Day trip

Best family day out:

Montes de Málaga natural park

If you’ve pounded the city streets and fancy a bit of fresh air and a brisk country walk, head into the protected Montes de Málaga natural park. Found a few kilometres north of the city, this area of mountainous pine forests is ideal for hiking and spotting wildlife such as the Spanish ibex (a wild mountain goat), eagles and various types of reptiles, including the rare chameleon. If all that walking tires you out, why not spend the night at the Hotel Humaina. Here, you can sit in tranquillity and dine on the terrace. There’s even the added bonus of a visit from a friendly wild boar, which comes scratching around for titbits in the evening.
Where: Hotel Humaina, Parque Natural Montes de Malága, Crta de Colmenar, Malága, Tel: +34 952 641 025.
Website: http://www.hotelhumaina.es/

Best day out:

Torremolinos

Once upon a time it may have garnered a reputation as being something of a tacky package holiday destination, but the much-maligned Torremolinos has an awful lot more to offer than all-day full English breakfasts, Kiss-Me-Quick hats and pints of flat ale in the sun. The town, once a quaint fishing village championed by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sean Connery, has undergone a renaissance in recent years. Gone are the Brit pubs and shops selling sombreros and stuffed donkeys. In their place, vibrant boutiques and top-notch restaurants live cheek-by-jowl with authentic spit ‘n’ sawdust Spanish bars that serve you cooling glasses of beer to wash down your tapas of fried fish. It’s now, perhaps, one of the better resorts along Spain’s southern coast. Away from the littoral, there’s a whole host of attractions to appeal to tourists and locals alike. Not to be missed are the hidden Molino de Inca botanical gardens. Found behind the town’s congress palace, its giant Norfolk Island pine offers visitors a shady respite from the year-round sun. And legend has it that the natural springs found in this oasis of calm have been feeding one particular olive tree for the past 1,000 years.
Where: Jardin Botanico Molino de Inca, Los Manantiales, Torremolinos. Directions on how to get to the gardens can be found at the town’s central tourist office on Plaza de las Comunidades Autonomas. Tel: +34 952 371 909
Website: www.usuarios.multimania.es/torremolinos/diver18.html

Best for shopping:

Atarazanas Indoor Market

The Atarazanas indoor market was once a decrepit, imposing place. Its metal structure threatened to cave in under the combined weight of the heat and the pigeons. It took a certain bravado for a tourist to elbow their way through the crowded aisles and, perhaps, even a degree of foolishness to attempt to buy a half a kilo of lemons from one of the gnarly stallholders. Its very aura did not betray the building’s former life as a prison. But, following a €13 million renovation, a trip to the market is an altogether different experience today. The new translucent roof has given the place a light and breezy feel, while the stained glass murals depict Malaga’s many outstanding monuments. But despite this facelift, the essence of what Atarazanas was still remains. It’s a foodie’s dream that easily knocks London’s Borough Market into a cocked hat. From truffles, local cheeses and exquisite fruit ‘n’ veg to fresh game, whole lambs and entire piglets, you don’t need to be Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to believe you’ve died and gone to heaven. And that’s before you even contemplate a walk down the seafood aisles… If you still feel apprehensive passing through the stone Moorish gateway into the market hall, tour company Malaga Discovery offers walking guides around the city that take in Atarazanas.
Where: Mercado de Atarazanas, Calle Atarazanas 10, Malaga. For guided tours of Malaga that take in the market, tel: +34 654 726 664 or +34 654 547 885
Website: www.malagadiscovery.com

Flamenco

Best flamenco:

Málaga!

While Cadiz, Sevilla and Granada fight it out as to which is the real home of flamenco in Andalucía, Málaga is quietly going about its business in establishing itself as a place in which duende (flamenco spirit) truly flows. Today some of the scene's biggest names can be found in the city's peñas (flamenco clubs), while several important dates in the flamenco calendar also take place in and around Málaga. There are several concerts that anyone serious about shouting olé and clapping their hands in strange rhythms should not miss. Highlights include the Festival of the Flamenco Singers of Málaga at the Auditorio de la Diputacion Provincial.
Where: Auditorio de la Diputacion Provincial, Calle Pacifico, 54, Malága, Tel: +34 952 133 950.
Website:  www.dpm-cultura.org or www.flamencoenmalaga.es

Culture

Best culture:

