Visitors to the Costa del Sol will arrive via air at Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport (IATA code AGP), located five miles southwest of the Málaga city center. With 18.6 million passengers served in 2018, it is the fourth-busiest airport in Spain. It is a focus city for easyJet, Vueling, and Ryanair, and many European airlines fly direct to Málaga either seasonally or year-round.

The Airport Express bus, administered by Empresa Malagueña de Transportes, or EMT (www.emtmalaga.es), runs from the airport to the Paseo del Parque bus hub in Centro Málaga every 20-30 minutes during daytime hours (6 a.m. to midnight), and is €3 each way. The Cercanías Málaga C-1 train, run by RENFE, travels to and from the airport (Aeropuerto station) to Victoria Kent, Málaga-María Zambrano and Alameda-Centro stations; a one-way ticket from the airport will cost about €2. The trains run every 20 minutes from approximately 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily. (Schedules on weekends, during Semana Santa, or the Feria de Agosto, may be different.) For more information, visit www.renfe.com/viajeros/cercanias/malaga/index.html (in Spanish). A taxi rank sits outside the arrivals hall at Málaga Airport; expect to pay around €20 for you and your luggage to travel from the airport directly into the city center or La Malagueta.

Driving directions from Málaga Airport: Get on the N-348 motorway. As you are leaving the airport, get on the MA-21 motorway at Exit 2, and exit the MA-21 to get on the MA-20 at MA-21`s Exit 5B. Take Exit 7 and head east on Avenida de Andalucía. Before the Puente de Tetuán, turn left and then turn right one street afterward, on Calle Hilera. Cross the Puente de la Esperanza and arrive in Centro on the eastern banks of the Guadalmedina.

Bus service in Málaga is administered by Empresa Malagueña de Transportes, or EMT, which boasts 41 day and 3 night lines which run all seven days of the week. Daytime buses run from approximately 6 a.m. until midnight; buses between midnight and 6 a.m. run on a skeletal schedule and routes have the letter N in front of the route number.

Tickets can be bought directly from the driver (change may or may not be given) or from ticket vending machines at select bus stops and at ticket vendors such as tobacconists and cafés. A one-way ticket costs approximately €1.50 and you can buy a 10-journey ticket, allowing you 10 one-way trips on the bus system in a 7-day span, for less than €10. The airport bus, which runs from the airport to the Paseo del Parque bus hub in Centro Málaga every 20-30 minutes during daytime hours (6 a.m. to midnight), is €3 each way. There are similar bus hubs at Avenida de Andalucía as well as Alameda Principal. For a full list of routes, including maps and timetables, in English, visit www.emtmalaga.es.

Taxis can be hailed from the street and can also be called by a bar, restaurant, or your hotel should you need the assistance. Taxis in Málaga are white, typically with a blue stripe on the driver`s door. All taxis may not have electronic meters, but they are indeed metered; taxis without these meters are required to carry a book to determine fares by the kilometer driven. Flagfall in Málaga and environs starts at €3.17 as of 2019, with a €0.58 addition for each kilometer traveled, and waiting time costs €14.56 per hour. Outside of the normal hours, which would correspond to 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., as well as all day on weekends, holidays, and during Semana Santa and Feria, the flagfall is still set at €3.17 but the per-kilometer rate rises to €0.70 and the price of waiting time increases to €17.48 per hour. Expect to pay in the neighborhood of €6 to €10 no matter where you travel from Centro in either direction, west to María Zambrano or east to the beaches. Reputable companies in the area include Málaga Airport Taxi Transfers (+34 693 90 09 00), Cheap Taxi Málaga (+34 685 97 55 75), Large Taxi Málaga (+34 678 84 84 84), and Taxis en Málaga (+34 635 31 46 84).

It is fairly easy to walk to most sights in Centro, Soho, and La Malagueta, although for areas further out than that, you would do well to combine walking with some sort of alternate transport, such as the city bus, bicycle, or taxi. Being close to the coast and in a valley with Mount Gibralfaro and the Montes de Málaga looming, the Centro area of Málaga (about 86 acres, or 1/8th of a square mile in size) is very easy to walk, and is flat in many areas. It is approximately a two-thirds of a mile walk from the Mercado Central de Atarazanas to the Alcazaba, and about a similar walk to the Centre Pompidou at Muelle Uno. The most popular pedestrian street in town, Calle Larios, is approximately 1100 feet long and stretches from the Alameda Principal and Parque de Málaga to the Plaza de la Constitución.

