Málaga with Kids: Our 3-Day Family Itinerary (Where to Stay, Eat and What to Do)

Málaga is the easiest city in Spain to do with kids. We live about an hour away on the Costa del Sol, and in November we spent three days in the centre with our two girls (6 and 2). Everything in this itinerary is within a 10-minute walk of the next thing: flat streets, pedestrian squares, a museum family class, a flamenco show, rooftop views of the Alcazaba and some of the best food we’ve had in Spain.

A quick note: many of the places in this guide hosted us or are partners of ours, and some links may be affiliate links. Every opinion here is my own, and I only share places we truly loved.

This is the plan we followed, so you can copy it day by day. For the rest of the coast (Nerja, Frigiliana, Torrox, Rincón de la Victoria) see our complete Spain with kids guide.

Málaga with kids at a glance

• How long: 2 to 3 days in the centre is perfect. Add a morning at Cueva del Tesoro if you have a car or don’t mind a bus.
• Where to stay: the old town, so you can walk everywhere and go back for naps.
• Stroller: yes. The centre is flat and mostly pedestrian.
• Good to know: small local shops close around 13:30 for lunch and most close on Sundays. Restaurants open for lunch from about 13:00 and dinner from 20:00.

Getting to Málaga centre

We came by ALSA bus from the coast. Buy tickets ahead in the ALSA app: it asks for every passenger’s details, and babies need a (free) ticket too, so don’t wait until you’re at the stop. From the airport, the train into the centre is the easy option with kids.

Where we stayed: Apartamentos Premium San Telmo

We stayed two nights at Apartamentos Premium San Telmo, right in the old town and within walking distance of everything in this itinerary. Every apartment has its own kitchen, and there are one- and two-bedroom apartments, so it works really well for families. Ours had a living room the girls took over and a baby cot already set up. It’s dog friendly too. Check-in is 100% online: they email you a link with your digital keys, and one tap on your phone unlocks the building, your floor and your apartment. No reception queue with tired kids. A bottle of wine was waiting for us, and every stay includes a welcome cocktail on the rooftop terrace (juices for the girls, snacks and sweets for the kids).

The online check-in: one tap unlocks the building, your floor and your apartment.

See Apartamentos Premium San Telmo and the rest of Grupo Premium Málaga (they have apartments and hotels across the centre, all within a 10-minute walk of each other).

Day 1: chicharrones, a family music class and the old town

12:00 · Don Chicharrón

Our first stop off the bus. Don Chicharrón opens at noon and it’s standing only, so it’s a quick, cheap snack rather than a sit-down meal. A paper cone of chicharrones and the lemon-zest olives kept all four of us happy until lunch. Get there close to opening: it sells out.

13:00 · Family class at Museo Carmen Thyssen

The Museo Carmen Thyssen runs family activities every weekend, a different art form each time, and you don’t have to sign up for the whole year. Ours was music: the girls played the cajón and learned flamenco rhythms, and it was the first class our 2-year-old stayed engaged in the whole time. Check their weekend programme before you go and book ahead.

Afternoon · Old town wander

Walk Calle Larios and the streets around it. We loved Quasipercaso (vintage, Calle Andrés Pérez) and the new Alegría Arte de Andalucía shop. Remember most small shops close around 13:30, so do your shopping before lunch or after 17:00. Then lunch at Bodega Quitapenas: vermouth for us, paella and fried octopus for everyone.

Evening · Muelle Uno and the Christmas lights

Walk down to Muelle Uno, the port promenade. On a weekend there’s music everywhere: we stopped for a violinist and watched people dancing tango by the water. In November the Calle Larios Christmas lights are already going up, and once they’re on, it’s the best free show in the city. Hungry on the walk back? The Iberian ham shops in the centre sell paper cones of jamón and empanadas to eat on the go, an easy snack with kids.

Day 2: a cave by the sea, rooftop cocktails and dinner with Alcazaba views

Morning (optional) · Cueva del Tesoro

Twenty minutes from the centre in Rincón de la Victoria, Cueva del Tesoro is the only cave of marine origin you can visit in Europe, and one of just three known in the world. It’s also an easy one with kids. Everything you need (bus, hours, tickets, what to expect) is in our Cueva del Tesoro with kids guide.

