10 Best Towns in Malaga

From wine villages and select regions that offer you a beach view and pleasant walks in a great climate, to white villages and other picturesque villages that invite you to stroll through their narrow streets. Visiting the city's villages is one of the best things to see and do in Malaga.

Some of the names that stand out as some of the best towns around the city include Ronda, Mijas, Nerja, Estepona, Fuengirola and Frigiliana, just to name a few. To get to them you can travel by car, tourist bus from Malaga or even by boat, but let me tell you more.

This is one of the towns near Malaga with different entertainment places to visit. It is a good place to visit with the family and is an excellent option to include among the best things to see and do in Malaga with children. Among the most incredible places to visit in this town is the famous Balcón de Europa.

The Balcón de Europa is a tourist attraction that you will love. In ancient times it was part of a watchtower of an old castle. Nowadays it is one of the best places to see the whole ocean at the same time that you enjoy the different establishments and cafes that are located in the surroundings.

But in Nerja you can also enjoy the beach scenery on the different coasts of the town. You can even take a kayak trip to the cliffs of Nerja and Maro, as part of the activities that await you here.

This town is located about 55 kilometres from the city of Malaga and it takes at least 30 minutes by car on the motorway to get there. You can go on your own by rental car or by public transport. You can also join one of the best tours from Malaga to this area.

This town is located about 24 kilometres from Malaga in the mountains of Malaga. It is one of those towns that you cannot miss in the province, in fact, it is often considered to be the gateway to Malaga, the one that opens the way for tourists to the city. This is a town that you can easily visit during the weekend thanks to its peaceful atmosphere.

You can find different places of interest to walk around the village and get to know it better. Among the most interesting places to see is the Church of Nuestra Señora del Socorro, a religious temple built around the 16th century and which has undergone some modifications up to the present day.

You can also visit the Municipal Cemetery which, believe it or not, is a cultural and historical place par excellence. Despite the fact that it is a cemetery, the organisation inside the cemetery, the crypts and the cobbled paths attract the tourist's attention. It is a place reminiscent of the white villages that are very common in Europe.

Located on the Costa del Sol itself in the province of Malaga, this is a town that you cannot leave out among the best excursions from Malaga, because not only will it give you the opportunity to enjoy an entertaining day at the beach, but you will also be able to do a lot of fun activities.

It is a town that you can visit with the whole family, with the children or with your friends, in case you go with friends. More than a town, Fuengirola offers an active daily city life, characteristics that are noticeable in some of the busiest places of the town, such as the Paseo Marítimo.

But beyond that, you can spend some time enjoying the beach atmosphere that is common on the Playa de San Francisco. Although this is not one of the beaches that tends to offer the most water activities, it is a good place to enjoy the sun. If you want more beach action, I recommend Los Boliches or Torreblanca, which usually have sun loungers and beach bars.

A wine town par excellence, if there's one thing you're going to love about Ronda it's its many vineyards where you can enjoy many of Malaga's best wine products. But this town in the northwest of Malaga is not only renowned for the quality of its wines, but also because it is considered the birthplace of bullfighting, being the place where this Spanish practice and tradition began.

With a depth of 100 metres, the New Bridge that joins the two sides of the Tagus Canyon, is one of the places that you must see if you visit Ronda during your trip to Malaga. On the other hand, other must-sees on this trip are: the Plaza de Toros, the Mirador de Ronda and the Mondragón Palace.

If you intend to make a trip to Malaga of at least 3 days, I recommend you to use one of your days to visit Ronda, and not only to make a wine tour, but also to visit some of the most beautiful places of this town such as the Almocabar Gate and the Arab walls, the house of the Moorish King and other interesting places. It is also very close to Malaga, at least an hour and a half by car.

Considered one of the most beautiful and best preserved white villages in Malaga, Frigiliana has a lot to offer tourists and visitors to the village, from different types of accommodation to restaurants serving local food.

One of its main attractions is undoubtedly the view of the Mediterranean Sea, as it is a coastal village. In addition, the delicacies offered in each of the restaurants in the area are not only from the local food, but also from the international menu.

For this reason, Frigiliana is one of the villages that I like to recommend in the outskirts of the city, especially if you want to enjoy one of the 10 best gastronomic tours in Malaga and its surroundings.

If you ask me about the things to do in this village, I can tell you that among the most interesting places to visit, know and photograph, is the Torreon, definitely one of the most picturesque places in the city. You will also be able to see and enjoy the steep cobbled streets where you can see the white houses and the many plants of all colours that decorate the entrances of each one.

This picturesque blue village on the outskirts of Malaga is one of the most entertaining to visit, especially if you go with children. It is known as the Smurf village. Since 2011 Júzcar began to acquire this fame because of the film that was released that year about the little blue dwarfs. Since then it has been considered the Smurf village par excellence.

You can see some figures of Papa Smurf, Smurfette and PItufo Student scattered around the village. You will love walking through each one of the streets, walking between its steep stairs and its blue walls that mix with the colourful plants and flowers that can be seen in each one of the houses.

It is an excellent place to take pictures of the spaces and above all of the Smurfs allusive structures that are scattered all over the place. I think it is a good adventure to enjoy for half a day, because after all, it is a place that is located very close to Malaga and also to other tourist villages.

