Malaga With Kids
A Moorish fortress on a hill with a Roman theater at its feet, a beach you can walk to from the cathedral, and sardines grilled over driftwood fires on the sand. Malaga is the city on the Costa del Sol that is a real city, and the easiest base in southern Spain for a family.
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Is Malaga good for kids?
Yes. A fortress with ramparts to run, a Roman theater on the street, a beach 15 minutes from the cathedral, sardines on the sand, a port promenade for scooters and an airport 12 minutes away. It is the easiest base in southern Spain with children.
How many days do you need in Malaga?
Four nights for the city, the beach and one day trip. Five if you add the Caminito del Rey or Nerja.
Is Malaga or Seville better with kids?
Seville has more to see. Malaga has the beach, the airport and lower prices. With young kids I base in Malaga and do Seville as two nights on the way through.
How do you get from Malaga to Ronda?
By car, about an hour and three quarters through the mountains. By train, about 2 hours with a change. Day tours run from the center if you do not want to drive.
When is the best time to visit Malaga?
April to June and September to October for warm sea and no extreme heat. Winter is mild and the city is quiet. July and August are hot and the beaches are full.
The Costa del Sol City That Is A Real City
Malaga was Phoenician, Roman, Moorish and Spanish, and the hill above the center still has all of them stacked on top of each other. The Roman theater sits at the bottom, the Alcazaba palace fortress climbs above it, and the Gibralfaro castle crowns the top with a view over the port and the sea. Picasso was born two squares away.
Four nights gives you the fortress, the museums, the market, two beach afternoons and one day trip. It is the base I use for the whole of southern Spain with kids, because the beach fixes everything.
Getting Around
On foot in the center, which is mostly pedestrian. The C1 train links the airport and the station. Bus 11 runs along the seafront to Pedregalejo and El Palo. Bus 35 saves the climb to Gibralfaro. A car is only for the day trips, and the rental desks are at the airport and the station.
Neighborhoods worth basing in
The old town, Centro Histórico
Calle Larios, the cathedral, the Alcazaba, the Picasso Museum and the Atarazanas market, all within 10 minutes on foot. Apartments in old buildings and small hotels with rooftop pools. The base for a first visit, with the beach a 15 minute walk away.
La Malagueta
The beach district on the far side of the port, with the city beach, the bullring and the big hotels. Sand in the morning, the old town for lunch over the Muelle Uno promenade. Best for families who want the beach every day.
Pedregalejo and El Palo
The old fishing quarters 20 minutes east by bus, with small coves, a boardwalk of chiringuitos grilling sardines and a slower pace. Base here for a longer stay and go into town for the sights.
Gran Hotel Miramar
A palace hotel from 1926 on La Malagueta beach, with a big outdoor pool, gardens, a spa and family rooms, and the old town a 15 minute walk along the water. The splurge in Malaga.
Hotel Molina Lario
Beside the cathedral in the old town, with a rooftop pool that looks straight at the cathedral tower, breakfast on the roof and every sight on foot.
Room Mate Valeria
At the port end of the old town by Muelle Uno, with a rooftop terrace, bright rooms and the beach 10 minutes away. Good value in the middle of everything.
The Three I Build Every Malaga Trip Around
The Alcazaba, the Roman theater and Gibralfaro
Start at the Roman theater, free and right on the street, then climb into the Alcazaba, an 11th century Moorish palace fortress with courtyards, fountains and ramparts the kids can run along. From the top a walled path climbs to Gibralfaro castle, 20 minutes of steep ramp, with the whole city and the port below. Take bus 35 up and walk down if the legs are small. Go early before the heat.
Picasso and the old town
Picasso was born on Plaza de la Merced in 1881 and the Picasso Museum, in a palace on Calle San Agustín, is small enough to do with kids in an hour. Around it the old town is marble streets, Calle Larios for the passeggiata, the cathedral with its one finished tower, and the Atarazanas market with its iron roof, Moorish arch and stained glass window. Breakfast at the market, then churros at Casa Aranda.
