Discover Malaga, Spain

Located in southern Spain, Malaga is located within the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is also the capital of the province of Malaga, with its harbour positioned on the Mediterranean Sea on the Costa del Sol. It lies almost directly south of Madrid, slightly northeast of Cadiz and southwest of Granada. To the north is the Malaga Mountains Natural Park (Parque Natural de Montes de Malaga). The Guadalmedina river divides the city, and popular beach towns are located both east and west of Malaga.

With Malaga Airport located just west of the city, Malaga is easily accessible by air. It is also accessible by sea, rail, bus or automobile. We drove to the Costa del Sol area from Seville, and visited Malaga on a day trip during our stay in Entrerios, near La Cala de Mijas. Its historic centre is best visited on foot, although there is a city bus network available as well as a hop-on-hop-off tour bus. If you're driving in and out of the city, there are a number of public parking areas, including the parking garage at the El Corte Ingles department store, which we took advantage of.

{Map of Spain - public domain map courtesy of the CIA World Factbook.}

Our visit to Malaga's castle, the Gibralfaro, was by far the highlight of our trip to Malaga. Along with the Alcazaba and the Roman Amphitheater, it is one of the city's major monuments and tourist attractions. Start by meandering through the Alcazaba, which starts at street level but does offer a few very good vistas. Once you've exited, you'll need to walk a short distance towards the stone walkway that leads to the castle. The winding cobblestone walkway up to the top is an attraction in itself, and provides stunning views of the harbour and major attractions such as the bullring and the cathedral. Once you've reached the top level of the castle, you'll enjoy panoramic views of the mountains, sea, harbour, and the city below. The castle is comprised of a number of walls and walkways, all providing different viewpoints of the attractions and interesting angles to shoot your photos. Definitely a photographers dream spot!

We also very much enjoyed our stroll by the harbour, where we saw a vintage ship. Just in case you're wondering, it wasn't seaworthy. In addition to the cathedral, we also saw a few other churches, and in general, enjoyed the historic architecture. Other attractions include the Contemporary Arts Center, the childhood home of Pablo Picasso, the Museo Picasso, the Arts and Crafts Museum, and the Bishop's Palace. A couple of neat things we did see were a tricyle taxi and the "Cheers" pub.

{Photo taken looking up towards the Gibralfaro; copyright Heidi Brault.}

Vintage Poster, Malaga Spain-rare by yesterdaysgirl
Large format posters printing from zazzle

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