Malaga: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
The Phoenicians founded Malaka around 770 BC, which makes this one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, and everyone who came afterwards built on the same hill with the previous owners’ stone. The Roman theatre was quarried for the Moorish fortress above it, and both were buried under a twentieth-century culture centre until 1951. You can see all three layers from one spot. Two hours, and the climb to the castle is the only hard part.
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A short history of Malaga
In the 8th century BC the Phoenicians founded a trading post here called Malaka, and after them came the Romans, who left a theatre that was uncovered only in 1951. For about seven hundred years the city was Muslim, and from that period the Alcazaba fortress and Gibralfaro Castle on the hill remain. In 1487 the Catholic Monarchs captured it after a long siege. In the 11th century the poet and philosopher Solomon ibn Gabirol was born here. In 1881 Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga. From the 1960s the city became the gateway to the Costa del Sol and one of the largest tourist centres in Spain.
The ten best sights in Malaga
1Alcazaba3.5 euros, from the 11th century, and the best preserved in Spain
2Gibralfaro Castle3.5 euros, a joint ticket with the Alcazaba is 5.5, and the walk up is steep
3Roman TheatreFree, from the first century BC, and it was found in 1951 by accident
4Málaga Cathedral10 euros with the roof, and the second tower was never built
5Picasso Museum12 euros, in a 16th-century palace, and the family gave the works
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6Picasso’s Birthplace
3 euros, on Plaza de la Merced, and he was born on the first floor
7Centre Pompidou9 euros, under a glass cube on the quay, and the first outside France
8Carmen Thyssen Museum10 euros, nineteenth-century Spanish painting, and a Renaissance palace
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9CAC Málaga
Free, in the old wholesale market, and the shows change every few weeks
10Russian Museum8 euros, a branch of the St Petersburg collection, and in a tobacco factory
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Malaga →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Malaga:
Free walking tours in Malaga
Three thousand years on one hill
The Phoenicians founded Malaka around 770 BC, which makes this one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe, and everyone who came afterwards built on the same hill with the previous owners’ stone. The Roman theatre was quarried for the Moorish fortress above it, and both were buried under a twentieth-century culture centre until 1951. You can see all three layers from one spot. Two hours, and the climb to the castle is the only hard part.
- Roman Theatre · Built under Augustus in the first century BC, abandoned in the third, and quarried by the Moors for the fortress above — you can see Roman column drums and inscribed stones built into the Alcazaba walls. It was found in 1951 during work on a new culture centre; the centre was built anyway and only demolished in 1995 to expose the theatre.
- Alcazaba · An eleventh-century palace fortress and the best preserved in Spain, built in two walled rings so that taking the first gained you nothing. Everything in it is defensive geometry: the entrance path turns back on itself four times, because a straight approach lets a charge build speed and a bent one does not.
- Gibralfaro Castle · The name is half Arabic and half Greek — jabal, mountain, and faros, lighthouse — because a Phoenician beacon stood on this rock before anything else did. In 1487 the castle held out against Ferdinand and Isabella for three months, and when it fell the entire population of Málaga was sold into slavery.
- Málaga Cathedral · One tower was finished and the other was not, and the city calls the building La Manquita, the one-armed lady. The money for the second tower ran out in 1782; the story Málaga tells is that it was given instead to the American revolution, and there is a document that says the funds went to public works, which is less romantic.
- Calle Alcazabilla · Stand at the bottom of this street and you have the Roman theatre at your feet, the Moorish Alcazaba on the hill above it and the Renaissance cathedral behind you — about two thousand years in one view. The street itself only exists because a block of nineteenth-century housing was cleared in the 1990s.
- Plaza de la Constitución · This has been the main square since the Reconquest and it has carried eight different names, changing with each regime — Plaza Mayor, Plaza de la República, Plaza de José Antonio, and back. The current one dates from 1812 and was restored in 1978, which tells you most of modern Spanish history in one street sign.
The city that bought itself a reputation
Twenty years ago Málaga was the airport you passed through on the way to the Costa del Sol. Then the city decided to become a museum town and simply bought in: the Picasso Museum in 2003, the Carmen Thyssen in 2011, a branch of the Centre Pompidou and a branch of the Russian Museum of St Petersburg in 2015, and about thirty more besides. It is the most deliberate cultural rebrand in Europe and it worked. Three hours, and the museums are all within a kilometre.
- Picasso’s Birthplace · He was born on the first floor of this house on the twenty-fifth of October 1881, and the midwife thought he was stillborn until his uncle blew cigar smoke in his face and he screamed. The family left Málaga when he was ten and he came back only twice; he never returned after 1934 and never saw Spain again after the civil war.
