Click an image to enlarge it...

Granada is an easy hour’s drive from the villa, almost all on the motorway, though back roads through hills, national parks and small villages make an interesting alternative. Granada is the regional centre, most famous for the Moorish palace of the Alhambra and associated Generalife gardens, but it also boasts the picturesque old quarter of the Albaicin and the caves of Sacromonte. It is a busy commercial centre too, with good shops and restaurants, the expanding Science Museum and a wide range of cultural activities. Tickets for the Alhambra can be prebooked at www.alhambradegranada.com

The peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are half an hour’s drive from Granada, offering walking around mountain villages like Capileira and Trevelez and the ascent of Mulhacen, the highest peak in mainland Spain. Between December and May the ski area is open and equipment can be hired locally – for more information go to www.sierranevada.co.uk