10 Best Activities in Malaga

From excursions to the outskirts of Malaga to gastronomic tours within the city, Malaga has countless activities that you can do to spend your days and enjoy yourself to the fullest.

In addition, adventure and good experiences are the order of the day in this cosmopolitan city that also maintains the beach atmosphere and offers both relaxing plans and extreme adventures. Here you will read only the best things to see and do in Malaga.

One of the best things to see and do in Malaga during the summer is to embark on a boat trip from Malaga which will take you very close to Gibraltar, where you can see different marine species, among them the cetaceans and dolphins that can be seen in this area looking for food.

The spectacle is one of the most beautiful, especially to enjoy with children. This is an activity that generally takes place in the sea of the Costa del Sol due to its proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, a place that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea, making it a good place for these large species to look for food in summer.

Speaking of the best sightings, you can make this trip between the months of May and October, when the warm waters attract these species, leaving you with a beautiful moment to cherish and remember.

Details of interest

• Price: Depending on the type of experience you choose, you can pay a price ranging from 20 to 69 euros per person.
• Location: These excursions usually depart from the Costa del Sol in the direction of the Strait of Gibraltar.
• Time: As a general rule these experiences depart from the coast in the morning, so you will be able to see the dolphins during the day and even have something to eat on board in many cases.

This is one of those evening activities you can't miss. Malaga is a culinary city that offers you different options to eat and to enjoy special dishes, typical of the Spanish tradition. And among these special dishes are the different tapas with local ingredients.

On the other hand, the wines produced in the city are generally sweet, although you can also find refreshing white wines that do not necessarily have to be sweet. But in general, this is one of my favourite activities to do, especially because it gives you the opportunity to get to know the local gastronomy.

To enjoy this activity you can do the tour on your own and visit some of the best places in the centre of Malaga, or you can hire an experience with an expert guide who will take you to the best places to enjoy tapas and wines.

Interesting details

• Price: If you go on your own you will have to pay the price of each entrance to each bar and your consumption inside. If you go on a guided tour, you might pay around 60-70 euros per person.
• Location: The best places to try tapas and wines are located in the city centre.
• Hours: This type of experience can be enjoyed either during the day for lunch at any of these places, or at night for a special dinner.

In Malaga they pay tribute to Pablo Picasso as their famous personage, and this is the birthplace of the famous artist. In his name stands the Picasso Museum where you can see his work, the different paintings and works of art in his name, as well as some works that reflect how Picasso was seen before the eye of other artists. This is considered one of the 10 best museums in Malaga.

Before visiting this place, I recommend you to check beforehand the prices of the Picasso Museum and its opening hours to the public.

On the other hand, there is the Casa Natal de Picasso, where you can see what his house was like, what his personal life was like and how the artist lived. Both represent good places to visit and get to know the importance of the history, art and culture that Malaga is known for. These visits can be done on your own or you can pay for guided tours at the ticket office.

Interesting details

• Price: Each of these places has an approximate cost between 7 and 10 euros per person.
• Location: The Picasso Museum is in the Buenavista Palace. La Cana Natal is just a few streets away from the museum.
• Opening hours: The Picasso Museum is open between 10:00 and 19:00. The Casa Natal de Picasso is open from 9:30 to 20:00.

The Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle are icons of the city that you cannot miss. They are the pillars that are still standing as part of the legacy of Islam in Spain. The first tourist site is a fortress located on the slopes of Mount Gibralfaro, and the second crowns the top of the same Mount.

To visit these interesting places that are home to an important part of Malaga and Spanish history and culture, you can hire one of the best tours of Malaga, which will take you from the city centre to the top of the Mount. And if there's one thing you'll love about this experience, it's the breathtaking view of the city from the top of Gibralfaro Castle.

Interesting details

• Price: If you take a guided tour you can pay between 12 and 20 euros per person to enter both structures.
• Location: Both the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle are located on Mount Gibralfaro next to the city of Malaga.
• Opening hours: The opening hours are from 9:00 to 20:00.

Ronda and Setenil are two places on the outskirts of Malaga where you will find a wide selection of vineyards where some of the best liquors and wines of the city and Andalusia are produced. Both villages can be visited in a day trip from Malaga.

Apart from the vineyards and the wine making process, one of the most relaxing features of this tour is that you can visit each of the villages and walk through their streets. These places are much quieter and more peaceful than the city of Malaga itself, so it is a good plan to visit during the weekend.

For this experience you can hire a full day tour with an expert guide who will take you to see the best of each of the villages. And one of the best things about both is that they offer a menu of tapas and Spanish food that will leave you wanting to try much more of what the local gastronomy has to offer.

Interesting details

• Price: An excursion that takes you to both villages can cost up to 60 euros, depending on the exclusivity and services included.
• Location: Both villages are located on the outskirts of the city of Malaga, to the northwest. By car it can take just over an hour to get there.
• Timetable: You can do this walk at any time you want, but if you go on a guided tour, you should ask before hiring, what will be the time of departure and arrival.

