Any info on Malaga please?

[KaththeTaff]

Hi everyone, we are going on our first cruise together on the Norwegian Jade in June and will be calling at Malaga. Does anyone have any information on what to do and how far the port is from the town?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[operafan]

The port had a free shuttle that ran continuously and dropped off a short walk from the center of town. The town is gorgeous but unfortunately, we were there on a Sunday and nearly everything was closed.

[traveller123]

The day we arrived in Malaga was a national holiday and most everything was closed. So, I did a ship's tour which went out of town, up into the mountains to the villages of Mijas and Ojen. It was a wonderful tour...very picturesque. Some people I met did a tour to some caves (sorry I don't remember the name) and they said the tour was wonderful. I didn't hear of anyone who only went into town for the day...probably because most things were closed.

[rebeccalouise]

I love Malaga. Once you reach the town by shuttle you should walk up to the Castle there (I forget what it is called). There is a small entrance fee and it is a nice little walk up to the castle. I really enjoyed it there.

 

We did a horse and buggy ride. The driver spoke little (if any) English- so don't expect much of a guided tour. But we liked this very much also.

[Marie-Claude]

Hi KaththeTaff

 

I'm also going to be in Malaga in April - I read quite a bit on places to see and what to do.

 

The castle suggested by the previous poster is Castillo de Gibralfaro. It is apparently an interesting place to see, but all guidebooks warn visitors that the road to get up there is quite dangerous and we should opt to take the bus or a taxi. Here is what the Frommers guide has to say about it:

Castillo de Gibralfaro Frommer's Recommended

Hours: Daylight hours

Location: Cerro de Gibralfaro

Transportation Microbus: 35, leaving hourly from cathedral

Prices Admission 1.80€ ($2.35)

 

Frommer's Review

On a hill overlooking Málaga and the Mediterranean are the ruins of an ancient Moorish castle-fortress of unknown origin. It is near the government-run parador and might easily be tied in with a luncheon visit.

 

Warning: Do not walk to Gibralfaro Castle from town. Readers have reported muggings along the way, and the area around the castle is dangerous. Take the bus from the cathedral.

 

Hope this helps!!

MC

[eh2zed]

We berthed in the downtown. The HOHO bus has a stop nearby.

[KaththeTaff]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post replies. All f your information has been very useful!

[ljrfrm]

The caves are called Nerja. My kids really enjoyed them.

[lisiamc]

Hi KaththeTaff

 

Here is what the Frommers guide has to say about it:

 

Castillo de Gibralfaro Frommer's Recommended

Hours: Daylight hours

Location: Cerro de Gibralfaro

Transportation Microbus: 35, leaving hourly from cathedral

Prices Admission 1.80€ ($2.35)

 

Warning: Do not walk to Gibralfaro Castle from town. Readers have reported muggings along the way, and the area around the castle is dangerous. Take the bus from the cathedral.

 

Hope this helps!!

MC

 

We hadn't seen Frommers before we went. The area around the Castle was clean and pleasant, with wide streets and lots of flowers. There were families walking everywhere. There was a tiny bit of graffitti on one of the signs at the castle and someone was cleaning it. We walked from the ship to the Castle, then to the Old Town, then eventually back to the ship and never saw anything that made us uneasy. This was in late November - maybe all the muggers had gone on vacation somewhere else? Other times of the year could be different, but we felt very safe.

 

Lisa

[rebeccalouise]

I was in Malaga in May and never felt uneasy in Malaga.

 

I was pick-pocketed in Barcelona though.

 

I guess it is just common sense not to flaunt your wealth and the fact that you are a tourist.

 

In Spain, as opposed to Italy, they don't speak much English. t might be helpful to learn a few words.

[dgraham]

We enjoyed Malaga as a city, but unfortunately we were mugged there. Actually it was more of a swarming, three men insisted on pushing me and my wheelchair up a ramp that led to the side door of the cathedral and while I was momentarily distracted stole my valise, with some, but not too much cash in it. And we strongly suspect that our credit card information was stolen at a local department store, they insisted their machine couldn’t read it, and later we found a copy had been made and used. [P.S. This was in November.]

 

And none of the cabs would take us and my wheelchair to the city centre, but insisted on giving us a more costly tour first, although I can understand their reasoning.

 

But as I stated earlier, we found Malaga to be a very nice city and aside from these incidents enjoyed our day there.

[Marie-Claude]

I'm sorry to hear what happened to you dgraham!

 

I guess it's better to be forewarned... I didn't post the Frommers warning to scare people off, but it's always good to know which areas can be a bit rough, so we can be on our best guards.

 

I'm not one to avoid places because something 'could' happen, but I like to know what I'm dealing with to make appropriate plans and decisions!

 

I can't wait to see Malaga...

MC

[lisiamc]

We enjoyed Malaga as a city, but unfortunately we were mugged there. Actually it was more of a swarming, three men insisted on pushing me and my wheelchair up a ramp that led to the side door of the cathedral and while I was momentarily distracted stole my valise, with some, but not too much cash in it. And we strongly suspect that our credit card information was stolen at a local department store, they insisted their machine couldn’t read it, and later we found a copy had been made and used. [P.S. This was in November.]

