Marbella Transportation

You can check the predicted arrival and departure times of planes flying into and out of Málaga airport by using this link to the official Spanish airlines agency.

The page in English should be ready soon.

As some are interested in taking a bus from Marbella to different areas of Andalucia, I will list a few places you can get to by BUS:
From Marbella East along the Coast to:
Fuengirola
Malaga
Malaga Airport

From Marbella -- Inland to:
Ojen
Ronda
SEvilla
Jerez
Cordoba
Granada
Madrid

From Marbella West along the Coast to:
Puerto Banus
Estepona
Algeciras

The website shown here has a list of all schedules but does not quote prices.

Update: Sunday, February 1, 2009
Hans and I took the bus from Torremolinos to Marbella to visit our friends for the afternoon. The cost was 3.92 Euro per person one way.

Update: Sunday February 14, 2010
Hans and I took the bus from Torremolinos to Marbella to visit Carmen and Stace for the afternoon. The cost was 3,95 Euro per person one way.

We took a boat trip with some other VT members to the nearby resort of Puerto Banus. A stylish upmarket resort with lots of designer shops and expensive restaurants.
I personally did not like it as muc here as I did Marbella. It didn't have that friendly feel to it.

The journey that costs 1EUR per person & takes 15 minutes by bus, costs 5EUR for a cab-load & takes only 5 minutes in off-peak hours.

So, taxis are a good & economical way to travel, especially if there's between 2-4 passengers.

You can find taxis parked just off Ramon Y Cajal, in the street perpendicular to the promenade.

From Estacion Autobus board bus no.7 or 9 from just round the corner, and get a ticket to Alameda Park, on Ramon Y Cajal. Cost per head is 1EUR. Journey time is 15 minutes.

This is a fun & inexpensive way to experience local lifestyle, the streets, and driving.

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If you just want to sit and relax, there is a small tourist train which will take you around Old Town. The TREN TURISTICO DE MARBELLA leaves from El Faro Street and the ride lasts about 25 minutes. The cost is 5,00 Euros for adults and free for children under 5.
Departures every 25 minutes.

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Monday May 8, 2006. As Hans, Vincent and I were looking for something to do, we thought it would be nice to go to Puerto Banus for the day. At first we planned on walking there, but when we heard it was almost 10 kilometres away, we decided on taking a boat. You can travel between Puerto Banus and Marbella by taking a Panoramic cruise aboard the DON JORGE. The boat leaves from the Marbella Marina. The price is 8 Euros return for Adults and 4 Euros for children. If you just need to get to Puerto Banus the single trip price is 5 Euro for adults and 2 Euro for children. The cruise takes about 40 minutes.
Departure times:
Marbella: 11.00 13.00 15.00 17.00 19,00
Puerto Banus: 12.00 14,00 16.00 18.00 20,00

Marbella is served by a direct bus from Malaga's airport which is the closest one to Marbella. May is still off season (October-June) for this area so the direct buses only run every 2 hours or so, I ended up waiting for about 1 1/2 hours for the bus. In season (July-September), the buses run every hour. To see the schedule, look at the attached website and click on Marbella for the Aeropuerto schedule.

Go outside the arrivals hall and look for the bus stand, the name of the company is Portillo. Put your luggage on the bus and then buy the ticket from the bus driver, there didn't appear to be any place to buy them inside the airport. The cost is 3.92E, the driver can make change. The bus takes 45 minutes and goes directly to Marbella without stopping. Be prepared to be a little agressive, everyone was shoving and pushing to get on but there ended up being plenty of seats.

Another option to get to Marbella from the airport is a taxi, another VTer told me that cost about 60E.