The beaches and the espetos
La Malagueta is the city beach, a 15 minute walk from the cathedral past the port. Pedregalejo, 20 minutes east on bus 11, is where Malaga eats. Chiringuitos line the boardwalk and grill sardines on skewers over fires built in old boats filled with sand. Order espetos, a plate of fried fish and a jug of something cold, and let the kids go in and out of the water all afternoon.
Family Time, Built In: Malaga With Kids
Malaga with kids is a fortress to climb, a beach to walk to, sardines on the sand, a boat out to the castle view and a market for breakfast. These are the pieces that work.
Espetos at a chiringuito in Pedregalejo
The glass cube of the Pompidou on the port
A boat trip from the port to see the coast
Ice cream at Casa Mira on Calle Larios
PARK & DOWNTIME PICK
Parque de Málaga, the long palm garden between the old town and the port, has playgrounds, fountains and shade. Muelle Uno, the port promenade, is flat for scooters with the Pompidou cube at the end. For a bigger day, La Malagueta beach has playgrounds on the sand.
Five Things To Eat In Malaga
Fish grilled on the beach
Churros with chocolate
Paella at a chiringuito
Ice cream at Casa Mira
Coffee ordered the Malaga wayNicole’s Perspective
The base for southern Spain
When a family wants Andalusia with kids, I put them in Malaga and not Seville or Granada. Seville is the better city and Granada has the Alhambra, but neither has a beach 15 minutes from the hotel, and with children the beach is what saves the trip on the hot afternoon when nobody wants another church.
Four nights here, a day trip to Ronda or the Caminito del Rey, and Granada as a long day or an overnight. The airport is 12 minutes from the center, the old town is pedestrian and the sardines on the beach cost less than a sandwich at home.
The Day Trip: Ronda
An hour and three quarters by car through the mountains, Ronda sits on two sides of a gorge 300 feet deep with the Puente Nuevo, a stone bridge from 1793, joining them. Walk across it, take the path down into the gorge for the view back up, and visit the bullring, one of the oldest in Spain. Lunch on the old town side, then the white villages of Grazalema or Setenil, where houses are built under the overhanging rock, on the way home. Trains also run from Malaga in about 2 hours.
Things I Would Tell A Friend Before They Booked
How Many Days
Four nights covers the fortress, the old town, two beach afternoons and Ronda. Five adds the Caminito del Rey or Nerja.
The Alcazaba and the old town on day one, Picasso and the market on day two, the beach at Pedregalejo on day three, Ronda on day four.
Add the Caminito del Rey for kids 8 and up, or Nerja for the caves and the Balcón de Europa, an hour east along the coast.
Malaga for four nights, Granada for two for the Alhambra, Seville for three, then the train to Madrid or a flight home from Seville. Ten days with one car for the middle.
Malaga With Kids, Answered
Is Malaga good for kids?
Yes. A fortress with ramparts to run, a Roman theater on the street, a beach 15 minutes from the cathedral, sardines on the sand, a port promenade for scooters and an airport 12 minutes away. It is the easiest base in southern Spain with children.
How many days do you need in Malaga?
Four nights for the city, the beach and one day trip. Five if you add the Caminito del Rey or Nerja.
Is Malaga or Seville better with kids?
Seville has more to see. Malaga has the beach, the airport and lower prices. With young kids I base in Malaga and do Seville as two nights on the way through.
How do you get from Malaga to Ronda?
By car, about an hour and three quarters through the mountains. By train, about 2 hours with a change. Day tours run from the center if you do not want to drive.
When is the best time to visit Malaga?
April to June and September to October for warm sea and no extreme heat. Winter is mild and the city is quiet. July and August are hot and the beaches are full.
Ready To Put Malaga On The Calendar
Send me your dates and your kids’ ages and I will build southern Spain around Malaga, pick the hotel with the pool and book Ronda, Granada and the gorge.
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