Tablaos are the order of the day, or night. Many flamenco venues present their best shows during Malaga nights, so it is one of the activities you can't miss on your list of things to see and do in Malaga at night.

You can visit the tablaos on your own, to enjoy a complete show that is much more than just dancing. In the flamenco show you can enjoy the traditional dance, as well as impressive vocals and guitar accompaniments, to complete a full traditional flamenco number.

In case you don't know exactly where to go to enjoy the best flamenco shows in Malaga, I recommend you to take a guided tour in the company of an expert who will take you to the places where you can find the best shows, which you can also accompany with wines, liquors and above all with tapas and other traditional Spanish food.

Interesting details

• Price: Depending on the type of tour you choose, you can pay from 20 euros to enjoy a single flamenco show, up to 80 euros for the full tour.
• Location: The best flamenco venues and tablaos are generally located in the centre of Malaga.
• Opening hours: These flamenco tablaos offer their different shows at night.

To get out of Malaga a little bit, and visit some places outside of Malaga which stands out as one of the 10 best cities in Andalusia; I recommend you to visit the Maro Cliffs in the municipality of Nerja.

If there is something you will love about this place is its incredible landscape of sea, sun, marine fauna and impressive rocky cliffs. This perfect combination that you can find in the eastern coastal area of Malaga is the perfect getaway if you visit Malaga for 4 days or more. One day will be enough to get to know this place and want to come back.

The landscape besides having everything I already described, has small coves around it, which makes it one of the best excursions from Malaga to relax and sunbathe. Here you can enjoy water sports such as paddle surfing or even kayaking.

Interesting details

• Price: You can travel individually or take a guided tour which can cost up to 30 euros per person.
• Location: It is located about 71 kilometres east of Malaga. It will take you about an hour to get there if you hire a car.
• Timetable: The timetable can be freely arranged with those responsible for the excursion that will take you there.

There is a great way to spend time with family and friends, but above all it is one of the most fun activities to do in Malaga with children, and that is the treasure hunt in the city of Malaga.

It is a fun experience of about two or three hours, in which you will be participating along with a group of players in a kind of treasure hunt to find the hidden treasure.

The organisers of this type of event usually hide the treasure somewhere in the city and then hand out leaflets and information of all kinds to the participants so that they can find the treasure using their skills and knowledge of the city. This is one of the most fun activities you will find in the city.

I love to recommend this activity because it is a great way to spend quality time with your family and friends in the middle of your holiday. Or if you go solo I also recommend it to make new friends and meet new travellers. The activity usually takes place in the city centre of Malaga.

Interesting details

• Price: It usually costs around 29 euros per person and includes the city tour during the game.
• Location: It takes place in the historic city centre of Malaga.
• Timetable: The timetable is by prior arrangement with the event organisers, however, it usually takes place in the morning hours.

The cathedral of Malaga is one of those places that you have to visit if you visit the city, and this is because it is much more than an ecclesiastical temple. It is a historical site that leaves a mark on the culture and history of the city because it is one of the Al-Andalus temples that stand out in the city.

One of the most interesting curiosities of this temple is that it is generally called La Manquita, because the south tower was never finished in its entirety. It is a good place to start a complete tour of the historic centre of the city, whether you visit it on your own or take a guided tour.

In case you prefer to do a guided tour, I recommend you to choose one that not only takes you to see the Cathedral, but also the rest of the old town, including some of the most special places to taste some Spanish gastronomy, because the centre is, in fact, the ideal place to do the best gastronomic tours in Malaga.

Interesting details

• Price: The tour plus entrance to the church usually costs around 17 euros per person, depending on the services offered on the tour.
• Location: This cathedral is located on Molina Lario street in Malaga.
• Opening hours: You can go from Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 20:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 18:00 and Sundays from 14:00 to 18:00. You can enter up to 45 minutes before closing time.

The Caminito del Rey is one of those places that will make you dizzy to visit but you will want to do it again and again. It is a popular hiking route in Spain, in fact it used to be considered the most dangerous in the world because it is located on the edge of a cliff. But nowadays it has been secured so that it is not as dangerous as it used to be.

One of the most interesting things that this route has, and that you have to know before embarking on this extreme adventure, is that the Caminito del Rey has only one way, so once you start the route you cannot go back, you have to finish it. If you turn back you won't be able to pass, so the only option you have is to continue onwards.

To live this experience you do have to do it together with an expert guide, it is not a good idea to venture alone along these cliffs, because although they are insured, you must go in the company of a person who knows these places very well. You can complete this adventure with friends and family.

Details of interest

• Price: The tour that takes you to the Caminito del Rey usually costs approximately 65 euros per person.
• Location: It is located near the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes in the municipality of Alora, northeast of Malaga.
• Opening times: Depends on the time of year, either winter or summer. In winter the opening hours are from 09:30 to 15:00. In summer the opening hours are from 09:30 to 17:00.