Things to do
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Alcazaba of Málaga
A Moorish palace-fortress climbing the hill above the port in rings of walls, with gateways set at angles to slow attackers. Higher up come patios with pools and channels of running water, in the manner of the Alhambra. Shade is scarce on the ramps, so morning is the better time. Entry is free on Sunday afternoons, when the queues are longest.
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Antequera Dolmens Site
Three prehistoric burial chambers on the edge of Antequera, roofed with stone slabs heavier than a loaded lorry and covered with earth mounds. The Menga dolmen is aligned on the rock outcrop known as the Lovers' Peak, not on the sunrise. Entry is free. Antequera is a short train ride from Málaga, and El Torcal's limestone formations sit close by.
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CAC Málaga
A contemporary art centre in a converted wholesale market on the river side of Soho, showing changing exhibitions of international artists. Entry is free, and the building is closed on Mondays. The streets around it carry large murals painted for the district's street art project, so the visit and the walk go well together.
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Calle Larios
Málaga's main shopping street, paved in polished marble and lined with nineteenth-century buildings with rounded corners, running from the Alameda to Plaza de la Constitución. In summer, white awnings are strung across it for shade. At Christmas it carries the city's light show, and during Holy Week the processions pass along it.
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Caminito del Rey
A walkway of boards and steel bolted to the walls of the Gaitanes gorge, high above the river, with a hanging bridge across the narrowest point. It is walked one way, north to south, on timed tickets that sell out weeks ahead, and it is closed on Mondays. A train from María Zambrano reaches El Chorro, where a shuttle bus runs to the start.
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Carmen Thyssen Museum
Spanish painting of the nineteenth century in a sixteenth-century palace in the old town: Andalusian street scenes, bullfights, bandits and the coast in hard southern light. It is the clearest picture in Málaga of how travellers and painters saw the south. Rooms are quiet on weekday mornings, and temporary shows fill the newer wing behind.
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Casa Natal de Picasso
Picasso's birthplace, a first-floor flat on the corner of Plaza de la Merced, furnished as a family home of the 1880s. Sketchbooks, prints and his christening gown fill the rooms, with temporary shows next door. A bronze of the painter sits on a bench in the square outside, and the visit takes well under an hour.
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Cave of Nerja
A cave system above the coast east of Málaga, with halls of stalactites and stalagmites large enough to hold summer concerts. One column in the Cataclysm Hall is among the tallest of its kind anywhere. Buses from the city reach Nerja in about an hour, and a visit pairs well with an afternoon on the town's beaches.
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Centre Pompidou
Modern and contemporary art from the Paris collection, shown in galleries under the quay at the head of Muelle Uno, beneath a glass cube striped in colour by Daniel Buren. A permanent rotation covers the last century, joined by temporary shows. The cube is the landmark of the port, and the visit fits easily into an evening walk along the harbour.
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El Palo
The fishing village at the eastern end of the city's seafront, continuing along the promenade from Pedregalejo. Boats still come up on the beach, and the beach restaurants here grill the city's best-known espetos. Families from Málaga come at weekends, so lunch tables fill from two o'clock. The coast road bus links it with the Alameda.
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English Cemetery
The oldest Protestant cemetery in mainland Spain, behind a gatehouse on the road east from the bullring. Gravestones of consuls, sailors and writers lie among cypresses, geraniums and bougainvillea, with a small chapel at the centre. It opens mornings only and is closed on Mondays, and the guided visit tells the stories behind the graves.
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Gibralfaro
Castle walls along the summit of the hill above the Alcazaba, joined to it by a walled passage. A walk along the ramparts gives the widest view in the city: the bullring, the port, the cathedral and the coast towards Torremolinos. The path up is steep and exposed, so the city bus to the top and a walk down through the gardens is the easier way.