- Picasso Museum · Picasso said in the 1950s that he wanted a museum in Málaga and nothing happened for half a century. It opened in 2003 after his daughter-in-law Christine and his grandson Bernard gave two hundred and thirty-three works; the Phoenician and Roman remains found under the palace during the conversion are in the basement.
- Carmen Thyssen Museum · Carmen Cervera, a former Miss Spain who married the Baron Thyssen, lent two hundred and thirty works from her own collection to the city for fifteen years. The collection is nineteenth-century Spanish painting, and much of it is Andalusian genre scenes made for foreign buyers — Spain painting itself the way visitors wanted it.
- Centre Pompidou · The first branch the Pompidou ever opened outside France, in 2015, under a coloured glass cube on the quay — the gallery itself is entirely underground and the cube is a skylight. Málaga pays an annual fee for the name and the loans, which was controversial locally and has not stopped.
- Soho · A run-down quarter between the port and the centre that the city turned into an open-air gallery from 2011 by commissioning murals — Obey, D*Face and ROA all painted whole gable walls here. It is street art by invitation and with a budget, which purists object to and which filled the quarter.
- CAC Málaga · The old wholesale market of 1939, a long rationalist shed on the riverbank, converted in 2003 and free to enter ever since. It was the first of the new museums and the one that proved the strategy — the others followed because this one filled.
Sardines on a stick
East of the centre the city turns into two old fishing villages that it swallowed — Pedregalejo and El Palo — and on their beaches the espeto is still made the way it was: six sardines threaded on a cane, stuck in the sand at an angle beside a wood fire burning inside a beached boat filled with earth. It is the one thing in Málaga that has nothing to do with the rebrand. Half a day, and bus 11 runs the whole way along the sea.
- Atarazanas Market · The marble horseshoe arch in the front wall is not decoration — it is the original fourteenth-century gate of the Nasrid shipyard that stood on this spot, which means the sea came up to here. The word atarazanas is Arabic, dar as-sina’a, house of making, and it is the same root as the Venetian arsenale.
- Antigua Casa de Guardia · Open since 1840 and nothing in it has been modernised: wine comes out of barrels along the wall, there are no chairs, and the barman chalks what you owe directly onto the wooden counter in front of you and wipes it off when you pay. Picasso drank here, which they mention and do not make a shrine of.
- La Malagueta Beach · The sand is grey because it is brought in by barge — the beach was artificially widened in the 1990s with sand dredged from the seabed, as most of the Costa del Sol was. Ten minutes’ walk from the cathedral, which is the actual selling point of Málaga over every other Andalusian city.
- Baños del Carmen · A bathing club built in 1918 with a ballroom and a pier, fashionable until the 1960s and then left to fall down. It is a ruin with eucalyptus trees growing out over the water and a bar underneath them, and the city has been arguing about what to do with it for thirty years.
- Pedregalejo · The espeto is six sardines on a cane of bamboo, stuck in the sand at an angle beside a fire of olive wood burning inside an old fishing boat packed with earth. The angle matters and so does the distance; the men who do it are called espeteros and it is a job you learn from someone.
- El Palo · Further out than Pedregalejo and still a fishing village in the way it is laid out — one street of low houses facing the water, the boats pulled up between the chiringuitos. The restaurant everyone names here opened in 1968 and has no menu: waiters walk between the tables carrying plates and you take what you want.
Getting to Malaga and getting around
- Costa del Sol Airport · The fourth busiest in Spain, and the train to the centre is 12 minutes
- María Zambrano Station · The fast train to Madrid is 2h20, and to Seville about 2 hours
- Bus Station · Buses to Ronda, Nerja and the whole coast, and beside the trains
- Plaza de la Marina · Where the city buses turn, and the old town starts behind it
Cheap eats in Malaga
Eight counters where Málaga eats standing. Two things are local and nowhere else does them the same way: the espeto, six sardines on a bamboo cane grilled at an angle beside a wood fire in a sand-filled boat on the beach, and the sweet wine, made from Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel grapes dried in the sun, which is what the city sold to Europe for three hundred years. A plate of fried fish is eight euros and a glass of the wine is two.
- Atarazanas Market · Open 8 to 3, closed Sunday, and the bars at the back are the point
- Antigua Casa de Guardia · A glass is about 2 euros, cash, and standing only
- El Tintero · About 20 euros a head, and it is out at El Palo on bus 11
- El Pimpi · A bodega in an 18th-century house, and Banderas is a part owner
- Casa Aranda · About 4 euros for churros and chocolate, and no cards
- La Cosmopolita · Small, modern, about 25 euros a head, and book two days ahead
- Uvedoble · Modern tapas near the theatre, and about 20 euros a head
- Pedregalejo beach bars · Espetos from one o’clock, about 5 euros a skewer, and cash
Museums in Malaga
Málaga has about thirty-seven museums for a population of under six hundred thousand, and almost all of them arrived in the last twenty years as a deliberate policy. Many are free or nearly free in the last two hours of Sunday, which is when the queues are.
