Malaga – Welcome to the Costa del Sol

Malaga is one of the nicest cities of Andalusia, the southern region of Spain. It is actually the second largest city in the region and the sixth largest city in Spain. It lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) of the Mediterranean.

Malaga is one of the oldest cities in the world, with more than 2,800 years of history. It was founded by the Phoenicians. Since then, it has been under the control of the Ancient Carthage, the Roman Empire, the Visigoths, and the Moors until it was reconquered by the Iberian Christians. This makes the city a world history museum itself.

Remarkable Spaniards like the painter Pablo Picasso or the actor Antonio Banderas (maybe not so remarkable) are originally from Malaga.

On top of all that, it has one of the best climates you can find in Europe i.e. over 300 days of sunshine a year and winters with temperatures over 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 Celsius). It also has a bunch of beach towns that are really beautiful and fun.

Malaga is a paradise for people that play golf and it has dozens of golf courses.

If that was not enough, they recently re-opened one of the coolest hiking trails in Spain called “El Caminito del Rey”. Beware if you have vertigo…

I guess these are more than enough reasons to visit Malaga but… Did I mention that food is great and extremely cheap, people from Malaga are extremely friendly and have a great sense of humor (although many other Spaniards don’t understand their accent too well)?

Malaga in a nutshell

Fly to Malaga from NYC or take the speed train from Madrid. Visit the city, have some tapas and drinks and enjoy the great weather and the friendly atmosphere.

If you have some extra time drive north of the Malaga province and do one of the coolest hikes in Spain, the Caminito del Rey.

Check out some of the nice beaches in the area or go play golf under the great weather.

The details

Interesting facts about Malaga that you possibly had no idea about

• Malaga’s cathedral is commonly known as La Manquita, which means the one-armed. This is due to the lack of one of its towers.
• The Malaga painter Pablo Picasso has the Guinness record to the most prolific painter with more than 13 thousand painting, 34 thousand book illustrations, and 300 sculptures.
• There are 5 Michelin star restaurants in Malaga split between 4 restaurants. The hotel Puente Romano restaurant in Marbella has 2, El Largo, Muelle 1 and Skina have one each.
• People from Malaga’s nickname is “boquerones” (a type of anchovy). Boquerones are very common in Malaga and they are absolutely great. Try the fried ones.
• There are more than 30 museums in Malaga, one of the highest museum count per inhabitant in the country.
• Spain supported the U.S. during the independence war. One of the biggest war heroes of the Pensacola battle was Bernardo de Galvez, from Malaga. There is a 4^th of July celebration in Malaga to homage Bernardo and the Pensacola battle. The American city Galveston was founded in his honor.

When to visit Malaga

The weather in Malaga is amazing and comparatively way better than most European cities all year round. Therefore, visiting Malaga is a good idea no matter when.

However, it also depends on what you come looking for.

If you are looking for sun and beaches or outdoor sports like golf, I’d say it’s best to come in late spring, summer or early autumn. May through October specifically.

If you want to visit the city, do some of the cultural stuff, the Caminito del Rey hike or simply want to come to enjoy some good food and weather during the winter, Malaga is still an amazing option.

What to see in Malaga (Google Maps List)

City center – El Casco Antiguo

Most of the city highlights can be found in the old city center, known as “El Casco Antiguo”. A good practice would be to visit the tourist office in “Pasaje Chinitas”, ask some questions and get a free map to help plan your visit (Link).

Highlights

• Visit the Alcazaba (a medieval castle with sea views) and walk up to the Castillo de Gibralfaro (ruins of a Moorish fortress ). Once you make it up the hill, there is a restaurant-hotel called Parador de Gibralfaro. I’d highly recommend you to have a coffee or drink a cold beer for a break. Views are outstanding from here. You can see the whole Malaga coast, the bullfighting arena, etc.

• Go for a walk around the squares called Plaza del Teatro Cervantes and Plaza de la Merced. You can actually find a very old food market that has recently been rebuilt. There are some small food stands where you can grab a bite. This area is pretty lively during the weekends.

• Near the aforementioned squares, you should go down the Alcazabilla street, where you will pass by one of the oldest movie theatres in the city (Cine Albeniz). At the end of this street, you will find the Teatro Romano (Roman theatre) and the Antigua Aduana (old customs office), which are definitely worth a visit.

• Go for a walk along the Calle Larios (Larios street), departing from the square called Plaza de la Constitución. In this area, you will find several beautiful churches like the Sagrado Corazon or San Juan. There are also loads of small charming shops with antiquities, fashion, etc.

• The Malaga Cathedral (see interesting facts) and the nearby square called Plaza del Obispo. If you need to rest a little, head to the indoor patio on one of the sides of the cathedral. Amazing chill spot for a quick rest!

• There are also a bunch of narrow stone-made streets that are super cozy and charming and very typical Andalusian. Some street names are Calle Granada, Plaza del Carbón or Calle de San Agustín.

La Malagueta área

La Malagueta is the main Malaga beach. A long, sandy beach that is at walking distance from the city center.

I’d recommend you go walking from the city center, passing along the Malaga Park, the Noble Hospital and the bullfighting arena called La Malagueta. Once you get to the promenade, head to Muelle 1 and el Palmeral, which are in the vicinity of the port and the Malaga lighthouse.

This walk is really nice and you can enjoy a cold beer in the outdoors. However, I wouldn’t have lunch or dinner in this area as it’s quite touristic and prices are higher than average and food quality is lower than average. Check below for eating hints in this area.

Museums in Malaga

There are a bunch of museums as I mentioned earlier. My top picks would be the following:

• Picasso Museum
• Thyssen Museum, which is in the vicinity of the Larios street mentioned earlier.
• Museo Ruso
• Museo CAC for modern art. Check the Oleo restaurant (see below in restaurant recommendations) if you visit this one.