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Jardín Botánico-Histórico La Concepción
A nineteenth-century estate garden in the hills north of the city, planted by a merchant family with palms, giant figs and ferns brought from the tropics. Paths climb through a walk of wisteria to a mirador over Málaga. A city bus or taxi gets there in about twenty minutes. A visit takes most of a morning, on paths that are steep in places.
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La Farola
A white lighthouse at the end of the eastern breakwater, one of the few in Spain with a feminine name and the symbol the city puts on its own postcards. The tower itself is closed to visitors. The walk out along the promenade from Muelle Uno takes a few minutes and ends at the edge of La Malagueta beach.
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La Malagueta
The city beach, a strip of dark sand a short walk east of the port, with a promenade, sunbeds, showers and chiringuitos grilling sardines. Lifeguards watch it through the summer. It fills fast on weekends in July and August, while quieter and wider sand lies further east at Pedregalejo and El Palo, an easy bus ride along the coast road.
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Málaga Cathedral
Known in the city as La Manquita, the one-armed lady, because its south tower was never finished and stops short beside the complete north one. Inside, the nave is lofty and bright, with carved cedar choir stalls. A new pitched roof is under construction above the vaults, so the rooftop tour is suspended while the work goes on.
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Mercado Central de Atarazanas
The central food market, an iron hall built behind a Moorish gateway that once opened onto the shipyards. Fish, cured meats, olives and dried fruit fill the stalls, and bars along the edge cook to order at the counter. It runs mornings into early afternoon and closes on Sunday. Ask a stallholder before photographing the counter.
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Montes de Málaga Natural Park
Pine-covered hills directly north of the city, replanted as a forest to stop the floods that once ran down into the streets. Waymarked trails start from the ecomuseum and the picnic areas along the old road to Colmenar. A car is the practical way up. From the higher viewpoints the whole bay and the city spread out below.
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Muelle Uno
A rebuilt quay on the east side of the port, with shops, terraces and a pergola walk between the cruise berths and the city. It runs from the Centre Pompidou cube to the Paseo del Parque and the Palmeral de las Sorpresas. Evenings are busiest, when families walk the length of it and the yachts are lit.
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Museo Automovilístico y de la Moda
Vintage cars and haute couture side by side in a former tobacco factory west of the centre: Bugattis, Hispano-Suizas and art deco coachwork beside gowns by Dior, Chanel and Balenciaga. A bus or a twenty-minute taxi ride covers the distance from the old town. It suits a hot afternoon, since every hall is indoors.
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Museo de Málaga
Two collections under one roof in the Palacio de la Aduana, the old customs house on the Paseo del Parque. Fine art fills the lower floors, archaeology the top one, from prehistoric tools to Roman bronzes found around the province. Entry is free with a passport or ID card from the European Union, and the rooftop windows look over the harbour.
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Museo Picasso
Paintings, drawings and ceramics given by the artist's family, hung in a Renaissance palace on Calle San Agustín a few streets from his birthplace. The collection runs across his whole working life, with a strong temporary programme beside it. Phoenician walls uncovered during the conversion can be seen in the basement. Free hours on Sunday afternoons bring the longest queue of the week.
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Paseo del Parque
A long tree-lined avenue laid on land reclaimed from the sea, between the port and the old town. Its gardens hold palms, banana trees and subtropical species from several continents, with benches in deep shade. It links the centre with La Malagueta, so it serves both as a route to the beach and as a cool walk at midday.
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Pedregalejo
A former fishing quarter a few kilometres east of the centre, where low houses face a row of small beaches sheltered by breakwaters. Chiringuitos line the promenade, cooking espetos of sardines on canes over embers in boats filled with sand. Evenings here are calmer and more local than in the old town, and the sea is gentler for swimming.
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Soho
A grid of streets between the Alameda and the port, rebuilt as an arts district with large murals on whole building fronts. Small galleries, cafés and cheaper hotels sit among them, a few minutes from Calle Larios. It makes a good base for a short stay, closer to the trains and the airport bus than the old town.
