Things to do in Málaga

Citorah PickSight · Centro Histórico

Alcazaba

Citorah says The Alcazaba is the Moorish fortress on the slope of Mount Gibralfaro, entered from Calle Alcazabilla 2. The city’s site for the monument says that under Islamic rule it grew from a fortification into “a palace-fortress, and the seat of the city government”, built as two fortresses, one inside the other. Restoration began in 1933. The route takes in the entrance gates, the lower and upper precincts and the Nasrid palace. Of everything in Málaga, it’s the sight to see first.

Citorah PickSight · Centro Histórico

Castillo de Gibralfaro

Citorah says The Castillo de Gibralfaro crowns the same hill, 132 metres above sea level. Yusuf I began the castle and the Coracha, the walled path down to the Alcazaba, in the 14th century. After the Christian conquest it was a barracks and prison until 1925, when it passed to the city. Its old gunpowder store holds an interpretation centre on its life as a garrison and watchtower from 1487 to 1925. The main reason to go up, though, is the wall-walk along the battlements.

Citorah PickSight · Centro Histórico

Roman Theatre

Citorah says The Roman Theatre (Teatro Romano) sits below the Alcazaba at Calle Alcazabilla s/n. It was built in the early years of the 1st century AD, and lay hidden under streets and houses for centuries until gardening works in 1951 uncovered its vaulted entrance. Much of the seating, the marble-paved orchestra and the stage survive, and under the glass pyramid on Calle Alcazabilla are the vats where the fish-salting works that later took over the site made garum. The visit is the theatre plus an interpretation centre, and it costs nothing.

The catch The site may close when the state weather agency issues an orange or red heat warning

Citorah PickSight · Centro Histórico

Málaga Cathedral

Citorah says Málaga Cathedral (the Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica de la Encarnación) is at Calle Molina Lario 9. It was built where the city’s main mosque stood, to a first design by Diego de Siloé. It opened for worship as it is today in 1768, with the towers still unfinished.

The catch The rooftop is shut.

Citorah PickSight · La Malagueta and the port

Muelle Uno

Citorah says Muelle Uno is a waterfront street of shops and restaurants, “abierto a la ciudad, frente al mar”, open to the city and facing the sea, as it describes itself. Have lunch here, and look for its two landmarks.

Citorah PickSight · La Malagueta and the port

La Farola

Citorah says La Farola, the 38-metre lighthouse designed by Joaquín María Pery, was finished in 1817.

Citorah PickSight · La Malagueta and the port

La Capilla

Citorah says La Capilla, a small chapel opened in 1725, has been taken down and rebuilt stone by stone several times.

Citorah PickSight

Cueva de Nerja

Citorah says The Cueva de Nerja opened to visitors in 1960, a year after its discovery, and was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 2006.

Citorah PickSight

Balcón de Europa

Citorah says Walk out to the Balcón de Europa, the viewpoint that Nerja’s council calls its “buque insignia turístico”, its tourist flagship. In April 2026, the council began surveys for a project to restore the lower viewpoint beneath it, which once held the Rey Alfonso restaurant.

Citorah PickSight

Alhambra

Citorah says If you’re going for the Alhambra, book it before anything else: the Patronato warns of high demand, and dates show as sold out. The general daytime ticket is €22.27, at the prices set by an order of 17 July 2025, plus a service fee online. From 15 October to 31 March it opens daily from 8.30 AM to 6 PM.

The catch Tickets are named, personal and non-transferable; carry original ID.

Citorah PickSight · La Merced

Plaza de la Merced

Citorah says Plaza de la Merced is at its top end: spain.info recommends its pavement cafés, and the Picasso Foundation and Birthplace Museum is just off the square.

Citorah PickMuseum · La Merced

Museo Casa Natal Picasso

Citorah says The Museo Casa Natal Picasso (formerly the Fundación Picasso Museo Casa Natal) is the house where Picasso was born, at Plaza de la Merced 15, declared a national monument in 1983. Picasso was born in Málaga on 25 October 1881 and spent his first ten years there; the rooms cover his family, his childhood and his training under his father, José Ruiz Blasco, a drawing teacher.

