Malaga -What to do?

[M&M cruiseaholics]

NCL docking at Malaga April 2024.  Suggestions on what to do?  Limited ship excursions and very expensive.

[edinburgher]

11 hours ago, M&M cruiseaholics said:

NCL docking at Malaga April 2024.  Suggestions on what to do?  Limited ship excursions and very expensive.

An easy city to explore independently as you dock almost in the city centre, and although the port is very large and depending on your berth you may have quite a walk to the gates,  there are usually shuttle buses from shipside which drop off a next to a central park.(paying but low cost)

 

Malaga offers many sights and walks which appeal to various interests, (also birthplace of P. Picasso)and has a lot of history,but it is also a good starting point for visiting out of town locations( such as Ronda, Mijas, Nerja or Granada although the latter is some distance from Malaga ). If a first visit it would be easy and enjoyable to explore the city, but to make the most of it, you need to put in some time and effort planning your day.

 

As with any city planning, you need to do some homework to decide which sights/attractions attract you personally.  That way you can plan your day to suit your own interests, it will be low cost and you can work to your own timetable.

 

Best advice is to read as much as you can about Malaga, including the  official Malaga City/Andalucia website, online guidebooks, YouTube, Tripadvisor and many others which will appear in reults when you google something along the lines of "Malaga Tourist Information"  You should also be able to find online walking routes you can follow at your own pace if you google eg "self guided walking tours of Malaga".  You might also find it helpful to read at least some of the previous threads and posts.here on CC.  If you have not already done so, use the CC SEARCH tool to find them, although these are a start:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=malaga&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=465

 

 

[WatchHill]

We did a "tours by locals" walking tour with Maike, a guide. She and I communicated prior to the cruise to identify what we wanted to see and organize our time so that we could meet friends after the tour. She was waiting for us on a bench as we walked off of the ship with head phones for each of us. It was a wonderful experience having a local familiar with the historic and interesting sites, who was able to answer our questions and take us through the area. 

 

Darcy

[Hlitner]

We think of Malaga as a gateway port since it allows access to a lot of places such as Marbella, Ronda, Granada, etc.  And Malaga is also a decent port city with plenty of charms.  Like most of Europe, we generally avoid crowded overpriced ship excursions.  Our preference is DIY with an occasional private tour when DIY is not practical.  For folks that like to walk one can do a long walking tour from the port into th heart of town and spend zero.  There is also a low cost excellent bus system for those that want to limit walking or go further afar.

 

Hank

[mskaufman]

Ronda is awesome, but so is the Alcazaba right in Malaga

 

[AussieOmni]

We were there on Halloween and November 1st. We just walked around the town, very walkable, we wanted to go to the market but it was closed on that day

[edinburgher]

9 hours ago, AussieOmni said:

We were there on Halloween and November 1st. We just walked around the town, very walkable, we wanted to go to the market but it was closed on that day

That is because Nov 1st( All Saints Day)  is an important holiday in many European countries, and in Spain it is actually a NATIONAL holiday.

[AussieOmni]

7 hours ago, edinburgher said:

That is because Nov 1st( All Saints Day)  is an important holiday in many European countries, and in Spain it is actually a NATIONAL holiday.

Yep I knew that. Still wish I could have done it.

[M&M cruiseaholics]

I apologize for the delay in my response.  Thank you all for your helpful suggestions.