Marbella

From the top-quality restaurants and glitzy hotels of the Golden Mile to the luxury yachts and exclusive nightclubs of nearby Puerto Banús, Marbella is a playground for royalty, celebrities and mafiosi.

Marbella’s Casco Antiguo comes as a welcome relief after the high-rise horrors further east. Among the most attractive lanes is Calle Ortiz de Molinillos, where creepers and vines choke wrought-iron balconies and a magnificent statue of the Virgin perches above it all in a turquoise-covered sentry box.

You can’t miss the intimate central Plaza de los Naranjos, site of the old marketplace and orange orchard, now jammed with café tables.