 

And none of the cabs would take us and my wheelchair to the city centre, but insisted on giving us a more costly tour first, although I can understand their reasoning.

 

But as I stated earlier, we found Malaga to be a very nice city and aside from these incidents enjoyed our day there.

 

Gosh, I'm really sorry that happened to you. We saw a couple of bag men near the Cathedral, but they were just intent on sitting (separately) and getting drunk. They didn't beg or approach anyone. Our visit was in 2007 - maybe the city authorities had a recent push to make things safer?

 

Lisa

[rebeccalouise]

Put all the important things in your pockets- like room key, credit cards and cash. Just use your purse for lipstick and junk.

[bubbie617]

We were in Malaga a couple of years ago and did a standard tour through the area. What we should have done was the excursion to the Alhambra. We didn't do it because we didn't want an all day tour, but aafter speaking to people who went, we missed something really wonderful.

[Sadie Lady]

On a cruise stop last June to Malaga, we opted to walk up to the Castle instead of the longer excursions to the Alahambra. We walked up all the switchbacks (not sure if this is the only way to walk up), and the views all along of the harbor were spectacular. You can also see the bullfighting arena on this walk. There are gardens on the hillside that are very pretty. Once on top at the Castle, there are even better views and photo opps. I would strongly recommend good walking shoes, and water for the walk, though there is a small refreshment stand at the Castle to buy beverages. If the walk up wears you out, there are city buses that will take you down the other side. Fortunately, I did not see the Frommer's because we probably wouldn't have gone and would have missed out on the beautiful views. There were not many people doing the walk, and I did not feel unsafe at any time. We did notice some graffiti, but that seemed to be all over Spain.

 

Other things in Malaga: Check out the historic food market. Interesting to just walk around and take pictures. We also strolled through the big garden that runs parallel to the harbor. It was nicely shaded and had a lot of benches to just relax and take it all in.

[Cruise Arizona]

The castle I'm interested in seeing as Alcazaba, not the one previously mentioned in this article. This might be the one that some of you walked to and there is no Frommers warning on this one.

 

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/malaga/A20990.html

 

This one is right in the middle of town and the ancient Roman theater is there

 

Maybe this was the castle that people walked to.

[Host Kewlguy]

In November 2006 we were followed in Malaga (by a large surly looking gentleman) from the moment we exited the port gate right up until we approached the Gibralfaro Castle entrance. Since we were aware of his presence the entire time we were able to avoid any incident. We actually found it humorous at times since we are extremely streetwise but someone naive or unsuspecting most probably would have been mugged that day. Speaking from experience be very cautious when roaming around Malaga near the tourist sights. We'll be there again in a couple of weeks and know what to expect now.

[JLC@SD]

Hi everyone, we are going on our first cruise together on the Norwegian Jade in June and will be calling at Malaga. Does anyone have any information on what to do and how far the port is from the town?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

Having visited both Malaga and Granada......the place to see is the Alhambra in Granada. Book a day trip to see this jewel.

 

http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=alhambra&mkt=en-us

 

[Been There, Planning That]

We're relatively new to cruising and until this upcoming one have done ship tours. The HAL ones in Hawaii and French Polynesia made us realize we'd have been better of exploring on our own.

 

My husband's limited Spanish will allow us to follow all your great suggestions.

 

I look forward to even more ideas on this thread.

[lambs2]

We're relatively new to cruising and until this upcoming one have done ship tours. The HAL ones in Hawaii and French Polynesia made us realize we'd have been better of exploring on our own.

 

My husband's limited Spanish will allow us to follow all your great suggestions.

 

I look forward to even more ideas on this thread.

 

We agree, New Beginner! Since we are on the same cruise and seem to be looking for good tours this far ahead I am sure we will be able to come up with some great ideas that are more reasonable than the ship excursions. We would love to get to Granada and The Alhambra, but the NCL ship excurion costs 179.USD per person. Ouch. I did find one good suggestion on Tripadvisor.com for driving from Malaga to Granada. My DH loves to drive so perhaps we will do this if we can save some money.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187441-i416-k757029-Driving_from_malaga_to_alhambra-Granada_Granada_Province_Andalusia.html

 

Have not found any write-ups on using trains or buses yet, but I will keep looking.

[Been There, Planning That]

Lambs2,

 

It's been 30 years since we last visited Granada and the Alhambra with our two young daughters. A visit there is well worth the cost. I'm not sure we'd do a return visit when there's so much in Spain we haven't seen.

[Been There, Planning That]

Lambs2, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to send a private message. Since you have many more posts than I, perhaps you know how and could send me a private message to which I could respond.

 

I just read your profile and believe we might have more in common beyond this cruise.

[lambs2]

Hi New Bginner:

I don't believe there is a way to do that from the Cruisecritic site. But is you care to send me an email our address is: lambs2(at)cfl.rr.com

We would love to hear from you.

Marguerite & Larry

[Been There, Planning That]

My server won't accept your address. Mine is ruthdouglas@rogers.com. maybe you'll have better luck reaching me.

 

Ruth