Museo Picasso Málaga
- What to see
- More than two hundred works covering the whole career of the Málaga-born painter.
Málaga city
Culture, monuments and food in a city best explored on foot.
Key points
- In a ten-minute walk you pass the Roman theatre, the Alcazaba and the cathedral: 2,000 years of history.
- Picasso's home town has more than thirty museums, from the Pompidou to the Thyssen.
- The food is superb: espetos (sardine skewers), fried fish, sweet wine and the Atarazanas market.
- It has a city beach, La Malagueta, five minutes from the centre.
Monumental Málaga
The historic heart is best explored on foot. Start at the Roman theatre, from the age of Augustus, rediscovered in 1951 at the foot of the Alcazaba. Right above it, the Alcazaba climbs in terraces of courtyards and gardens up to the Nasrid palaces; a walled path links it to Gibralfaro castle, built in the 14th century, whose ramparts overlook the whole bay.
A few steps away stands the Cathedral of the Incarnation, nicknamed la Manquita ("the one-armed lady") because its south tower was never finished. It was built between the 16th and 18th centuries, and you can climb onto its roofs for a view over the city.
- Calle LariosThe city's most elegant street, opened in 1891, pedestrian and famous for its Christmas lights.
- Plaza de la MercedPicasso's birthplace and the Torrijos obelisk.
- Atarazanas marketA 14th-century Nasrid gate and an 1879 iron hall full of fruit, fish and tapas bars.
- Muelle Uno and La FarolaThe harbour promenade, with the 1817 lighthouse and the Pompidou cube.
- La Concepción Botanical GardenA 19th-century historic garden with plants from five continents.
- Gibralfaro viewpointThe classic picture of the city, especially at sunset.
A city of museums
Over the last twenty years Málaga has become one of the cultural capitals of southern Europe. The essential route:
Centre Pompidou Málaga
- What to see
- 20th and 21st-century art from the Paris centre under the coloured cube.
Carmen Thyssen Museum
- What to see
- 19th-century Spanish painting: Andalusian genre scenes and landscapes.
Museo de Málaga
- What to see
- Fine arts and archaeology in the neoclassical customs house by the park.
Also worth a visit: Picasso's Birthplace, the Automobile and Fashion Museum, the CAC Málaga contemporary art centre and the Wine Museum. Many museums are free on Sunday afternoons: check their websites.
Eating in Málaga
Málaga cooking looks to the sea. The king is the espeto de sardinas, sardines skewered on a cane and grilled over embers in a boat filled with sand right on the beach; then come pescaíto frito (fried anchovies, baby squid, red mullet), ajoblanco and gazpachuelo. To drink, a glass of sweet Málaga wine in a century-old tavern such as the Antigua Casa de Guardia.
Order coffee like a local
In Málaga each coffee has its own name depending on how much milk it has: solo, largo, semilargo, mitad, entrecorto, corto, sombra and nube.
More ideas in our guide to Málaga food and wine.
City beaches
From west to east: La Misericordia and San Andrés, wide and family-friendly; La Malagueta, next to the centre; La Caleta; and the old fishing districts of Pedregalejo and El Palo, with their espeto beach bars. More in Málaga beaches.
Málaga in one day
- MorningRoman theatre, Alcazaba and up to Gibralfaro (on foot or by bus 35).
- MiddayCathedral, Calle Larios and a bite at the Atarazanas market.
- AfternoonMuseo Picasso and a stroll along Muelle Uno to the Pompidou.
- EveningEspetos in Pedregalejo and a drink on a rooftop terrace in the centre.