Citorah PickMuseum

Colección del Museo Ruso

Citorah says The Colección del Museo Ruso is in La Tabacalera, the old Royal Tobacco Factory, at Avenida Sor Teresa Prat 15. It’s a 3-kilometre walk from the centre along the Paseo Marítimo Antonio Machado, or near the Princesa-Huelin metro stop. Until 31 January 2027 it shows an exhibition on the Russian composer Mikhail Glinka and his time in Spain, with about a hundred pieces from collections in Spain and abroad.

The catch It’s the furthest from the rest, so it makes most sense on a free Sunday afternoon.

Citorah PickMuseum

Museo de Málaga

Citorah says The Museo de Málaga fills the Palacio de la Aduana, the late-18th-century customs house on Plaza Aduana, and opened there on 12 December 2016. It has two sections, fine arts and archaeology, with more than 15,000 pieces between them. The archaeology section’s core comes from the Alcazaba’s excavations, including glazed Hispano-Muslim ceramics, and from the old Museo Loringiano, the collection the Marquises of Casa-Loring built up after a find in Málaga in 1851. For EU citizens, it’s the best free hour in the city.

Citorah PickMuseum

Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga

Citorah says The Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga, at Plaza Carmen Thyssen (Calle Compañía 10), is the place for 19th-century Spanish painting, with a particular focus on Andalusian painting. Sorolla’s Rocks at Jávea and the White Boat (1905) is among the works it features.

The catch No rucksacks, sports or travel bags, suitcases or umbrellas inside

Citorah PickMuseum · La Malagueta and the port

Centre Pompidou Málaga

Citorah says The Centre Pompidou Málaga is in the Cube (El Cubo) on the port, between Docks 1 and 2 at Muelle Uno (Pasaje Doctor Carrillo Casaux s/n). It opened on 28 March 2015 as the Paris institution’s first outpost abroad, and in 2025, at ten years old, renewed its commitment to the city for ten more.

Citorah PickMuseum · Centro Histórico

Museo del Vino de Málaga

Citorah says The regulatory council sends visitors here, to a museum of the province’s wine history and culture in the historic centre.

Citorah PickDay trip

Nerja

Citorah says If heights aren’t for you, or it’s a Monday, take the bus to Nerja instead.

Citorah PickDay trip

Fuengirola

Best for calm water and small children

Citorah says Fuengirola has seven kilometres of coast in four big beaches, and four C1 stations: Fuengirola, in the centre, Los Boliches, Torreblanca and Carvajal.

Citorah PickDay trip

Benalmádena

Citorah says Benalmádena’s tourism site lists two C1 stations: Benalmádena-Arroyo de la Miel, the main one, underground and connected to the town centre, and Torremuelle, in Benalmádena Costa near the beach of the same name. Check the walk to your beach on a map before you go.

Citorah PickDay trip

Granada

Citorah says By train: Renfe’s Avant, six a day, direct from María Zambrano.

Citorah PickBeach · La Malagueta and the port

La Malagueta

Citorah says La Malagueta is the urban beach closest to the historic centre, and the council counts it among the city’s best known. It’s about 1.2 km long, the water is calm, and the promenade behind it has a varied choice of places to eat and water sports. The council lists toilets (with a baby-changing space), showers, sunshade and lounger hire, food and a children’s play area, and in 2026 it was one of three beaches where staff help people with reduced mobility into the water.

Citorah PickBeach

La Caleta

Citorah says La Caleta runs between La Malagueta and Baños del Carmen and takes its name from the neighbourhood behind it, where Málaga’s wealthy built villas and small palaces in the late 19th century. It’s 1 km long and 25 m wide on average, and stays busy, the council says, because it’s easy to reach and close to the centre.