Crime rates in Málaga are among the lowest out of all the major cities in Spain. The rate is marginally lower than the crime rate in Seville and approximately 15-20% lower than the overall crime rate in Madrid. During our research, we were told over and over again that travelers should avoid the La Palma and Palmilla areas of Málaga, near La Rosaleda soccer stadium. However, those neighborhoods are a full mile north of Perchel Norte, the northernmost neighborhood where we offer accommodations on the western side of the Guadalmedina, so as long as you keep to El Perchel, La Merced, Centro, and areas south, west, and east, you should be fine.

With that said, here are some safety tips to keep in mind while traveling on the Costa del Sol: 1) Carry small amounts of cash with you. Do not pull out all the money you will be spending on your trip. 2) Even though you are carrying small amounts, break up the amounts and store them in different areas on your person. 3) Keep your documents in a separate place on your person. Don`t take your passport out sightseeing with you, unless you absolutely need it. 4) Use common sense, like you would in the U.S., when visiting an ATM. `Skimmers` are also an issue in Spain, so study the ATM before using it, and if you feel like it looks suspect, find another ATM to use. Be mindful of your surroundings while withdrawing money. 5) Stick to well-lit routes at night, just in case. While you shouldn`t have a problem walking in Málaga at night, it is best to stick to main avenues.

The currency of Spain is the Euro. U.S. dollars are not accepted. Please be sure to have the correct currency on hand or be prepared to exchange your dollars for euros upon arrival. Currency exchange desks and ATMs can be found at the airport and many locations throughout the city.

Málaga has been a popular British expatriate community for generations, so English can be understood by many. English may be spoken at your hotel, in tourist areas such as the port and the historic center, and a few nearby resorts, but don`t expect it absolutely everywhere. We suggest you get a good English-Spanish dictionary and familiarize yourself with common phrases such as hello, goodbye, excuse me and numbers 1-10. To ask someone if they speak English, say `¿Habla inglés?`.

Traditionally Spanish people eat their meals later than in other European countries. Breakfast (desayuno) is usually from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the morning and is a light meal with `café con leche`, which means coffee with milk. With the coffee you might have a croissant or a `tostada` (toast with butter and jam). Lunch is an important meal and usually lasts about two hours, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., but some shops and business close by 1 p.m. Dinner (cena) is generally from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., but you can often find people eating until midnight. Most upscale restaurants do require a reservation, and depending on the restaurant, may require booking weeks in advance. Restaurante José Carlos García, at Muelle Uno, has a Michelin star and would be an example of a restaurant requiring a reservation.

Note: New anti-smoking laws in Spain prohibit smoking in all enclosed public spaces including restaurants and nightclubs.

First, be sure to check out Calle Larios, which runs for approximately 1100 feet from the statue of the Marquis de Larios at the Alameda up to the Plaza de la Constitución. It is the street in Málaga with the highest rent per square meter and has the highest average income per resident of any street in Andalusia. You will find many high-end shops here as well as food and accommodation options. At the end of the street, the Plaza de la Constitución, much like Calle Larios, is pedestrianized.

There are also great shopping options at Muelle Uno, near the Málaga cruise port and Playa de La Malagueta, and on the western side of the Guadalmedina River in El Perchel. The Málaga flagship of El Corte Inglés is located at Málaga Plaza shopping center, and popular European and UK/Irish chains can be found at the Centro Comercial Larios Centro. There are also local markets that can be found open daily near the Convento de San Andrés in El Perchel and at the Mercado Central de Atarazanas in Centro. Weekly markets are open at the Feria de Agosto grounds every Sunday morning, and on Playas del Palo every Saturday morning.

There are a multitude of bike rental options here. First, the municipal government operates a bike-sharing scheme called málagabici (malagabici.malaga.eu). For €20 a year, you can take bikes from a number of stations around the city and pay a flat fee (typically around €0.02-€0.04 per minute) for the privilege. Then there is QQ Bikes, a local business at Muelle Uno which offers Segway tours and private bike rentals (€4 per hour and €15 per day). For more information about QQ Bikes, visit www.qqbikes.com/en. Finally, Bike2Málaga (www.bike2malaga.com/en) offers mountain bike rentals and tours to the White Villages.