VENTA DEL RAYO  is a small village, with a local bar/restaurant (Venta San Rafael), which we and our guests often use and is only a 5 minutes walk away, ideal for the days when you don't want to cook. His meals are simple but tasty. He does especially good meals during the lunchtime, which, along with the usual menu, includes the "Menu del dia" (menu of the day). He decides the meals on the day, so there is no written menu, this means unfortunately, you would need some Spanish to understand what the meals are, but generally they are a starter i.e. soup, arroz (like a paella) or salad, followed by a meat and chips dish, i.e chicken, pork, lamb. Then there is a dessert or coffee. The meal is also served with a drink of your choice, i.e. wine, beer, soft drink, or bottled water if you prefer. Well worth a visit.

There is also a small shop attached to "Venta San Rafael", which sells most basic items to see you through.

There is another nearer bar in the village, on the main road, just opposite the entrance towards our houses, but this is a more "rough and ready" type of bar.

Just behind this bar, opposite the church, there is now another supermarket called Coviron, which is slightly larger than Rafael's shop. Opening hours are in the Information Folder in the house.

Riofrio (5km): This is a lovely small, typically Spanish village which has two rivers running through it, a trout farm and about a dozen restaurants - many centred around the main Plaza. The restaurants meals range from basic to fancy, but most specialise in Trout cooked in a variety of ways and all are good value. On Sundays Riofrio comes alive as the Spanish arrive to be tourists, meet up with friends and families and eat. On this day there is also a small market set up alongside the stream, which is worth a visit, the stream has a Roman bridge over it and at one point you can see trout trying to swim upstream, throw them some bread and watch the flurry of activity. 

Loja (8km): This is the main administrative town of the area and has several historic buildings. Historic Loja has many shops, supermarkets, clothes, shoes etc., it also has a 24 hour pharmacy and small hospital.  There is a newly opened museum and a Tourist office which has English Language brochures and English speaking staff. Loja is where the two main supermarkets are and there are also many bars and restaurants there. There is a medium sized market in Loja on Mondays. There is also a daily indoor meat, fish, fruit & veg market. Take a lazy stroll through the many winding streets, taking in the historic buildings, some being renovated, some waiting for renovation, but all with wonderful features. Stop by the many bars for a drink (with free tapas). If you are there early enough, enjoy a typical breakfast of Churros Con Chocolate (Long thin strands of fried dough with a thick chocolate drink to dip them into) - served up until about 11:00am or Tostado con Tomate y Aciete (Toasted bread drizzled with olive oil topped with either slices of tomato or fresh tomato puree) - served any time of the day. The Sierra de Loja is well know for the Loja Crag (10 minutes from the house) for Rock climbing. A few minutes further uphill from the Crag there are two take off points for Paragliding / hang-gliding, with a landing spot next to 'Rafael's' Bar restaurant in the village.

Fiestas: From June to August/September there are fiestas happening somewhere in the area. Venta del Rayo has a fiesta around the middle weekend of  July, and another bigger one around mid August, which ends with a firework display. Loja has several fiestas throughout the year and its main summer fiesta is the last week of August. One of the events of the fiesta is hang-gliding/Paragliding, where hang-gliders and paragliders from all over Spain and even further afield, take off from the mountain (Sierra de Loja) behind our village and land on the football field next to the village bar (Rafael's). It is a spectacular sight seeing so many paragliders / hang-gliders in the air. A fireworks spectacular marks the end of the fiesta in Loja. Email or call us if you would like further information or photos of the property.

Short YouTube Video of Loja (narrated in Spanish)

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Some of the "slightly further away" places to visit, with approximate travel times:

• 40 minutes to Antequera Golf – A beautiful 18 hole par 72 golf course.

• 40 minutes to Lake Iznajar  for Summer waterfront activities i.e. picnic, beach, pedal boats etc.

• 40 minutes to Fuente de Piedra, a large saltwater lagoon and major Flamingo breeding ground.

• 40 minutes to the donkey sanctuary (El refugio del burrito) featured on the BBC1 "Living in the Sun" program

• 45 minutes to Granada’s historic beautiful Alhambra Palace

• 50 minutes to Costa del Sol beaches

• 1½ hours to the breathtaking Sierra Nevada for Skiing between November - April

• 2 hours to Duty Free Gibraltar

• 2 hours to Spectacular Seville

• 2 hours to Tabernas "Mini-Hollywood" and Texas Hollywood, where many films have been made including the famous Spaghetti Westerns and "Lawrence of Arabia". Mini Hollywood is a mini theme park, which includes a western town with shows, a zoo, cactus garden, and swimming pool.

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