The visit of the white villages and other cities in the southern of Spain is getting adepts, and I can understand it…the beauty of those villages make it worths to visit them.

One day trips are perfect for those who like to know the most they can about their destination and surroundings. The tour bus will usually pick you up next to your accommodation, sometimes even in front of it, of course they will drop you off at the same place.

As tip: Before arriving to Malaga airport, I recommend to check prices for Malaga airport transfers and for the excursions you will like to make. It is better to plan in advance.

Top villages and places to visit in Malaga

This is my personal list, I think you should not miss any of the places below:

Ronda

Visiting Ronda is an experience you should not miss. It is common to see japanese tourists taking pictures in Ronda during the year.

Puerto Banus

Puerto Banus is in Marbella and the luxury present in Puerto Banus worths the visit. I guess you have seen luxury cars and yachts, but the number of luxury unseen vehicles in Puerto Banus is higher than anywhere else. I have seen even a Jaguar prototype not for sale in Puerto Banus…which made me wonder how much the owner paid for that car.

Benalmadena

When thinking in Benalmadena the Paloma park “Parque de la Paloma” comes to my mind, a beautiful park with animals in freedom.

Nerja

The most beautiful beaches on the Costa del Sol probably and the Caves of Nerja make of this place a must visit.

Malaga

Malaga city centre has much to offer, I can’t count all the places available to visit, but the Gibralfaro Castle is the place I would choose first. There are also many bars with the typical tapas to taste, you can perfectly spend a complete day in Malaga without getting bored.

Useful resources:

I already linked them within the text, but for those who finished the article and don’t feel like reading again…

• Malaga airport transfers
• Tours from Malaga
• Malaga car hire

Do you recommend any other places? Any thoughts on those I recommended?

I’m so sorry for the workers of that company, politics in Spain are more worried about absurd copyright laws than anything else (which in my opinion lacks of any sense), so their way out of this situation is complicated.

Tourists complain that they have not been able to hire a car at Malaga airport due to problems with the reservations with the company and the lack of vehicles of Auriga Crown.

I recommend if planning a visit to Malaga coming soon,check this blog for the latest news on anything related to the Costa del Sol and the southern of Spain. I only recommend websites you can trust and with a top quality service.

Image via Wikipedia

If you are visiting Marbella with your family and children, it would be a good idea to visit the human body exhibition in Marbella which will take place the next May 19 to August 12.

Tickets price is between 10 and 16 Euros, depending on age and day.

This exhibition is designed for educational purposes and show us the dangers of unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking or obesity.

Want to know more?

http://www.malagaweb.com/blog/activities-369.html

Temperature (Photo credit: lengda)

This week Malaga is experiencing the siberian cold front, reaching temperatures of 3º and 4º at Malaga airport…but don’t be afraid!, those temperatures are at 7 am, being higher after a few hours.

The cold front will still during the the next week with temperatures ranging from 1º to 13º aproximately.

If you are coming to Malaga during this weekend or the next week, do not forget to bring some warm clothes! However this cold front will not still longer than a few days and it is not a common situation in the Costa del Sol, where mountains protect the province creating a microclimate unique in Andalucia.

Related articles

• Siberian cold front sweeps across Europe, bringing record low temperatures (telegraph.co.uk)
• More pictures of the extreme Siberian cold snap sweeping across Europe (telegraph.co.uk)

Norwegian join the companies that operate in Malaga port

Norwegian Star - Cruise ship

as a base or stopover to pick up or drop off passengers. This shipping company, one of the largest of the sector, inaugurated yesterday in Malaga by boarding three hundred passengers on the ship named ‘Jade’, that begins a cruise from the Costa del Sol’s capital city to the Canary Islands. The company has planned for this ship, that was remodelled this year despite its youth -built in 2006-, to make a total of eleven stopovers, adding passengers to the ship that departs Barcelona. Specifically, this cruise will dock in Malaga in 2012 on the 2nd, 11th, 20th and 29th of January, as well as the 7th, 16th and 25th of February, and the 5th, 14th and 23rd of March. The last chance to board the ship in Malaga will be on the following 1st of April.

Alex Busquet, sales consultant at Norwegian in Spain, assured that there has been a big response on behalf of the cruise passengers regarding the operation that has just been inaugurated in Malaga, for which they have already reserved over a hundred cabins and in which both national and international passengers travel on board due to the numerous air connections that Malaga offers. Furthermore, he stated that the company has planned a discounts campaign and reward travellers over 55 years old with special offers.

