Malaga, Spain & Ryanair
- Genea Morfeld Swan
- Oct 14, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 19, 2019
My daughter decided to study abroad for six months in between high school and college. While she wanted to learn Spanish, she also wanted to be at the beach so Malaga was a logical choice. I have been to see her twice now and here's a few suggestions for you.
Firstly, Malaga is not a terribly easy place to get to for an AA employee. American doesn't fly there directly so you have to take a train from Madrid or ZED. The first time I went, I didn't even consider ZED travel because I was a big scaredy cat and I took the much longer, more complicated and almost as expensive route of going by train. It was a fun adventure with my mother, but I think ZED or an inexpensive local carrier is the most expeditious way to go if you are short on time. The second time I went to Malaga, I flew Ryanair with my entire immediate family from Marrakesh, Morocco.
Ryanair is an interesting airline. Not only do they sell duty free on their flights, they sell their tickets VERY cheap. As in $40-confirmed-from-Marrakesh-to-Malaga cheaply. That's crazy.
There's a catch though: All bags have fees. You can have a personal item for free but their sizer is about purse size. We went ahead and spent the $20 per person so we could have a checked bag. Your checked bag can only weigh 10 kg or 22 pounds. I had read the directions carefully so we all preplanned our backpacks. Our daughter cut it the closest at 9.4 kg.
And, apparently a lot of people didn't pay for a seat assignment either as there was a a pretty intense game of pick-your-seat before the plane took off that the flight attendants ignored. Three of our four ended up in the same row for the hour flight! WIN!
Be prepared for a long line at check in as almost everyone is checking a bag. They tell you to be there three hours early so take that seriously. We were almost that early and had time to check our pre-payed bags and have lunch in the Marrakesh airport prior to boarding.
In October, we booked our stay last minute (day of!!!!) on Airbnb:
The price point was about $100 a night and the apartment has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Only the front half of the apartment has significant natural light HOWEVER the LOCATION can NOT be beat. It is located DIRECTLY on Plaza de La Merced which is right out side the Roman ruin, the Alcazaba. Seriously, the location was prime. The apartment doesn't actually look out onto the plaza so it is quiet and no smoke is wafting up into your open windows. One bedroom/bath has no window at all but we gave that to our son and since he slept in until 11 a.m. it was a good fit. (I have an aversion to rooms with no windows but it was hard to turn a nose up at such a great, last minute location!)
The best part of this place is probably your host Julio. He texted us a huge list of places to eat and even served as our transfer back to the airport for 25 Euro at 6:30 a.m. Very friendly and responsive guy.
The Alcazaba
Cost: 5.50 Euro for both the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro combined
I have to say this was a GORGEOUS Roman 'ruin' almost directly next door to our apartment. Since we were there in October and went early in the day, we were able to enjoy it without sweating. I saw someone there in a wheel chair but I have no idea how they made it up. It definitely did not seem handicap accessible to me. It is also way bigger than it looks! I highly recommend walking around here (it's not very expensive either).
Gibralfaro
I have done this climb twice. It's proven to me both times that I am morbidly out of shape. There is no 'handicap' access; however Bus 35 will take you directly to and from the coast. Mom and I luckily caught the bus for the way down when we were there and it was super convenient -- the slate walkway is slanted and much harder to navigate down than up if you have feet issues.
This castle has glorious views of the coast line and is a MUST see if you make it to Malaga!
Los Gatos Restaurant
Price point: Varies. Our Family of 4 was about 80 Euro with drinks
Loved the charming staff! And the food was delicious. (I am not recommending the octopus -- I love grilled octopus but this one had an odd flavor.)
El Pimpi Restaurant
Price point: varies
According to our daughter this is THE place to eat in Malaga. We got there early (Locals eat late) so we were able to sit outside. YUM. Go while you are in Malaga!
Malaga Cathedral
Iglesia de Los Martires
Malaga Feria Price: free (in August, check dates)
If you like to party, have a big group of friends and would like a place to hang out in Spain, Go to Malaga during Feria (August). I was not a huge fan (due to the crowds ) but it is nice to see live dance shows on the street and hear live music. The apartment we booked in August was near Ataranzanas Market and was PERFECT due to its proximity to the main street and festivities (but still quiet enough so the late partiers weren't annoying).
All in all, Malaga is a clean, safe city with beautiful marble walking streets. The keep the streets clean with something that smells a LOT like jasmine. In August it happens during day to keep down the drunk people messes but in October they only cleaned the streets late at night. Malaga has a great transit system and the scooters are really fun too! (Our family of four managed to not kill anyone or ourselves down several miles of trails along the coast on scooters!) Malaga doesn't really sleep! Go check it out!
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