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Plan your time

How many hours you will have in Málaga, and where to stay

Two things decide a short trip: how much free time your arrival and departure times really leave you — something no guide can work out for you — and which area is the best base for you.

Full Málaga guideTrip planning

Usable time

With your times and your breaks, how long will you actually have?

Tell us when you arrive and when you leave. We will tell you how many hours you really get to enjoy the city, day by day, once the transfers and your own breaks are set aside.

These are free hours, not a list of sights. We do not know your flight, the queues, opening times or how long it takes to get from one place to another.

Local times in Málaga (Europe/Madrid), wherever you are filling this in from.

Arrival
Departure

We set aside 1 h on arrival and 1 h 30 min before you leave for transfers, luggage and security.

Adjust my day

These are an assumption you can change, not a recommendation: the time from landing until you are free to explore, and the time you need before leaving. If you already enter the time you will be free, set them to 0.

Your sightseeing hours

It has to start and end on the same day.

Daily breaks

Where to stay

Which area of Málaga fits your trip?

Rank what matters most to you, from one to three things, and tick anything you want to avoid. We compare the areas the guide describes and explain why each one fits, catch included.

It sorts what the guide says; it does not score neighbourhoods. It does not look at hotels, today’s prices, safety or accessibility, and it only knows the areas the guide describes.

Every rating comes from what the guide’s table says in words, and the sentence is shown next to it. What the guide does not say is not scored.

Your priorities, in order

One is enough. The second and third are optional and never repeat what you already picked.

I want to avoid

We will only include areas the guide says something about on these points.

The areas the Málaga guide describes

Who each one is for and what the catch is, in the guide’s own words.

  • The old town

    A city break: the museums, the cathedral, the fortress and the bars, all on foot.

    The catch: Noisy at night in the busiest streets, and many flats rented to tourists.

  • Soho and the port

    Modern hotels between the old town and the sea, with the train from the airport close by.

    The catch: Less atmosphere than the old lanes, and busy streets around the port.

  • La Malagueta

    The city beach at the door, ten minutes' walk from the old town.

    The catch: Apartment blocks along the front, and crowded in summer.

  • Pedregalejo and El Palo

    Old fishing districts by the sea, with seafood bars on the sand and a local feel.

    The catch: A bus ride from the centre, and few hotels.

  • The resort towns of the coast

    Beach hotels west of the city, on the coastal train line.

    The catch: Package-holiday towns, a half-hour train ride from Málaga's sights.

Read the full Málaga guide

Fact sheet · Daylight hours

How much daylight there is in Málaga each month

Sunrise and sunset in Málaga, on its own clock and with the seasonal time change already applied. It is what decides how much fits into a day, and it swings far more than people expect.

The longest day is in June — 14 h 39 min of daylight — and the shortest in December, with 9 h 40 min. That is a 4 h 59 min swing between them.

2–3 days in April / May / June / September / October come to roughly 22 h 36 min to 43 h 57 min of daylight, depending on the month you pick and how long you stay.

MonthSunriseSunsetDaylight
January08:2918:249 h 55 min
February08:0618:5710 h 51 min
March07:2919:2411 h 55 min
April07:4420:5013 h 7 min
May07:1021:1714 h 7 min
June06:5821:3714 h 39 min
July07:1021:3614 h 27 min
August07:3421:1013 h 36 min
September07:5920:2612 h 27 min
October08:2419:4211 h 18 min
November07:5518:0910 h 14 min
December08:2218:029 h 40 min

Worked out for Málaga from its position and its time zone (Europe/Madrid). The times are approximate — the sun shifts a couple of minutes from one year to the next — and they leave out twilight, which adds some light before and after. Each month is worked out from its 15th, the day that looks most like the month as a whole.

What to pack for Málaga, month by month

Next step

You know how much time you have. Joru tells you what to do with it.

Give it the days you have just worked out and Joru builds the whole trip: what to see each day, in what order, and how long it takes to get between them. With real places and real forecasts, not invented ones.

  • The plan is written on your phone, not on a server: your dates and your tastes never leave it.
  • Change your mind as often as you like. No credits to spend, no meter running.
  • Start without an account. Download it, open it, plan.

Free for one destination of up to three days, on Android and iPhone.