Cabo de Palos - About 15 minutes by car, a very pretty place with cafe's, restaurants and shops around the harbour. Park at the side of the harbour and walk down to the promenade. Sit and have a coffee under the sunshade outside one of the cafe's. Follow the coastal path to the lighthouse where there are fantastic sea views, carry on round the beach and back for a nice long lunch in one of the restaurants overlooking the harbour which specialise in seafood. A Sunday morning market is held here and there is also a much larger supermarket and a go-kart track on the outskirts.

Cartegena - Catch the train in Los Nietos for Cartegena. It takes about half an hour going through the mountains and costs about £1! Cartegena is a beautiful, historic old city with plenty of shops - remember siesta time they close from 2pm to 5pm. The castle is opposite the railway station and the castle walls lead down to the lovely harbour. Lots of cafe's and restaurants here where it is nice to sit and watch the world go by.

Murcia - This is the principal city of the region with many historical buildings and fabulous shops.

Los Alcazares - About 20 minutes drive. Saturday morning market and more shops, restaurants and beaches.

Alicante - a very large city about 1 hours drive. Lots of shops and the beaches are usually very crowded.

Cal Blanque - This is a lovely beach which is a Spanish nature reserve . Its a bit off the beaten track but well worth a visit.

The Mar Menor - is very safe and because it is shallow the water is warm.It is great for all kinds of watersports, boat trips and fishing. There are several golf courses in the area with more being built all the time. Bikes can be hired.