16:00 · Check in and a rooftop welcome cocktail

Back in town, check in and head up to the San Telmo rooftop terrace (open from 16:00) for the welcome cocktail. Grown-ups get a cocktail, kids get juice, and the view over the domes is worth it.

20:00 · Dinner at Batik

Batik sits right below the Alcazaba, and at night the castle is lit up in front of your table. The food is Mediterranean with international touches. Order the pulled pork gyozas with peanut-lime sauce (my favourite), the tuna tartare and the glazed beef rib; the girls had popcorn chicken and coloured in their activity books. Our server, Miguel, made it a 10/10 night.

Day 3: breakfast with a view, the market, Bendito and flamenco

Breakfast at Batik

Batik’s breakfast is open to everyone, not just hotel guests, and it’s one of our favourite things we did in Málaga. The terrace looks straight at the Alcazaba with nothing in the way. A lot of us don’t want to hike up to the Alcazaba with a little kid, and this is the calm way to take it all in: coffee in the morning sun with the whole castle in front of you. It’s also much quieter than the afternoons, when the terrace fills up (the afternoons up here are worth doing too). 10/10, we’d go back tomorrow.

I had the brie and avocado sandwich, which was so good, and we each had an omelette (mine was bacon). The girls both had pancakes with chocolate, cleaned their plates, and got their colouring books, which kept them busy while we finished our coffee.

Late morning · Mercado Central de Atarazanas

Málaga’s central market is a short walk away. Go for the stained-glass window, the fish counters and a snack at the bars inside: skewers, tortillitas and olives by the quarter kilo. Kids love seeing everything laid out, and it’s a good place to pick up a mini bottle of sweet Málaga wine to take home.

Before lunch · Antigua Casa de Guardia

Right next to the market is Antigua Casa de Guardia, Málaga’s oldest wine bar, open since 1840. If you like wine or vermouth, it’s a must in Málaga. It’s legendary, and it’s full of locals: older locals having their wine, friends trying one barrel after another.

Here’s how it works: walk up to the counter and order. You can try sweet Málaga wines straight from the barrel, dry wines and vermouths. The barman tallies your order in chalk right on the wooden counter and wipes it off as soon as you pay (cash or card). Tapas like mussels and prawns are ordered at a separate counter. It gets very busy, so go in the morning and never on a Sunday. The girls came with us, just hold small hands.

14:00 · Lunch at Bendito

Bendito was one of the best meals of our trip. It’s the restaurant of Hotel Málaga Premium, the city’s first gastronomic hotel, and it carries the “Sabor a Málaga” seal for local produce. The food is Málaga cooking with Latin and Asian touches: don’t miss the pulled veal bikini sandwich with truffle parmesan, the prawn dumplings in a coconut gazpachuelo, the crispy torreznos and the croquetas (the aubergine one comes with Frigiliana cane-honey mayo). Kids get colouring books, and our server, Daisy, was lovely. Save room for dessert: the banana cup disappeared in minutes. Bendito is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and here are the menus so you can see what’s on offer.

Breakfast at Bendito is open to everyone, not just hotel guests, and it’s amazing: fluffy pancakes with cream or chocolate, omelettes, sandwiches and pan con tomate with fresh orange juice and coffee.

18:00 · Flamenco Alegría

A 20-minute walk through the parks gets you to Flamenco Alegría. Five artists, about an hour, and very family friendly: there were other little ones in the audience and our girls watched the whole show. Each adult gets a drink and a small plate of tapas. The 18:00 show is the perfect time with kids, and you can stay for dinner after. Arrive 30 minutes early.

Night · Plaza de la Marina fountain

Walk back past the fountain at Plaza de la Marina. The girls could have watched it all night.

If you have one more morning (or it rains)

Our last morning was a rainy one, and Málaga still worked: rain jackets on, umbrella up, and straight to the old bodegas and sweet shops.

Also nearby

• Paco José, which locals told us is the oldest sweets factory in Málaga, for Christmas treats to take home.
• The Lalone y Nesui mural and the Sagrado Corazón church on a rainy-day walk.
• Roasted chestnuts from a street cart in November and December.

Plan the rest of your Spain trip

Málaga is our favourite base for the Costa del Sol. For beaches, white villages, Nerja, Frigiliana and where to stay along the coast with kids, read our complete Spain with kids guide.