I took a long weekend trip for the wedding of a friend who is from Alhama de Granada, a rural town in the mountains of the province of Granada in the South of Spain. This is the little road trip journey that I took, using public transport, around the dates of the wedding from Málaga to Alhama de Granda to Torre del Mar and then back to Málaga.
Day One – Three: 2 nights in Málaga
First off was a flight from East Midlands Airport to Costa del Sol 5:40am-8:35am. A 13 minute walk later and we were waiting for the C1 train (which run every 20 minutes) to take us the 13 minutes and 4 stops to Málaga CA. You could pay for the train on the Renfe Cercanias app (tickets valid for up to 2h after purchase) or by using a contactless card, both for a cost of €1.80. I had plenty of time to take the train because the trains run until 12:54 at night (and they start up again at 6:44am).
I stayed at Coeo Pod Hostel for two nights (€153.97). The hotel was the perfect location, right in the middle of town, although the air con did not work and, as the name implies, the rooms (or pods) were very small. The breakfast though was delicious and well worth the price. Every day we got included a hot drink, a juice, a small pot of fruit, yogurt or honey, muesli and a giant toasties serino ham pesto sandwich with all the trimmings.
Four things I recommend doing in Málaga:
1. Visit Málaga Roman Theatre, a beautiful ancient Roman theatre. It is right in the centre of town and is completely free to visit. A great place to have a sit and do some serious people watching. It is closed Mondays though.
2. A trip to Alcazaba (lower down the hill, a type of palace) and the Gibralfaro Castle (at the top of the hill). You might as well visit both because it is a cot of €5.50 to enter the two historic buildings. Entrance is free on Sunday after 2pm. They are open 9am-8pm. The castle is up a gigantic hill! But it does offer a beautiful viewpoint and is an especially great place to watch the sun set.
3. Have some wine and tapas at Marcato Central de Atarazanas. If you arrive too early for tapas (the market is open 8am-3pm, with the fish market being shut on Mondays and the markets shut on Sundays), it is still worth a visit for the beautiful stained glass windows. If tapas are not your thing, the market is great for fish, meat and vegetables.
4. If you have missed out on Marcato Central de Atarazanas, I instead recommend the waterfront market Paseo del Muelle Uno. This market is very touristy, made up for the cruise ships, so are full of gifts and is quite expensive compared with other similar markets. It does make for a nice night market to wander around the bright lights, facing out to sea in the dark. While there, you can also see El Cubo, the rainbow cube, which is very pretty to see and actually hides an underground art museum, Centre Pompidou.
Day Three – Five: 2 nights in Alhama de Granada
On Friday I took a train from Málaga to Plaza Mayor, a shopping centre, were some very kind wedding guests were giving me a lift to Alhama de Granada. Once arrived, I checked into my hotel for the next two nights, Casa Rural La Seguiriya (€141.08). This was a really lovely hotel and I really recommend booking. If you book direct, you get breakfast included for free (coffee, orange juice, ham, cheese, toast, butter, jam, egg, tomato, cucumber and a muffin). It had a beautiful balcony/patio area with amazing views off the cliff face.
While in Alhama de Granada, I did a long walk around the Monumento Natural de los Tajos for some beautiful views.
Day Five - Six: 1 night in Torre Del Mar
There was no direct bus from Alhama de Granada back to Málaga. You had to connect via Granada really to make the trip. It was also quite a long bus ride. Instead, I decided to break up the journey by travelling to somewhere new, Torre Del Mar for a little beach trip. A terrifying bus 2:50-4:25pm took me from Alhama de Granada to Torre Del Mar for €4.44. There was only one bus a day and they seem to operate on their own time but there were lots of people waiting so I knew I hadn’t already missed it. The mountain roads were very small and the mountains very tall! Not the best if you get travel sick!
I stayed at Hotel Torremar, which was close to the beach (£75.27). The beaches were very nice and it was a cute little seaside area. I don’t think I would make this trip again though because Málaga itself has plentiful and equally as beautiful beaches.
Day Six – Day Seven 1 night in Málaga
A bus 3:15-3:55pm back from Torre Del Mar to Málaga Port was quite difficult to work out (€2.62). I could not tell which bus stop it was leaving from and there were a lot of buses and confused people! I actually ended up getting on the wrong bus which was slower, but I was just happy it was going in the right direction!
The capsule hotel this time was Futurotel Malagueta and I strongly recommend it for anyone who loves technology (£33.28). It had a very futuristic design and even a Japanese toilet! It was very cool to try out all the different facilities.
The next day, I took a Bolt taxi to the airport for my flight 5:45-7:40am.
Costs
- Flights £48.23
- Public transport £10.88- I booked buses on the Alsa website
- Taxi from hotel to airport £19.32
- Food £77.11 – there was a lot of tapas, a lot of wine and a lot of croquetas!
- Attractions £3.34
- Hotels £361.40 / 2 = £180.70pp
- Total £339.58
Future Visits
If I went again to this area of Spain, I would definitely head to a lot more museums in Málaga. They were so cheap and there was such a diversity of them. The Music Museum definitely caught my eye.
El Caminitio del Ray would be on my list too. This is a narrow hiking path known for it’s 2 mile stretch of man-made boardwalks and glass footbridges that hug the sides of sheer cliffs and hang over river gorges. There is a 3-hour hike which takes you on paths 350 feet above the Guadalhorce River, offering stunning views of the Gaitanes Canyon (Desfiladero de los Gaitanes), 8:30am-2pm Tuesday to Sunday.
