It is not uncommon to be able to ski in the morning and bask on a beach in the afternoon.

The Costa Del Sol is barely two hours' drive from the Sierra Nevada ski resort, making this entirely feasible.

In addition to the beach attraction, the Costa Del Sol, with dozens of fine golf courses lining the Mediterranean coast and dotting the skirts of the coastal mountains, is a Mecca for golfers .

Adjoining the Costa Del Sol, this stretch of coast runs essentially from Motril to Nerja. The drive to Motril takes less than an hour from Granada. The village of Salobreña is well worth exploring.

Topped by a Moorish castle, the views from here look out over a huge expanse of flat agricultural land running along the coast, with the mountains behind stretching up to the Sierra Nevada where snow can be seen during the winter months.

Leaving the Sierra Nevada ski resort, heading in an easterly direction as if towards Murcia and approximately 30 minutes' drive from Granada, you will find Guadix, a traditional Spanish/Moorish town famed for its casas cuevas (cave houses), most of which are quite civilized with all mod cons.

Dominated by its huge cathedral in the centre, the town is full of bars/cafes and restaurants and colonial style buildings with Moorish influence mixed in. Well worth visiting is its vibrant weekly street market.

About one and half hours' drive from the Sierra Nevada ski resort, along a route which circumnavigates the mountains, is the south face of Sierra Nevada known as Las Alpujarras.

These are the lower mountains that lead up to the Sierra Nevada from the sea, and are home to some of the most exquisite white villages in the region, where it feels as if time has stood still.

One of the most renowned is the award-winning picturesque village of Pampaneira.

Though it has become popular with Spanish and foreign visitors in recent years, it still retains loads of original character, with narrow streets winding up the mountain side, flat slate roofed houses, and waterways running down the centre of many of its cobbled streets.

The area around the Sierra Nevada ski resort includes the fabled city of Granada and its surrounding province, which extends from the Mediterranean beaches to the bleak plateau of its northeast corner.

The net result is an incredible variety of fascinating climes, sites and places of interest.

Just 30 minutes' drive down the mountain, the historical city of Granada holds countless monumental treasures of National Heritage.

The most famous of these is, of course, the Alhambra fortress and palace complex.