Getting There By Air:Pablo Picasso International
Tel: 902 404 704.
Website:
www.aena.esMálaga’s airport lies 8 km (5 miles) west of the city center. It is one of the busiest in Europe with hundreds of charter and scheduled flights from all over Europe calling here daily. In 2006, the airport handled over 13 million passengers.
Facilities at the airport include restaurants and cafes, car hire, tour operators, travel agencies, banking services, VIP lounges, meeting rooms, and
a good choice of shops, including duty-free.
Bus 19 runs to the city center every 30 minutes or so from outside the airport. Taxis also wait here. A 3-minute walk away is the railway station on the Coastal Train (C1) light electric railway line. Trains run every 30 minutes or so west to Málaga city center (Málaga Almeda) and east to Fuengirola via Torremolinos and other Costa del Sol resorts.
Getting There By Road:From Britain a ferry to Bilbao or Santander cuts down on road mileage, driver fatigue and motorway tolls crossing France. The distance to Málaga from these two seaports is 953km (596 miles) and 937km (586 miles) respectively.
Motorways (
autopista) are prefixed with the letter ‘A’, or ‘AP’ if it’s a toll road (
peaje) i.e. A-4 or AP-4. The speed limit on these roads is 120kph (74mph). Dual carriageways (
autovias) and other major roads (
carretera nacional) are generally indicated with three digits, i.e. A376. The speed limit on these roads is 100kph (62mph). Within towns, the speed limit is 50kph (31mph).
Breakdown emergency services:
Spanish Royal Automobile Club (RACE) (tel: 902 404 545; website:
www.race.es).
Eurolines international coach services (tel: 954 907 844
or 902 405 040; website:
www.eurolines.com) run a service to Málaga from London Victoria Coach Station via the Dover-Calais ferry or the Le Shuttle train. The total journey time is around 33-35 hours.
Getting There By Rail:Eurostar (tel: 0870 518 6186; website:
www.eurostar.com) runs from London to Málaga in around 27 hours via Paris and Madrid.
The Spanish rail network is operated by
RENFE (tel: 902 240 202; website:
www.renfe.es). Málaga RENFE, Explanada de la Estacion (tel: 952 360 202) is the city’s main railway station.
The C1 (Coastal Train) light electric railway service runs between the city center with stops at Centro Alameda (beside the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo), the railway station, the airport and several resorts to the west as far as Fuengirola (total journey time - 50 minutes). Trains run every 30 minutes.
Getting Around:Málaga’s old town can easily be covered on foot. Much of the western side is pedestrianized and in other places, its warren-like nature means that walking is the only choice.
Public TransportThe only times you might need a bus or taxi is to the railway station (around 20 minutes walk from the center), or if you visit the beaches of Pedragalejo and El Palo.
The bus network is operated by Autobuses Urbanos EMT (tel: 902 527 200; website:
www.emtsam.es). It runs an extensive service with over 30 routes covering the whole of the city (though do remember many central streets are pedestrianized) including three night service lines. Maps, routes and even a route planning service (in English) can be found on their website.
The
Málaga Tour Bus (see
Tours) is a useful way of riding around the city’s main sights regardless of its tour guide content.
TaxisReliable taxi companies include
Agrupación Local y Provincial (tel: 952 345 693),
Unitaxi (tel: 952 333 333) and
Unión Sociedad Cooperativa Andaluza (tel: 952 345 948).
Car HireYou won’t need a car to get around the center of Málaga, but if you want to explore further afield several international and local car hire companies have offices at the airport, the railway station and in the city center. They include
Avis (tel: 952 048 505 (airport)
or 221 194 (city); website:
www.avis.es),
Europcar (tel: 952 048 518 (airport)
or 356 512 (railway station); website:
www.europcar.com) and
Hertz (tel: 952 233 086 (airport)
or 356202 (city); website:
www.hertz.com).
Always park in a secure place if possible, and beware of theft of belongings from vehicles.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
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The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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