When I tell people I live in Marbella, I can almost see the images of luxury yachts, cars and designer shops and a champagne life-style flit across their faces – which is not really surprising given that the only Marbella that is ever promoted in the media is the one dripping in glamour, made famous by the international jet-set that inhabit the famous Golden Mile, with its mansions and five-star hotels and who frequent the luxury harbour of Puerto Banús, some 15 km west of Marbella’s town centre.

The actual town of Marbella however, apart from its enchanting Old Town district, rarely gets a mention.

This blog is therefore intended to redress the balance and provide you, the more adventurous traveller with a taste for the authentic, into life in the more “down-to-earth” Marbella, beyond the obvious and from an “insider” point of view of a long-term working resident of this lovely town by the sea and sheltered by the mountains, that I am privileged to call my home.

As such, I will be recommending places to eat and shop, taking you on a tour around the town and its different neighbourhoods and reporting on the amazing walks in nature at the foothills of Marbella’s mountains, as well as day-trips to the most breathtakingly spectacular natural beauty-spots and traditional white-villages close to Marbella and further afield in Andalucía.

For those of you lucky enough to know the authentic Marbella, I hope my blog will keep you in touch with that indefinable Marbella magic wherever you may be in the world right now and inspire you to explore Marbella further – both inside and out.