Where to eat in Malaga? (Google Maps Restaurant List)

I always say that among all the things that Spain has to offer, food is definitely on Tier 1. Malaga is obviously no exception to this. See below some insider’s information:

By the sea

Pedregalejo beach area

It is quite typical for locals to go have lunch on the weekends to the area of Pedregalejo beach. Along the promenade, there are a variety of good options.

• Maricuchi
• El Cabra
• El Morata

Once you are done eating, you can have a drink in places like

• El Galerna
• La Tortuga
• Restaurante la Machina

La Malagueta Promenade

• El Merendero de Antonio Martín. Great views of the promenade and very good food.
• La Ménsula. A local gem with hunting meat and tapas as their main specialties.
• Casa de Botes. Very good for paella and tapas.

Muelle 1 (Paseo de la Farola)

Best option here is a restaurant called Jose Carlos García.

City center

Most of this options are equally good for lunch or dinner. However, the atmosphere tends to be better for dinner.

• Los Patios de Beatas. It’s an old small palace that was rebuilt in 2012 and also has a wine museum.
• El Pimpi. One of the most authentic places in Malaga. They have a large old wine cellar and a nice terrace.

Some great options that will likely require an advance reservation are:

• La Reserva. Great for both meat and fish.
• Los Mellizos. One of the best options for fish and seafood in Malaga.
• El Volapié
• El Mentidero

Informal tapas

• La Barra
• Restaurante La Campana
• Rebaná. Near the cathedral.
• Mesón Antonio
• La Farola de Orellana. This place is perfect for a first tapa/appetizer. It’s small and packed but completely authentic and genuine Andalusian.

Other

• Get an ice cream in the ice cream shop called Casa Mira, in the Andres Perez street. It is located in a tiny street and it is possibly the oldest and most historical ice cream shop in the whole city. Specialties are turron (Spanish Christmas chocolate) and crema tostada (similar to Crème Brulee) flavors.
• Oleo restaurant is right next to the CAC museum. They have a very interesting fusion menu of Andalusian and Japanese food. Delicious…

Where to have a drink in Malaga

There are loads of options to drink and party in Malaga. My personal favorite are hotel rooftops or terraces. My top picks are:

• Terraza del Málaga Palacio. This place is close to the Malaga Cathedral. It is a perfect place to have a drink and the views are simply outstanding! If the weather is nice, do not miss this spot.
• Terraza del Room Mate Larios in the Larios street mentioned earlier. Nice atmosphere and great views as well.
• Terraza del Alcazaba Premium Hostel. This place is right next to the Cine Albeniz (historical movie theatre mentioned earlier). The terrace of the house right in front actually belongs to the actor Antonio Banderas.
• Terraza del Oasis Hostel. This terrace is located in a backpackers hostel and people here tend to be in their twenties for the most part. Regardless, it is very well located and the atmosphere is very nice. Check the google location as the chances of getting lost getting here are quite high.

Best beach towns around Malaga

The Costa del Sol coastline is pretty long and there is a multitude of options. Malaga has beach towns that are pretty well known and highly-visited like Marbella, Fuengirola or Torremolinos.

If you don’t have a car, I would check the following:

• La Malagueta (mentioned earlier)
• Beach right in front of El Limonar. This one is a bit wider than la Malagueta.
• El Balneario with clean waters and little stones.

Quite frankly, the aforementioned beaches are not amazing so its way better to have a car. If you do, visit Nerja and check out the beaches around. The best one is called Maro.

Is it possible that there is also great hiking near Malaga?

Yes, there is! A unique trail actually. It’s called “Caminito del Rey”

El Caminito del Rey is a walkway, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge near Ardales, in the Malaga province. This narrow walkaway was closed for nearly a decade after a number of accidents. It is now safe after having gone through substantive renovations.

The name of the trail originates from 1921 when King Alfonso XIII crossed this narrow trail for the inauguration of a local dam.

Lonely Planet listed Caminito del Rey in the best new attractions for 2015 when the trail reopened.

It takes about 50 minutes by car to get from the center of Malaga to the trailhead (Google Maps Link).

You have two options to do this hike:

• A 3.2 miles loop with moderate to limited elevation gain (Alltrails link)
• A longer trail that passes along the Caminito del Rey (Wikiloc Link)

The Logistics – Getting to Malaga and moving around

Getting to Malaga

I have spoken about the Spanish speed train in previous posts. It works really well and makes transportation very pleasurable and efficient. If you happen to come to Malaga from Madrid, take the AVE (Spanish speed train) from Atocha (Madrid station) to Maria Zambrano (Malaga station). It takes about 2.20h and the cost for a roundtrip is of about 70 Euros.

Link to RENFE: RENFE (Spanish railway system webpage).

You will also find loads of cheap flights to Malaga from all major Spanish cities and many European cities. The Malaga airport has a fair amount of traffic and tends to be quite cheap.

If you happen to travel from New York, some genius decided to put a regular flight from March to September. Non-stop fight!

You could also drive here but I think the speed train or plane is a much better option.

While in Malaga

While visiting Malaga you can easily move around with Cabify (Spanish Uber) or local taxis.

If you want to visit the beach towns or other smaller towns in the province, renting a car is the best way to go.

Visit our post on Andalusia if you have some extra time in this region Andalusia (South of Spain) – The Land of the Thousand Cultures

For more ideas on Spain check out Top destinations in Spain and Portugal

* This post is dedicated to my dear friend Jesus, an authentic “boqueron” for generations, who has insisted a lot in me making a post of his hometown. I would also like to thank my dear friend Ara for all the intel she kindly shared with me to write this post.