Citorah PickBeach · Pedregalejo and El Palo

Pedregalejo

Citorah says Pedregalejo is one of Málaga’s oldest fishing quarters. Its beach has the city’s oldest promenade, which the council says is known for its many fish and seafood restaurants. It was once a pebble beach; breakwaters have since regenerated it completely. It has one of the city’s three toilets for people with ostomies, and EMT bus 34 runs here from Avenida de Andalucía. For a swim and a long lunch, it’s the best of the city beaches

Citorah PickBeach

El Dedo

Citorah says El Dedo, also called Playa del Chanquete, carries on to the El Candado marina. It’s 550 m long, the council calls it a family beach, and in 2026 it was one of the three assisted-bathing beaches. On it stands El Tintero, one of the best-known beach bars on the Málaga coast, the council says, for serving its fish as a kind of auction.

Citorah PickBeach

Burriana

Citorah says Burriana is the full-service beach: busy, family-oriented and well equipped, says andalucia.org, the regional tourism board. It’s 800 m long and 40 m wide, with dark sand, calm water, loungers, sunshades and sports equipment for hire, beach bars and a play area. Nerja renewed its accessible bathing equipment in 2026.

Citorah PickBeach

La Araña

Citorah says La Araña, the city’s easternmost district, is a fishing quarter where boats and gear on the sand are a usual sight, and the council says it’s known for the fish at its beach bars and restaurants. The beach is 500 m long, with showers but no toilets listed. At its far end, about 600 m between the Totalán stream and the start of Rincón de la Victoria’s promenade is the city’s dog beach.

Citorah PickBeach

Guadalmar

Citorah says Guadalmar is the city beach closest to the airport. It runs from the golf course to the mouth of the Guadalhorce, built up over time from the river’s sediment, and the council calls it the only urban beach with a nudist area.

Citorah PickBeach

Sacaba

Citorah says Sacaba runs from the mouth of the Guadalhorce to La Misericordia: 750 m long, 60 m wide, and one of the quietest beaches on the west side, surrounded by a former industrial area.

Citorah PickBeach

San Andrés

Citorah says San Andrés lies between La Misericordia and the port: 650 m long, 50 m wide and busy, the council says, because of its wide promenade.

Citorah PickBeach

Baños del Carmen

Citorah says Baños del Carmen belonged to the Balneario del Carmen, a seaside spa that opened in 1918 and once had a jetty, tennis courts, a football pitch, a restaurant, a 2,000 m² dance floor and even an aquarium. A rehabilitation plan is in progress. The beach is 550 m long but only 15 m wide, with views across the bay of Málaga, and has parking. Come for the view and the history rather than room to spread out.

Citorah PickBeach · Pedregalejo and El Palo

El Palo

Citorah says El Palo runs from Pedregalejo to the Arroyo Gálica, 1.2 km of beach where fishermen still keep the boats they work from, with a sports area and a play area.

Citorah PickBeach

Peñón del Cuervo

Citorah says Peñón del Cuervo is split in two by a rock formation. Concerts and moragas are held here, and it has an area set up for barbecues. It’s also a protected site for the siempreviva malagueña, an endangered plant, so keep to the sand.

Citorah PickBeach

Malapesquera

Citorah says Malapesquera, 500 m long, has palms for shade, showers, toilets, loungers and drinking fountains, and a rock shelf two metres from the shore for looking at marine life.

Citorah PickBeach

Carabeo

Citorah says Carabeo is a very small cove reached on foot by a staircase between large boulders.

Citorah PickBeach

Calahonda

Citorah says Calahonda sits in a very enclosed cove with a pedestrian promenade.

Citorah PickBeach

El Playazo

Citorah says El Playazo is long, wide and rarely crowded, away from the town, with some services and, from 2026, an accessible bathing point.

Citorah PickBeach

La Torrecilla

Citorah says La Torrecilla is a small, busy urban beach with a promenade, calm water and lifeguards.

Citorah PickPark · La Malagueta and the port

Palmeral de las Sorpresas

Citorah says The Palmeral de las Sorpresas, a walk under palms and a long pergola beside the Paseo de los Curas, opened in 2011 too.