Terra Natura. Weve been there before but had such a good time this time we decided to buy a season ticket to the animal park and to the water park.

First of all we were desperate to see the hippos as previously they had stayed hidden. When we got there we could see the hippos backside just poking out of his den. We waited a good 15mins.. no movement. I looked at Ja who looked at me and we were both thinking the same thing. He took a carrot out of our daughters food tub, waited till the coast was clear and lobbed it at the hippos rather large bottom, it wasnt hard to miss. You wouldnt think it would work but curiosity got the better of the big fellow, ....up he got and out he strolled like a charging snail. His mate soon followed, they did a lap of honour then went for a dip. Fantastic, they were amazing!!

As we got to the red deers we couldnt believe our luck when they had strolled out onto the footpath. We were able to feed them, cuddle them it was lovely. Brandon(3yrs) put an apple down for one of the larger red deer. Obviously having a bad day this deer decided to be completely ungrateful & headbutt Brandon right in the chest almost sweeping him clean off his feet. As i rushed over to remove Brandon incase the deer went back for more, Brandon took control of the situation by slapping the deer on the nose twice, removing the deers apple and screaming DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN. He walked away with the apple and gave it to a well behaved deer!

As we got to the giraffes once again luck comes our way when one of the giraffes comes over to play. With his head right over the fence we were feeding him, stroking him literally cuddling him around his neck and photos to prove it. I never knew they had freaky long tongues untill one was wrapped around my hand!! We could not believe it. Of all the animal parks we have been to never before have we cuddled a giraffe. The icing on the cake for the kids was when the giraffe lifted his tail and did a hot steamy one right by us, the kids eyes were like dinner plates, they thought it was magic!

Anyway i will stop there incase im boring you. Terra Natura & Aqua Natura are well recommended by us!! Its not often you get to assault a hippo with a carrot, use supernanny techniques on a red deer and have an affair with a girrafe!!!

I have some more places to share but will have to that when i get back to the internet cafe!!

If you have experiencd a great day out please let us know as summer holidays are approaching and many families on site will want to keep busy busy busy!!!!

 

 

 

 

This message was last edited by tinasolera on 4/26/2008.

This message was last edited by tinasolera on 4/26/2008.

This message was last edited by tinasolera on 4/26/2008.

okay dokay.............. good to see so many of you sharing your gd days out!! (just kidding)

Another great place to visit is the Palm garden in Elche. The imperial palm tree over 100years old was really beautiful and all in all just a very relaxing day out!! I thought it might be boring looking at lots of trees but actually for someone who isnt really into that i thought it was great & so did the kids!

More when im back on-line

We are going Terra Mitica in Benidorm soon so hope to report great things about that place!!

Anyone else got anything

 

 

it took me a while to find this thread I cant believe people haven't added to it over the last few months, we must all be finding places to visit so lets share.

for us this weekend we found Mojacar,  we had to go a visit a client and decided to stay and explore the area.  it took us about 1 hour 45 minutes to get there using the new motorway and the old village - Mojacar Peublo is a beautiful white spanish village and close by is Mojacar playas some good beaches on the med with holiday shops and for those who want it an excellent english supermarket.

We found an english B and B and stayed overnight cost for the two of us for B and B  30 euros!!!!

I can recomment Mojacar for a day or even better a short break

HIya Maureen

discovered loads of great places this summer but gave up on this thread as no one was replying. 

Whilst im here, here are a few. The boat trip  over to la manga and back 4 euros each way is good and then from la manga the Palmovision boat 8euros around the islands on the Med sea was great, very rocky tho on a windy day, not for those easily seasick!!!

Aqua park in Torrievieja was also  a great laugh!!

Cabo de Palos on la manga has amazing cliff walks with fantastic views across the med sea, great lighthouse and is also a top spot for snorkelling. Love it there, worth a visit for sure!!

Hot pool springs at Archena...... fabulicious!! 9 euros for 3 hours weekdays, 12 euros weekends!! Open till late!


This message was last edited by tinasolera on 10/26/2008.

This message was last edited by tinasolera on 10/26/2008.

Thanks for the post girls, keep exploring and posting new locations  on this thread, I love reading of new places to go.

Thanks Bev X

Great to see this thread alive again,for a good scenic drive very close to San Cayetano,head for Avilesses and turn right to the Polaris World sight of Hacienda Requelme.Go to the entrance which is on a roundabout,turn under the railway bridge and instead of turning right as the road goes,go straight ahead.This will lead you up to the mountains at the west of San Cayetano some people call the "sleeping lady" due to the shape of them.Once here there are some stunning scenery views and rock formations,we call it the "bad lands"as there is a information post there in Spanish and its the only bit written in English,lol.Well worth a short drive.

Mula is also worth a look,not too far away.There is the remains of a castle high on a hill which you can easily drive to,the views from here are quite spectacular,looking down onto the town and surrounding areas.From here its notilt,it looks down on the  very far to the Sierra Espunas mountains.Roads all the way through pines with a couple of restaurants on the way.You can also visit the ice houses here ,were years ago they stored ice and bought down to Murcia and surrounding areas for ice cream etc.You can also play in the snow here  if you are lucky round about the end of January!!!!Oh and watch out for the wild boar that can be sighted occasionally.


Calesparra is another good place to visit,famous for rice.Just outside the main town there is a monastery and church built into vertical cliffs,very beautiful and tranquil.On the way to the monastery look out for a viewing place purpose built,it is a good viewing post for the area down below and beyond.Gets very busy at the monastery on weekends.


Nearby is Caravaca de la Cruz,loads of little widing streets and plenty of real Spanish Architecture,think its one of the worlds most religious places after Jerusalem and Rome!!!!Again a lovely place to visit and not too far away.    





           Regards,Steve and Anita.              Happy exploring.

