Costa del Sol

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Picturesque street of Mijas with flower pots in facades. Andalusian white village. Costa del Sol. Southern Spain

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Overview

Regularly derided but perennially popular, Spain’s famous ‘sun coast’ is a chameleonic agglomeration of end-to-end resort towns that were once (hard to believe) mere fishing villages. Development in the last 60 years has been far-reaching and not always subtle, throwing up a disjointed muddle of urbanizaciones, each with its own niche. Torremolinos is a popular gay resort, Benalmádena plugs theme parks and aquariums, Fuengirola draws families and water-sport lovers, Mijas poses as one of Andaucía's authentic white villages of yore, Marbella is loudly rich and partial to big yachts and golf, while Estepona maintains a semblance of its former Spanish self. Take your pick.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

buenavista palace which houses the picasso museum

Museo Picasso Málaga

Málaga

This unmissable museum in the city of Picasso’s birth provides a solid overview of the great master and his work, although, surprisingly, it only came to…

Catedral de Málaga

Málaga

Málaga’s elaborate cathedral was started in the 16th century on the site of the former mosque. Of the mosque, only the Patio de los Naranjos survives, a…

Interior of Natural Cave in Andalusia, Spain

Cueva de Nerja

Nerja

It’s hard to imagine the surreal world that lies beneath the mountain foothills 4km east of Nerja, and it’s even harder to believe that these vast caverns…

Alcazaba

Málaga

No time to visit Granada’s Alhambra? Then Málaga’s Alcazaba can provide a taster. The entrance is beside the Roman theatre, from where a meandering path…

Castillo de Gibralfaro

Málaga

One remnant of Málaga’s Islamic past is the craggy ramparts of the Castillo de Gibralfaro, spectacularly located high on the hill overlooking the city…

Historic viewpoint in Jardin Botanico La Concepcion in Malaga.

Jardín Botánico Histórico La Concepción

Málaga

These exotic gardens were conceived in the mid-19th century by the Loring-Heredia clan, a noble family of railway builders and bankers who bequeathed the…

Spain, Andalucia Region, Malaga Province

Mercado Atarazanas

Málaga

North of the city's main artery, the Alameda Principal, you’ll find this striking 19th-century iron-clad building incorporating the original Moorish gate…

Museo Carmen Thyssen

Málaga

Located in an aesthetically renovated 16th-century palace in the heart of the city’s former Moorish quarter, this extensive collection concentrates on…

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