Picasso Museum

It would not be unfair to say that there was a time (in the not-too-distant-past, may we add) when culture in Málaga was something you found on a plate of two-day-old fried fish. But my, how times have changed! Today the city is in the Premier League for the Arts in Spain and is – perhaps – the cultural centre of Andalucía. Vying with five other Spanish cities to be chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2016, there is much to see and do, including – inhale – chin touching and head nodding at the Centro de Art Contemporaneo modern art gallery, moshing at the Sala Vivero music venue, marvelling at antiquity in the city’s 20-plus museums, appreciating national cinema during the annual Cine Español film festival, chanting bravo after a performance of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Málaga... now exhale. But without a doubt the city’s top attraction for culture vultures is the Picasso Museum. Opened in 2003, this art gallery – dedicated to the Málaga-born Pablo Picasso – is bang in the centre of the city in the stunning 16th century Palacio de Buenavista. And such is the excellence of the restoration work of this Renaissance palace, it is worth the admission fee alone just to lose yourself in its rooms and chambers. Do not miss the Picasso's Late Sculpture: Woman exhibition, this show also includes pieces by Henri Matisse.
Where: Museo Picasso, 8 Calle San Agustin, Malága, Tel: +34 952 602 731.
Website: www.museopicassomalaga.org

Sport

Best spectactor sport:

Basketball

Let us forget the bloated spectacle that is football and concentrate for one moment on Spain’s second sport – basketball. One of the nation’s top teams is the Málaga -based Unicaja, whose home games at the Martin Carpena stadium on the outskirts of town tend to be loud, raucous affairs. More than 10,000 aficionados cram into the sports ground to see their team compete with Spanish clubs in the national ACB league, or the cream of Europe in the Euroliga between October and May each year. Tickets can be hard to come by, but a limited number is available for each match on the website www.generaltickets.com/unicaja
Where: Palacio de Deportes Martin Carpena, 2 Calle Miguel Mérida Nicolich, 29004 Málaga. Telephone: +34 952 176 392.
Website: Martin Carpena stadium: http://www.palaciodeportesmalaga.com/. Go to http://www.unicajabaloncesto.com/ for information about Málaga's basketball team.

Best for sport:

Malaga CF

With the signings of former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and ex-Arsenal battering ram Julio ‘The Beast’ Baptista, Malaga CF are finally getting to enjoy the riches of their new Arab owners. After flirting with relegation from La Liga for much of last season, this year big things are expected under coach Manuel Pellegrini. There’s even talk of European qualification – not bad for a team that has spent much of its 88-year history yo-yoing between Spain’s top two divisions. But don’t head to the ground expecting to pick up a ticket to see 'Los Boquerones', as they are affectionately known, play host to Real Madrid or Barcelona. You would probably have to sell a kidney to afford the entrance fee alone. Instead, plump for a <derbi> against one of the local rivals – Sevilla, Real Betis or the newly promoted Granada – for an authentic Andalusian affair.
Where: Malaga CF, Estadio La Rosaleda, Avenida Martiricos, Malaga. Tel: +34 952 104 488
Website: www.malagacf.com

Food & Drink

Best places to drink wine:

Odisea and Antigua Casa de Guardia

It has been sipped with mucho gusto since the 7th century, when the Greeks imported their vinicultural expertise to Málaga. Since then, Romans, Moors and now Christians have taken advantage of the warm climes and fertile soil of the city’s environs to cultivate vines of Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez – the two grapes predominantly used in the heady brew that is Málaga wine. Ranging from the dark, honey sweet to the crisp, pale dry, this wine is best enjoyed in a bar on home turf with a tapa of seafood or roasted almonds. One thoroughly pleasant place to sample the local vino is in Odisea, a family-run bar-come-wine shop. Found in one of the only two remaining houses of the former gypsy neighbourhood La Coracha, here you can take your time tackling your way through more than 20 different types of Málaga wine. Then take a leisurely stroll through the semi-tropical Parque de Malága to the Antigua Casa de Guardia for a more traditional experience. Claiming to be the city’s oldest bar, it is a rather more spit and sawdust affair than the elegant charm of Odisea. But don’t be put off by the gruff locals knocking back glass after glass, and elbow your way to the long wooden bar. And it’s here you should remain as your orders are chalked in front of you.
Where: Odisea, 1 Calle Subida a la Coracha, Málaga, Tel: +34 952 217 920; Antigua Casa de Guardia, 18 Alameda Principal, Málaga, Tel: +34 952 214 680.
Website(s): Odisea: http://www.vinosdemalaga.com/; Antigua Casa de Guardia: www.antiguacasadeguardia.net

Best for food with views:

El Higueron

On the winding road to Mijas, a typical 'pueblo blanco' (white village) in the hills above Malaga, you come across a roadside slab of brick and glass. But don’t be deceived by this unprepossessing leviathan, for inside you’ll find some of the best food this side of Madrid. And for 20 years or so, El Higueron – as this restaurant is known – has been serving up dishes with a distinct Asturian flavour but with, of course, an added touch of Andalusia. Top recommendations are the <merluza a la sidra> (hake cooked in cider), chuleton de buey (doorstop-thick slabs of beef steak) and a stew of clams and beans. And, with a good choice of vino – including a reasonably priced Ramon Bilbao 2006 – its wine menu is not to be sniffed at. One tip, though: Phone ahead and bag yourself a window seat for the best panoramics of the Costa del Sol.
Where: Restaurante El Higueron, Carretera Benalmadena-Mijas, Fuengirola. Tel: +34 952 119 163
Website: www.elhigueron.com