The village with the best climate in Europe is in Malaga and it is Torrox. It is located very close to the city of Malaga and is an excellent place to get to know the Andalusian culture very closely. It also has different places of tourist interest to visit with friends and family.

This is one of the localities that I love to visit especially for the festive atmosphere, besides being considered a place where you can enjoy both the mountain climate and the climate of the coast, and this happens because the area is divided into two parts, Torrox Pueblo which is the oldest part and functions as the central part of the area.

On the other hand, you can find Torrox Costa, where you can enjoy the beaches, seven in total that are counted on the coast of Torrox. There are nine kilometres of coastline that this town offers you, not only to enjoy the white sand or the beaches, but you can also enjoy many water sports.

This is one of the towns near the city of Malaga and is located in the province of the same name. The fact is that this picturesque village is open to all tourists all year round. It is one of those places in Malaga where the presence of Al-Andalus is still felt in the country.

During this period of Islam in Hispania, the village took the name of Garrobo, while the prefix Al was adopted after the conquest of the Catholic Monarchs. If you go on a trip to this place, you can visit some places of tourist interest in the town, among them La Mayora, which is a place for the study of tropical fruits.

On the other hand, you can visit its oil mill, a popular place that you can visit every Saturday. Walking through the streets of this village and especially tasting the local gastronomy are also some of the best things to do in Malaga and its surroundings. And if you go at fair time, you can see the reenactment of the historical episode known as La Quema de Algarrobo (The Burning of Algarrobo).

This is one of the coastal towns of Malaga with the highest number of visitors and that is because of its rich tourist offer. It has a large number of monuments and natural strongholds to visit with friends, family and especially with children. One of the most interesting of these places located in Rincón de la Victoria is the Cueva del Tesoro (Treasure Cave).

This natural spectacle is a group of caves that form part of one of the three natural sea caves in the world, the other two being located in Asia and Central America. Also outstanding in this municipality is the fort of Casa-Fuerte de Bezmiliana, which is the most representative place in the municipality.

The Benagalbón Tower and the watchtowers of El Cantal are other places par excellence to visit in the municipality of Rincón de la Victoria. If there is one thing I like to recommend about this place it is its rich history and culture, which is why it is a good place to visit with children. The ecclesiastical monuments are not to be missed during your visit to the town.

Manilva is a coastal town located very close to Gibraltar, approximately 35 kilometres away. But it is also a village that is located very close to the city of Malaga, making it one of the best villages to visit in the vicinity of the city. One of the things you will love the most as a tourist, is to get to know its warm waters.

The sun in this town is one of the privileges because it is usually radiant and helps to keep the temperature pleasant during almost any season of the year. It also has a marina which is currently very busy with economic activity.

Puerto La Duquesa is the name of the port I'm talking about and it also stands out for having many shops and commercial establishments around where you can enjoy the view of the place, as well as the different traditional food and drinks of the town of Manilva and the whole of Malaga.

Besides the port, you can visit other interesting places in the town such as the Torres de Chullera, which once served as a marine surveillance centre. You can also visit the church of Santa Ana, which dates back to the 18th century, or even the Sabinillas Fort, which is located in a strategic place from where you can see the whole ocean.

Torremolinos is one of the most beautiful towns on the outskirts of Malaga. It is more than a village, it is more like a small town. It is right in front of the Mediterranean Sea, and has many different attractions for the whole family to enjoy, especially for the entertainment of the children.

Among the most fun parks for children to walk, run and play that you can find in Torremolinos are: the Bateria park, the Aqualand, which is a water park for the whole family. And finally the Crocodile Park, a place where you can see large crocodiles all over the place.

Besides the fun parks for the kids, you also have to visit some of the most popular places in the town, among them, the Torre de Pimentel, better known as the Torre de Los Molinos, precisely the place that gave its name to the town. It was built at the beginning of the 14th century and its function was to guard the town.

More than just a village, Marbella has been one of the most vibrant cities in Andalusia for years. In the past it was just a village on the outskirts of Malaga, which is the capital of the Costa del Sol. But since the 50's its tourist interest started to increase a lot more when a lot of celebrities wanted to spend their summers in this city.

With more than 300 days of sunshine and mild temperatures, Marbella is a city that offers tourists a wide range of entertainment, such as dolphin watching. But if you want to enjoy a quiet weekend, I recommend you to stroll through the streets and alleys that criss-cross and spread throughout the city.

On the other hand, Marbella also offers you a wide range of bars and nightclubs where you can spend incredible nights dancing and enjoying drinks and tapas with friends. I recommend you to read how to get from Malaga to Marbella, so you will discover that there is nothing better than visiting some of the most beautiful beaches in the city, such as La Venus, which is considered one of the most popular.

Estepona is one of the most beautiful towns near Malaga and in fact it has many interesting places to see and learn about within this town. One of the places that you must visit when you want to know Estepona is the Botanical Park Orquideario, where you can see multiple vertical gardens.

You also have to visit the historic centre of Estepona, an incredibly picturesque and colourful place, as well as the route of the murals, where art is present and shows some of the best urban works that decorate the city, in buildings and houses from the centre to the coast.

Estepona also gives you the opportunity to dive in the waters of the Mediterranean, and to explore the surroundings of the town through multiple routes and hiking trails that take you to see all the places around the central part of the town.