San Pedro Mini Guide
The charming market town of San Pedro de Alcantara is a great place for a relaxing weekend break and is ideally located in the south of Spain on the Costa Del Sol in Andalucia.
Once famous for producing sugar cane, the town has not lost its old world appeal. Its narrow streets are full of pleasant cafes and restaurants and there are also plenty of historical monuments to take in including the Bovedas - Roman Baths and the Paleochristian Basilica Church.
The town is very picturesque as it was built on a fertile plain and surrounded by mountains. It has many green gardens as well as clean sandy beaches so tourists will certainly find it a good place to take photographs.
If you are looking for bargains, Thursdays are the best days to go to San Pedro, as this is when the main market takes place.
There is also plenty of shopping to be done in San Pedro in various boutique and designer shops. In the second week of October the town holds its fair which is very popular with the local people of the area. This is the last of Spain's summer fairs. It lasts four days and there is a bullfight towards the end of it to celebrate Iberian culture.
The bullfight is unusual because instead of the meat from the dead bulls going to charity it is burnt in a bonfire at the end of the day in a pagan ritual. Another neat touch is provided by the pink bloused young women who attend the bullfights and toss their handkerchiefs into the ring to attract the attention of the successful bullfighters.
For more information on what to see and do head to the tourist office on the Avenida del Marques del Duero. They can provide you with road maps of the town and a list of available tours.
The promenade is a good place to walk as well and it has many of the great Chiringuitos - seafood beach bars which serve San Pedro's specialist fish dishes.
San Pedro is easy to get to as it is only 10 kilometres from
Marbella and close to
Malaga,
Cadiz, Ronda and
Seville by road.
It lies on the main Costa del Sol coastal road the N340/A7 but the AP7 toll motorway also leads to the town.
Many of the beaches along the Costa Del Sol get very crowded in summer. For a more relaxing day on the beach, hire a car from rhinocarhire.com and try out some of the quieter beaches around San Pedro. The village prides itself on not giving in to tourism and you'll have a completely different day out.
Car hire starts from £12 per day - very reasonable when you consider all that's included in the price. If your budget stretches a little further why not feel the coastal breezes in your hair and hire a Saab 9-3 convertible or even a fun Suzuki Vitara. These soft top options open up a whole new world of motoring!