Malaga city center and beautiful Costa del Sol

The star offer of the Costa del Sol is still the "sun and beach"; not in vain it was due to the sunny beaches that the coastline of Malaga became internationally popular. Along the coastline of Malaga we can find a large variety of accommodation for all tastes and purses, along with a great cuisine, fantastic beaches with all amenities, as well as unspoilt nature just a few kilometers inland.

The star offer of the Costa del Sol is still the "sun and beach"; not in vain it was due to the sunny beaches that the coastline of Malaga became internationally popular. It is near the beaches where can be found the highest concentration of hotels, not just of the province of Malaga, but the entire region of Andalusia.

The coast of Malaga is home to all that the tourist usually needs in order to enjoy a good holiday. For example, the type of accommodation you choose, be it a luxury hotel or an inexpensive guest house or even a hostel for budget travelers, you will find excellent quality and price.

In the Costa del Sol you can go and enjoy international shows and music festivals. The Malaga coast also offers a varied cuisine of a very great prestige, either in fancy restaurants or in picturesque tapas bars, being both good choices for your palate.

For the beach lovers, the Costa del Sol gives endless possibilities. You can enjoy a swim at large beaches with all the amenities such as bars, restaurants, showers, umbrellas, hammocks, palm trees, playgrounds, adapted for disabled access, monitoring and aid stations, pedal boats rent, water skis and even watercraft. Or if you prefer a quieter area, there are as well small coves and less noisy and you can practice naturism in specific and well sign posted areas.

Also for nature lovers the immediate surroundings of the Costa del Sol offer a great deal. In the province of Malaga about 40% of the natural spaces are declared protected areas, with many beautiful nature parks. We therefore strongly recommend discovering some of the natural beauty of the province of Malaga during you holiday. You can easily enjoy a great day out, combining beautiful unspoilt nature and great views with the fantastic food of the mountain villages.

Malaga car hire is an easy, uncomplicated solution which is definitely worthwhile to get the maximum out of your holiday. It does not take long driving around in the area, as many charming places are less than an hour´s drive away and the road network is very good.

Nowadays, due to internet it has become very easy to look comfortably at home for car hire Malaga. At Malaga airport there is a very good and wide choice of companies available, some of them with outstanding customer service, including free passenger pick up.

The historic center of Malaga is full of representative places, but the Plaza de la Merced is undoubtedly the most emblematic site and the square par excellence, the best known and most visited of the city.

Located in the district Barrio de la Merced almost in the historical centre, it is the site where the main events and festivals take place and at night the plaza becomes a bustling area and meeting place for locals and visitors.

The history of the Plaza de la Merced accompanies the history of Malaga: centuries ago it was a plaza outside the walls and after the Christian conquest it was named Market Square; in the nineteenth century the Plaza began to emerge as a meeting place of the bourgeois citizens.

Next to the plaza were situated the Convent and the church de la Merced that vanished in the burning of convents in 1931, hence the name as we know it today. In the square we find the obelisk in honor of General Torrijos and the birthplace of Picasso, the current headquarters of the Picasso Foundation.

Today the Plaza is a cosmopolitan place full of noise and bustle, surrounded by terraces, young ambience and some buildings which speak of times of splendor, like the ancient and popular cinemas currently closed down.

However, the city government has on its agenda an amendment of the Plaza de la Merced, which was agreed with the neighbors and which includes preserving the main elements of the site and endow it with others that serve to provide more space and comfort to its visitors.

Around the square we find nightlife, the Cervantes Theatre and bars to sit and enjoy the traditional cuisine of Malaga.

When visiting Malaga you should take a walk to the Plaza de la Merced, which despite the passage of time is still impeccable.

The city of Malaga, capital of the province of Andalusia in Spain is witness to the old Spanish history, especially during the medieval rule of the Moors.