Have just added some photos of places mentioned below.




     Steve.

Thanks guys

I also love spending time in the square where the Murcia Cathedral is. The atmosphere is lovely. In the square is lots of restaurants, usually some entertainers, music etc, great to sit and relax with a cold beer and you can go in the cathedral as well which is quite special. Around that area is lots of beautiful buildings, fountains etc.

Murcia is a beautiful city on our doorstep, just a bit daunting driving thru it.  Definately go there, you can park in an underground car park about 2mins walk or less from the cathedral.

Hi T
I couldnt find those clubs in Los Narejos you mentioned when i was over last week. The place was quiet in general. How is around Xmas time?  Im back then but will stay elsewhere if its gonna have that ghost town atmos!

Seamas, will try and get name of street next time for you. I have no idea if it will be busy at xmas. i have found that alot of socialising by the spanish is done in the way of regional and community fiestas. went to a melon fiesta not long ago.... it was a.... er... hmmmmm....well.....let me think....interesting!! hahaha  Gotta give everything a try! Im sure those that went will agree the foam fiesta for example was a real laugh.

An obvious great day is all the lovely beaches, we tried to get around loads this summer but too many to get around. Ventured over to mazzaron bay as well which was lovely but my favourite beaches are the Mar menor and very safe for the kids. A few of the beaches on La Manga did have a fair few jellies washing up on the beach, my daughter picked up a dead one and threw it at me which is always charming but most of the jellies in the Mar Menor have been netted.

Not sure if this will be a good visit out or not but the Torre Pacheco magazine has an article about the new futuristic Cabezo Gordo museum opening soon.

I heard to today by another resident that disneyland is definately coming to Murcia. Does anyone else know more about this and if it really is an absolute definate!!


This message was last edited by tinasolera on 10/27/2008.

This message was last edited by tinasolera on 10/27/2008.

Hi Seamas,
    Avda Marquesde Rozalego is the name of the road the night clubs are on. There is an irish pub called Fitzers stuck in the middle of them. Dont know how busy they are at this time of year, but if you are ever hungry the food in fitzers is excellent.

                                                                                                                 Tom.

Dont know how iv missed all this. I spent most of the week in the main plaza with some fab resturaunts I must say. These pubs must be at the other end of town.
A melon festival sounds like something I might have enjoyed!

Hi

We are just back from a week in Spain and I have added some photos of the square in Murcia that tina mentioned as you will see it was showers when we visited but the buildings still look great.  I have aslo added photos of the walk at cabo roig you can either walk on the top path or there is also a path that goes nearer the water if you wish.  We aslo had a nice meal in Sunrise in Cabo roig a bit expensive - but my daughter thinks the waiter's look and smell great !!! 

Hi thanks for pics, keep adding them, we hope to add some ouselfs in a few weeks

We went to Ikea at Murcia on a Saturday (mistake number 1 especially as we then opened up a large metal bed sette right in the middle of the store)
We used Tomtom sat nav and missed the Ikea turning (mistake 2)
Driving back to SC and took wrong turning and ending up driving through Murcia(mistake 3) 
Murcia its self was relatively quite and we used Tomtom and normal road signs to get back on the motorway. I think Murcia's building can be described as being in near perfect condition compared to British Victorian buildings in cities. The city looked very clean.
On the motorway we used Tomtom (another mistake) but got worried as it said the motorway we were driving on should have been a field. Came of motorway, went around a roundabout then back on the motorway again. 
Used roads signs after that and the small mountain next to SC to guide us back home.

There is so much more to do around SC than sit in the sun, one of the reasons for buying in the area. Does any one know if the tourist office supplies the kind of information described below in book or leaflet form. Some thing like a tourist route / map showing the attractions?

Otherwise I might get lost again and end up in the Mar Menor.

Hi All

Last year we were over in Spain at the beginning of December & went into Murcia.

It was weird at first walking around with the sun beaming down & Christmas decs up everywhere, but when it got dark the city was just amazing.

All the orange trees outside the cathedral were lit up & looked really magical. The squares were all decorated with nativity scenes, lights etc & in the evening there was a Christmas market along one of the streets parallel to El Corte Ingles. It had lots of local produce & crafts.

El Corte Ingles also puts up a big Christmas scene outside the store which again is all lit up at night.

When we were over a couple of weeks ago we went back to Cartagena & did the catamaran tour around the harbour/dock area.

We also went up to Valencia for a couple of nights & stopped on route at Denia & had a great 3 course Menu del Dia on the seafront. Although some of the buildings in Valencia were very picturesque & the fruit & veg market was just amazing we were slightly disappointed with the city itself (very clean though!!)

Sue

P.S. Colin - I am still trying to convince my husband that we need to do a second visit to Ikea just so that we can make sure we don't take the wrong turn again !!! Unfortunately he is not convinced !!!

Hi all,

Colin asks about a brochure showing day trip destinations...

I managed to get a lovely book from the tourist hut at the mud baths - It shows all areas of Murcia, the city, Archena spa baths and of course, all the beaches.

Colin, I have also had a disastrous trip to Ikea - made the mistake of going on Sunday morning ( to avoid the madness of the ring road - too like the M25 for me!) - apparently it only opens on Sundays during certain festivals - but not all of them - so go during the day, avoid the Spanish rush hour  ( 8pm onwards). I always look for the orange squashing contraption on the left hand side near the University, then Ikea is the next turn off ( I think)

Karen

Hi David, 

will the xmas decorations be up the first week in december?, we are going over to spain for a week and are planning on going to murcia.

Hi Cricket Fan

We went out on the 5th December last year & I think there is a bank holiday around then so would imagine they should be up.

Hope it is as good as last year !!!

Best Wishes Sue

Thanks Sue for the info, we are looking forward to going

Bev X