- Picasso Museum · 12 euros, free in the last two hours on Sunday, and book online
- Carmen Thyssen Museum · 10 euros, 19th-century Spanish painting, and free on Sunday afternoon
- Centre Pompidou · 9 euros, entirely underground, and the cube above is the skylight
- CAC Málaga · Free, in the 1939 wholesale market, and open till eight
- Museo de Málaga · 1.5 euros, free for EU passports, and closed Mondays
- Russian Museum · 8 euros, a branch of the St Petersburg collection, and the loans rotate yearly
- Automobile Museum · 10 euros, a hundred cars and a fashion collection in a tobacco factory
- Glass Museum · 7 euros, guided only, and the tour is an hour
Nature and day trips near Malaga
Málaga has three hundred days of sun a year and the sea ten minutes from the cathedral, but the interesting ground is inland — a limestone plateau that was a seabed, a gorge with a walkway bolted to its wall, and dolmens older than the pyramids within an hour of the city.
- Caminito del Rey · 10 euros, booked ahead, one direction only, and three hours
- El Torcal · Free, an hour north, and the car park fills by eleven
- Antequera Dolmens · Free, an hour north, and closed on Monday
- La Concepción Gardens · 5 euros, a tropical garden from 1855, and a bamboo forest inside it
- Nerja Caves · 15 euros, an hour east, and 19 degrees inside all year
- Ronda · Two hours west, a gorge 120 metres deep through the middle of town
- Frigiliana · An hour east, the Moorish quarter is intact, and it is all steps
- Parque de Málaga · Free, planted in 1897 on land reclaimed from the sea, and all subtropical
Things to do in Malaga with kids
- La Malagueta Beach · Free, ten minutes from the cathedral, shallow, and playgrounds behind it
- Automobile Museum · 10 euros, a hundred cars, and the hats are a separate surprise
- Alcazaba · 3.5 euros, real walls and gates to climb, and free on Sunday afternoon
- Nerja Caves · 15 euros, the biggest stalagmite in the world, and lit
- Muelle Uno · Free, boats to look at and ice cream, and open on Sunday
- La Concepción Gardens · 5 euros, a bamboo forest and a waterfall, and shade all through
- Pedregalejo · Free, small coves with calm water, and the espetos are a show
- Gibralfaro walk · Free, a zigzag path up through pines, and twenty-five minutes
Holy places in Malaga
- Málaga Cathedral · 10 euros with the roof, and the roof tour is booked separately
- Iglesia del Sagrario · Free, beside the cathedral, and the Gothic doorway is the only one left
- Santuario de la Victoria · Free, 15 minutes’ walk uphill from the centre
- English Cemetery · 5 euros, and the garden is the reason people stay
- Alcazaba · 3.5 euros, and the mosque inside it became a chapel in 1487
- Antequera Dolmens · Free, 5,800 years old, and older than the pyramids by a thousand
- Ronda · Two hours west, and the old mosque minaret is now a church tower
- Mijas · 40 minutes west, and the chapel is cut into the rock of the hillside
Nightlife in Malaga
Málaga is a southern city and nothing starts early — dinner is at ten and the bars fill at midnight. The centre is small enough that the whole night happens inside four streets, and the beach bars east of town run later still in summer. Drinks are cheap: a glass of wine is two to three euros almost everywhere.
- El Pimpi · A glass is about 3 euros, and the terrace needs no booking
- Plaza de la Merced · Free, the terraces fill at eleven, and Picasso is on a bench
- Soho · The bars under the murals, and it runs later than the old town
- Muelle Uno · The quay bars, open till two, and the lighthouse is lit
- Teatro Cervantes · From 15 euros, from 1870, and the film festival uses it in March
- Pedregalejo · The beach bars run till two in summer, and bus 11 stops at one
- Antigua Casa de Guardia · Standing only, shuts at ten, and it is the first stop not the last
- Calle Larios · The evening walk, and in December the light show stops the street
Frequently asked questions about Malaga
What is there to see in Malaga?
The top sights in Malaga are Alcazaba, Gibralfaro Castle and Roman Theatre. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Malaga?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Malaga without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Malaga?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Malaga, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Three thousand years on one hill.
How do you get to Malaga and get around?
The main ways are Costa del Sol Airport, María Zambrano Station and Bus Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Malaga, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Malaga that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Malaga for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.