Benahavís

Fifteen minutes inland from the coast road, Benahavís sits in a fold of the hills where the Guadalmina river cuts a green gorge, and it has long called itself the dining village of the Costa del Sol — more restaurants per resident than almost anywhere in Spain. The cobbled centre is small enough to walk in minutes, lined with kitchens that range from hearty mountain cooking to the romantic, candlelit ambition of Amanhavis. Up here the air is cooler, the pace slower, and the cooking leans toward game, slow-roasted meats and the inland Andalusian table rather than the beach-club register below. It is where people on the coast go when they want a proper dinner and a drive home through the dark hills.