Day trips from Malaga

[HappyHolidays75]

We've got 4 days in Málaga in Feb.
One or two days exploring Málaga itself.
Then one of two days to venture further afield.

Where would you recommend?

Granada or Cordoba? (Then Alhambra or mesquite)
Caminito del Rey?
Rhonda?
White villages? Any easily accessed by public transport and nice walks nearby?
Other coastal towns?
The key criteria is being accessible by public transport!

Also any recommendations for tapas? We're staying near the old town.

Thank you 🙂

Some of these involve fairly time consuming journies and transport changes together there.
Stick to Mijas village or maybe a day in Nerja… both beautiful!

Following, as we are going in a couple of weeks,

Rhonda is nice.
There's some really nice lakes about an hour away, not far from a town called Allora. you can swim and boat in the lakes and there's restaurants there above it.

We did a day trip to Ronda, but booked a coach trip as that seemed the easiest way to do it.
Cordoba can be done easily on the train and the Mezquite is definitely worth a visit.

Depends how far you want to far and how long you want to spend getting there really. I second Mijas (Pueblo, the old town not Mijas Costa). Ronda is gorgeous but might take you a bit to get there? There are trains from Málaga but also quite a good bus route along the coast - been a few years since I did public transport in the area so might have changed a bit! Estepona is lovely but no trains there I don't think, just a bus which takes (used to take!) 1-2 hours The coastal areas might be easier to explore by public transport. Enjoy!

Thanks! Travelling time around an hour each way I guess, 1 he 30 max. Kids are teens and happy to make a long day if it, seeing as much as we can, have dinner, then flop on a late train back.

Definitely the Caminito Del Rey. We did it in December and it was amazing. We booked a tour from Malaga, but you can do it yourself. Book early.

We also did Granada for 3 days and loved the Alhambra. This gets booked up weeks in advance. It would be a long day trip from Malaga. We took the Alsa bus and it was 2.5 hours each way.

Ronda is quite spectacular but iirc there's not an awful lot to do there - I wonder if you can make a half day trip given its proximity?

I'd say if you only have one day to play with, make it Granada, Cordoba (loved it there and actually preferred it to Granada), or Seville - is there a reason you missed Seville off your list?

@Shaggyinkcap Seville missed off only because we went last year. 2 days there, 1.5 in Cadiz. Absolutely loved the trip. It's the reason we're back in the region to see more!
For anyone else, 100% add on Seville if you can - it blew us away. If it's just a day trip, try to book on a 'free' walking tour to get a good flavour.

Cordoba is an hour by train from Malaga, definitely one to think about as it is a charming place, especially the area around the river and the Mezquita. Fabulous atmosphere.

However, if you feel up to it, Granada is not to be missed for the Alhambra. If you check Renfe the Spanish train app it will give the times and prices for departures and returns to and from Malaga. I took the Avant train recently and it was 1 hour 25 mins cost about €35 return or something like that. Nice trip too. Worth having a look to see if you could fit it in. The Alhambra is unforgettable, but book in advance and bring ID, you won't get in without it.

Others have mentioned different places so I won't repeat them!

Cordoba as it is an easy direct train journey from Malaga. Plus the trains are really nice compared to the ones where I live in the SE!