"'An unsung gem' - Rough Guide - Alhama de Granada" Alhama de Granada by davidcross

Carols and songs are sung; gems are exhibited. However the Rough Guide's description is perfectly understandable and it's true.
Why should Alhama de Granada be unsung? As far as motorists are concerned, I can only attribute it to a lack of imagination. To me a map screams a route through the area called the Axarchia and Alhama de Granada for a trip from Málaga to Granada.
However I'm not a motorist any more and in Andalucia I never have been and, as a public transport user, I had at least a bit of an excuse. I shall explain in the next section.

Below the town

Public transport = buses here because the railway is far away. Now how would anybody find out if there is a bus from Málaga to Alhama de Granada? Málaga bus station has a website so helpful that I can't imagine why it has not been widely copied. Failing this, the principal website for Andalucía gives buses starting at Málaga. From these two it is perfectly clear that buses to Granada all go up the road that leads to anywhere in the world other than the Costa del Sol. Alhama de Granada is not mentioned! Hence there can be no bus from Málaga to Alhama de Granada. QED.
However one night, because the first site mentioned was temporarily unavailable, I turned with some irritation to the website of Alsina Graells, a principal bus company in Andalucía and discovered a bus from Torre del Mar to Granda via Alhama. Many buses connect Málaga with Torre del Mar or with the pleasing town of Velez Málaga, which is on the route for Alhama. So a booking for two nights in Velez and the intention to take the bus on the day between them.

One of the residents

Unfortunately the 'day in between' was a Monday and the 'lunes cerrado' [Monday closed] thing applied to all the monumental public buildings. That's a good excuse to go again but, if I do, I shall try to stay there because I loved the place. What was there to love - or sing about? - you may ask. I'll try to answer that in a couple of tips.

• Pros:Setting and buildings most impressive
• Cons:None I found - except Monday closing.
• In a nutshell:'An unsung gem.' Who can beat the Rough Guide?