Bucket list trip:
Spain
Where to go and what to see in Malaga to get the most from your trip – a 3-day itinerary from destination expert and travel writer Dana Facaros.
Editor note – Dana has not included specific recommendations of where to stay each day unless it’s necessary. Instead, see the ‘Where to stay’ section in our Malaga destination guide.
First, stop by the Picasso Museum, dedicated to the Malaga-born artist and the Carmen Thyssen Malaga Museum, a five-minute walk away. For lunch, feast on the Spanish classics at Restaurante Tormes.
If you prefer convertibles to canvases, you could instead hop in a taxi for the short 15-minute drive south to the Automobile & Fashion Museum.
In the afternoon visit the Alcazaba and Castle of Gibralfaro, then walk down the hill to colourful cube of the Centre Pompidou Malaga.
Afterwards, relax on the nearby beach, and spend the evening nibbling tasty titbits on a tapas crawl tour.
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga. The city’s Picasso Museum, set in a restored 16th-century Andalusian townhouse in Malaga’s historic centre, displays over 250 of his paintings, sculptures and ceramics spanning his entire career. Book an entrance ticket here and a private guided tour here.
Adult price: 7
Good for age: 18+
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
Here Carmen Cervera, the Malaga-born wife of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, displays her prize collection of mainly Andalusian art, ranging from the mainly religious works of old masters to the colourful, luminous landscapes, portraits and street scenes from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Adult price: 10
Good for age: 18+
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
A quirky museum housing the private collection of Joao Magalhaes, home to over 80 vintage and modern cars and displays of fashionable travel memorabilia.
Adult price: 8
Good for age: 4+
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
A well-preserved Moorish city fortress, built 11th century on a hill in the city centre. Adjacent to the entrance are the remains of a Roman theatre, dating back to the 1st century AD.
Adult price: 3
Good for age: 8+
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
Malaga’s Pompidou striking museum outpost – housed beneath the colourful Cubo – holds a permanent exhibition of several dozens of works of the impressionist collection of the XX and XXI centuries. It also hosts 2 or 3 temporary exhibitions each year, sourced from the parent collection and designed by its curators.
Adult price: 8
Good for age: 18+
The next morning, get your adrenalin pumping on a walking tour of one of the most thrilling walks in the world: El Caminito del Rey.
Alternatively, if you suffer from vertigo, take the day-long excursion to the cave and coast of Nerja cave and the White Village of Frigiliana.
Back in Malaga, have a wander in the old town, shopping and bar hopping – there are excellent ones around the cathedral – ending up for dinner at Blossom, with its exceptional contemporary cuisine.
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Bucket List Experience
Experience
One of the world’s most terrifying walkways, over sheer gorges in Malaga’s mountains. Vertigo-inducing and spectacular in equal measure.
Adult price: 25
Good for age: 18+
Duration: 3-4 hours
Malaga, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
This gigantic, breath-taking stalactite show cave is open all year round, with possible night visits. Buy the ticket that includes the museum, with photos of the cave’s inaccessible art –possibly the oldest paintings in Europe, dating back to 42,000 BC.
Adult price: 12
Good for age: 4+
Pack a picnic and hire a car in Malaga for a road trip to Ronda and the beautiful White Villages.
Spend the morning in Ronda visiting the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge), Mondragon Palace and Casa del Rey Moro gardens.
In the afternoon, head west to Zahara de la Sierra, Grazalema and Arcos de la Frontiera.
Ronda, Andalusia, Spain
Bucket List Experience
Experience
Teetering on sheer cliffs, the spectacular Andalusian town of Ronda is best known for it’s extraordinary bridge straddling the 150m deep Tajo Gorge. It’s also the gateway to the so-called White Villages (Pueblos Blancos).
Good for age: 18+
Ronda, Andalusiia, Spain
Experience
Ronda’s town museum is housed in the 14th-century royal palace of Moorish king Abomelic I, with its gardens, Moorish courtyards and views out over the Sierra de Grazalema. Exhibits cover the town’s history, and the nearby Pileta Cave.
Adult price: 3
Good for age: 18+
Ronda, Andalusia, Spain
Experience
An 18th-century mansion where can visit the half-French, half-Moorish garden and the extraordinary ‘water mine’ that supplied Ronda, 231 steps below the gardens to the Tajo river.
Adult price: 6
Good for age: 18+