Getting around Málaga

You cross central Málaga on foot, and you pay for transport only three times: from the airport, up to the castle hill and out to the eastern beaches. Each trip has its own ticket and none is hard to work out. The one belief to drop before you land is that a taxi from the airport has a fixed fare.

From the airport to the centre

Take the C1 train, and board the one marked Centro-Alameda, since the opposite direction is marked Fuengirola. The ride costs €1.80 and takes 12 min, calling at Guadalhorce, Victoria Kent and María Zambrano before the line ends at Centro-Alameda, beside Alameda Principal. At the barrier you can tap a bank card or a phone, so there is no need to queue at a machine.

Bus A, the airport express, costs €4 and carries luggage free. It leaves from the stop on ground level outside arrivals at Terminal T3, takes a card or cash on board and ends in the centre near Paseo del Parque. The train is the quickest way in, and the bus makes sense when your hotel lies closer to Paseo del Parque than to the rail line. The taxi rank is in arrivals too. The meter decides the price, and the city sets a minimum of €18.24 on weekdays from 6am to 10pm, plus €0.58 for each suitcase in the boot.

Taxi: the minimum applies on weekdays from 6am to 10pm; the tariff is higher at other times.

The old centre is for walking, and the buses serve two directions only. Number 35 leaves from Paseo del Parque for the Gibralfaro castle, and it is an ordinary city bus that costs €1.40, like any other line. Numbers 3 and 11 leave from Alameda Principal and run east to Pedregalejo and El Palo. The validator on a city bus reads a Visa or Mastercard without a PIN, though some older buses lack the new reader, so keep a few coins in a pocket.

The metro is the piece visitors misjudge. It runs from El Perchel, the station below the María Zambrano railway station, to Atarazanas, by Mercado Central and Calle Larios, and a ticket is €1.35. It reaches neither the airport nor the beaches. For the beaches take bus 3 or 11, and use the metro to get from the station to the market without climbing a street.

Taxis

A taxi pays off late at night or with heavy cases. The tariff starts at €1.88 and adds €1.05 for each kilometre, with a city minimum of €4.61. Nights, weekends, holidays, the Feria and Holy Week run on a higher tariff. A ride to the airport carries a supplement of €6.49, so a train or the bus is the kinder choice for that leg.

María Zambrano station

María Zambrano is the main station, and the C1 stops here between the airport and Centro-Alameda. The metro starts below it, the coach station stands next door, and AVE, Iryo and Avlo trains reach Madrid in 2 h 25 min. Alsa coaches and the train for day trips are in the excursions guide, with their own timetables.

Where to stayStaying beside the station or near the metro changes how much of this you use, and the accommodation guide sorts the neighbourhoods by it.Where to stay in Málaga →

2 daysBus 35 earns its place in the two-day plan, which sets out when to take it and when to walk down.Málaga in 2 days →

Day tripsGranada, Ronda and the Caminito del Rey start from here, and the excursions guide has the details.Day trips from Málaga →

FoodOnce the bags are down, the food guide says where to eat.What to eat in Málaga →

BudgetFares and tickets sit side by side in the budget table.What Málaga costs →