Málaga Transportation

All trains to Malaga depart from Madrid’s main train station: Atocha. The trains company calls AVE The prices goes between €73.60 and €81.80 per person, one way.
If you have time and you are not in a rush then train travel for few hours can be nice and relaxing.
Have a strong coffee at the train Cafeteria and a small bocadillo con queso, find friendly people to talk too, and enjoy the road.

Travelling from Madrid to Malaga takes , for most, 6 hours if using the bus, and 1 hour if taking a flight.
By planing vacation in advance (6-8 weeks at least) it is easy to find cheap flight ticket (from €43 per person one way or €71 per person RT).
The bus is the cheapest option (€21.80 per person one way), but my favorite way to travel between Madrid to Malaga ( I liked more the Malaga -Madrid) is by train. Its take four hours, but I like the view and the few stops around.

This is a great station with good connections and it also has a shopping centre attached!

If you catch the C2 bus from the bus stop on the road outside this will take you to the Alameda which is the stop closest to the city centre.

The cheapest way from Malaga Airport to central Malaga is via the Number 19 bus which costs 1.20 and takes about 30 minutes for the journey. This is far slower than a taxi or train but it is a good option if you're trying to save money. There is a stop on Alameda Principal in the centre of Malaga for the return journey.

We hired a car in Malaga airport and used it to travel around Andalucia for 2 days before dropping it in Granada and continuing with public transport for the rest of our trip.

The car hire process at the airport is very efficient. We had booked our car online before arrival and it only took us 10 minutes to sort out paperwork after landing before we were on our way. The cost for 3 days was 107 Euro with Hertz, though we were lucky Hertz had an office in Granada, otherwise it would probably been higher.

Public transport is quite good in Andalucia though we needed the car to reach the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The high speed arrived to Málaga on december of 2007. Madrid in only 2 hours and 30 minutes, there is not excuse to visit Madrid and enjoying the capital, visiting the museums, going shopping and eating.

La alta velocidad llegó a Málaga en diciembre del 2007. Madrid en solo 2 horas y 30 minutos, no hay excusa ya para ir a Madrid y disfrutar de la capital visitando sus tantos museos ir de compras y comer en cualquiera de los tantos resturantes que hay.

Although that it is true that many online booking facilities allow payments per debitcard, fact is that most car hire companies request to be paid by a valid credit card which must be issued on the name of the driver in most cases.

One of the reasons, as commented before, is that they can make automatic additional charges if necessary and another important reason is that the companies try to avoid that their staff needs to handle or keep a lot of cash at the counters. You will find that most companies do not accept cash payments, although some of the major online car rental brokers, like www.hispacar.com might be able to help you out and redirect you to one of the few car hire companies at malaga airport wo do allow debit cards or cash paments.

Malaga is a very popular destinations for individual travellers. If you're planning to rent a car at Malaga airport it is important to know, that there are well over 150 car hire companies registered in the province of Malaga, but only 10 car hire companies have a desk inside the airport terminal. All other rental companies will service from the public car park or offer a free courtesy bus service to there local offices, which are normally close to the terminal building.

A collection at the rental desk inside the terminal building seems to be the most convenient option, but occassionally there may be long waiting queues at the counter of the local car hire company. Depending on your arrival day and time and the season you're travelling ther may be dozens of other clients waiting to collect a vehicle. The reason for this is, that most online brokers like www.hispacar.com, www.spain-travel-car.com or www.doyouspain.com and many tour operators are associated with the same local car hire companies, summing up a lot of bookings which on one hand helps to keep the prices low (much lower than the rates offered by multinational car hire companies at Malaga airport), but on the other hand may cause a larger collection time.

Depending on your personal circunstances sometimes you may be better of or quicker on your way with the service of an off-airport car hire company. You will loose a bit of time during the ride in the courtesy bus to the local office, but in many cases you will be the only client picking up a vehicle.

Bear in mind that most on-aiport car hire companies offer a wide network and normally cover all airports in Andalucia, like Seville, Jerez, Granada, Almeria and even Gibraltar airport. In case of a breakdown this can be an advantage as they will be able to resolve this problem quicker than a local company with just one office in Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmadena or Nerja.