Casco Antiguo and Plaza de los Naranjos

Behind the Costa del Sol's beachfront is a genuine Andalusian old town: narrow whitewashed lanes, wrought-iron balconies loaded with geraniums, and at the centre a small square planted with orange trees and lined with cafés.

The lanes are the useful part. High white walls mean bounced light rather than direct sun, so this works through the middle of the day when the beach does not — which matters on a coast where most visitors are here in July and August.

Twenty minutes away Puerto Banús gives you the opposite register entirely: yachts, glass and hard modern lines. A session that uses both has range that neither has alone.