Málaga Transportation

Flying to/from Malaga by Iberia!
Malaga Airport is 8 kilometres west of the city of Malaga and is main flight path for million people arriving on the Costa del Sol each year.
It is bigger than what I imagine and quite busy ... hardly to find the way out from the airport so you need this http://www.andalucia.com/travel/airports/malaga.htm
By Train :To Málaga City
First train 07:09 then 39 and 09 minutes past the hour. Last train 23.59 journey time 12 min's...price around 3 euro
By Airport Bus : To Malaga bus and train station
First Bus: 07.00 Last Bus: 24.00 every 30 monutes ... price for 1 euro
By Taxi : To Malaga Centre
Price around 12 - 15 euro

Unfortunately the summer schedule had not yet started on the direct airport bus from Malaga to Marbella so they only run every 2 hours or so (someone said June 30th was the start of summer). I arrived right after one had left so I had to wait for about 1 1/2 hours but the cost of a taxi was about 60E and the bus was only 3.92E and there wasn't any other VTers that arrived with me so I stuck it out. Buy your ticket on the bus, the driver has change.

Malaga is the main airport serving the Costa del Sol area in Spain. It's a small airport so it's fairly quick to get in and out of the airport. There didn't appear to be much in the arrivals section of the airport, I saw one snack bar, one newspaper stand and I was able to find an ATM. There were a lot more stores in the departure section of the airport if you need to buy that one last souvenir or in my case, rolls and rolls and rolls of Love Hearts for my husband :-)

I flew on Iberia Airlines (never again!) from Chicago-Madrid-Malaga.

If you're thinking of hiring a car at Malaga airport, my friends and family always use 'Carjet' a sort of intermediary who pick out the best deals from cars available. They have proved very economical and bookings have gone without a hitch. You can book online prior to departure which slightly speeds up the rather slow process on arrival for car collection.

This is a map of the arrivals terminal at Malaga. The red shaded section is the refreshment bar. The exit doors are opposite.

Go through these and turn right to catch the Nr. 19 bus to the main coach station or Malaga centre. (Runs every 30 minutes, fare €1).

From Malaga airport you obviously need to get to some other location. Unless your holiday includes airport transfers or you take a taxi, (which can be expensive), you will need to get to Malaga's main Coach or Railway stations.

Out through the glass exit doors from the airport arrivals terminal (oposite the refreshments bar). Turn right and about 30 metres along is a bus stop.

The Nr. 19 from the airport to Malaga runs half hourly from 07.30 until midnight, and from Malaga to the airport from 06.30 until 23.30.
(journey time around 15 minutes) and only costs €1. The destination blind on the bus will usually say 'Centro'.

From the main Coach and Railway stations, you can book onwards to your chosen resort still more cheaply than taking a taxi for the whole journey.

Example: A taxi from the airport to Nerja costs between €70-€80.
Example: Alsina Graells coach company only charge around €3.60 to Nerja, which is a 1.25 hour journey!

The main Railway station is adjacent to the Coach station.

To get to the airport, you can take the public transport or taxi. If you prefer cheap option - then bus 19 is for you - it goes all the way to the airport.
Alternatively, you can take a taxi which should cost you about 15 euros and takes 20 mins to get to the airport (if you're going from the historical centre)

If you don't feel like walking uphill to Castillo de Gibralfaro you can take bus 35 that goes along Avenida de Cervantes and then takes you directly to the castle passing some pretty houses and climbing the hill offering you vistas of surrounding area.
Beware that it goes once every 40-50 mins, so better check in advance what time it departs from your local bus stop.