The impressive historical sights of the city of Malaga present themselves in the seductive guise of a colourful, fun-loving city, with the sunny beach life on the Costa del Sol, a charming night-life and the delicious cuisine of the province. Since, moreover, there is a very pleasant climate all year round, the city is a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. The city stretches along the beautiful beaches of the Costa del Sol and has as a backdrop the impressive mountains of Sierra de Mijas and Montes de Malaga.

Malaga is a city with history that provides a wealth of attractions. These include the impressive Moorish Alcazaba fortress with its massive ramparts. The castle boasts a history dating back to the 8^th century. The Gibralfaro is a Moorish castle from the 14^th century, that was recaptured in the 15^th century by the Catholic kings.

One of the most beautiful and most impressive of the many churches in Malaga is the cathedral. It was built from the 16^th to the 18^th century, on the site of a former mosque of the Muslim rulers. At the same time, the traveller will find a really large number of museums reflecting arts and culture of the past and present.

The most famous is certainly the Picasso Museum. A pearl is the Museum of Fine Arts in the old customs Palace. The Archaeological Museum is a treasure trove for those who are curious about vestiges of ancient history. Eloquent testimony of the transformation of everyday life in Malaga from 17^th century to the present gives the Museum of folk customs.

Since the city of Malaga is situated next to the beautiful beaches of the Costa del Sol, you can certainly not just enjoy a city tour but also spend a sunny vacation at sea. The mountains in the hinterland offer to all hikers and mountain climbers, mountain bikers and cyclists perfect holiday pleasures in an exhilarating mountain scenery.

You can enjoy plenty of entertainment comes in this Andalusian city, as Malaga is known for its animated night-life. During the day, a part from the beach and sightseeing, an attract many fine Tapas bars, small cafés and restaurants with Mediterranean Andalusian cuisine. A city that has everything that has everything necessary for the perfect vacation.

The Costa del Sol, its beaches, the great climate and excellent gastronomy attract tourists not only in summer. The autonomous region of Andalusia recorded in 2011 more than 21 million tourist visits, but the coast of Malaga takes the cake in relation to other provinces.

On a scale of 0 to 10, according to the National Institute of Statistics, almost eight out of ten tourists chose Malaga to spend their days off. The attention given and the treatment are the strong points that made that the numbers were almost outstanding. Landscapes, natural parks, and of course beaches and good weather were other attractive points of this massive progress in times of crisis.

If you want to make a trip to southern Spain, and more specifically the province of Malaga, you can rent a car in Malaga and discover the land and its people.

Before arriving from the north, you can notice how the landscape changes as you travel towards the coast; and more in winter, the climate is changing from cold to warm, due to the magnificent Mediterranean Sea, which tempers the cold weather coming down from in the north, from the Sierra Nevada of Granada and the Sierra Morena.

The arrival in Malaga is wonderful, the mountains end and there is the city, situated in a bay, surrounded by mountains and facing a clean and calm sea. Gibralfaro Castle and the Alcazaba greet you from a hilltop and remind you that Malaga was not born yesterday; it was a Roman, Moorish and Byzantine city, and in modern times Malaga is now the capital of tourism in southern Spain.

Eating well in Malaga is very easy, any beach bar will provide you with fresh fish from the bay.Do not forget of course to try the famous fried fish and grilled sardines, typical dishes of the Costa del Sol as well as the tortilla de patatas.

Regarding accommodation, on the Costa del Sol there is available an enormous selection of all types of hotels and apartments, depending entirely on visitor preferences.

Who for example prefers a rather structured and organized vacation, with maximum comfort, might prefer a hotel;while more flexible and curious tourists may prefer to opt for an apartment;in any case, we recommend visitors not to limit to the beach, but also know something of the culture and the province that has real gems to be discovered only a few miles from the Costa del Sol.If you combine Costa del Sol holiday apartments with a rental car, you can experience the most exciting things.

A trip to the mountain villages and having lunch in a traditional Spanish restaurant gives a good insight into the culture of Andalusia, something that you should not miss!