The strategy to place this ship with a stopover in Malaga for embarkation and disembarkation of passengers is only the first step. Busquet assured that the decision of the cruise ship Spirit to repeat this experience next summer is still in the air.

Meanwhile, the passengers will be able to sail across the ocean with Norwegian on board the ‘Jade’, a ship with a capacity for 2.402 passengers in its 1.201 cabins. It’s a 93.558 ton cruise ship, with fifteen decks and 294 metres long and 32 metres of beam.

The client is as varied as the offer. The ship has 32 different categories of cabins, including ‘The Haven’ class, which has 15 suites and two big 438 m2 villas, each one with three bedrooms, all of them with access to an exclusive area with a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and a gym. The passengers in this high class category also have a butler and a concierge.

The shipping company has great expectations for the Spanish market and is immerse in an expansion plan in Europe, to which they’ll be contributing with the service commencement of two large ships in 2013 and 2014.

Happy Valentine's day!

Valentine´s day is very close and if you have not thought of any gift, why not go for a last minute deal that allows us to spend some time with our partner away from the routine?

Many couples take advantage of Valentine’s Day for a romantic getaway and Malaga on the Costa del Sol is a beautiful city that tourists love and has a lot to discover at this time of year.

We can combine pleasant walks in the historic city centre, visiting museums and monuments and enjoy a drink in the one of the many terraces or the famous fried fish in the bars and terraces located a few metres from the Mediterranean Sea.

The average temperature at this time of the year is between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius; especially in the early afternoon we can see some daring locals and foreigners enjoy sunbathing on the beaches.

However, this weather is fantastic for walking, both in town or visiting visit the white villages nearby and the fantastic natural scenery which are just a few miles away from the coast.

At this time of the year we can enjoy the almond blossoms, the first trees in bloom and a delight for the eyes. And for lovers of fun these dates coincide with Carnival in Malaga, during which there is much life and colour in the streets of the capital.

That is why it is advisable to look for some cheap flights to Malaga to find one during the month of February, which is perfect for couples to take a few quiet days and get to know a little more the city of Malaga. Malaga hotels also offer excellent deals for couples to enjoy Valentine’s Day in Malaga, which is a perfect time to travel.

Smartphones & tourism

New technologies are available for tourism in Malaga through mobile applications.

Malaga City Council presented yesterday at the Tourism Fair of Madrid the new Apps for iPhone and Android, which collect information from the audio guides of the Department of Tourism.

In the city of Malaga there are currently eight tourist routes, of which five are prepared to offer information through mobile phones. These are the routes Traditional, Botany, Sacred, Monumental and Picasso. Within days, these tours can be downloaded in Spanish, to become available finally in nine languages.

In total, will be accessible 97 points of interest, 97 photographs and 85 audios. In addition, the Apps include information of the six municipal information offices, with their respective schedules and contacts, and 17 museums and exhibition centres, with telephone numbers and connection to their websites, and additional information about the Cathedral, the Alcazaba, Gibralfaro Castle or the Roman Theatre. In addition, they also contain information of all these points in text format for those with hearing difficulties.

Ronda

Every year, Fitur becomes the tourism’s main accomplice, and has arrived this year packed with good news for Ronda. The most important are the announcement of the upcoming fair ‘Ecovivir’, that hopes to gather thousands of visitors in the town, the launching of different local products and the presentation of the provincial programme ‘MAR de culturas’ (Sea of cultures), that aims to promote the cultural tourism with Malaga, Antequera and Ronda as the main axles.

Ronda’s delegation returns with a basket full of fish in these moments of crisis, with a very important limitation of the resources, that demands an increase of imagination and to make the most of the political administrations.

In addition to this, a wide agenda of meetings with international tour-operators aim to position Ronda as a product in the so-called emerging issuers, such as Brazil or China.

Everything indicates that we appear to be in front of a job well done, although we will have to wait for the results to come through to definitely grade it.

This fact reflects that this sector has to be a priority for the town hall of Ronda, that has to provide the necessary resources, in a moderate and cautious manner, so that the sector remerges and is able to pull the city and its employment through the delicate economic situation.

Related articles

• Malaga will be offering packages to discover the Holy Week (malagaweb.wordpress.com)
• Unusual Rock Formations at Torcal de Antequera (amusingplanet.com)

Image by US Embassy Madrid via Flickr

The town hall took advantage of the first day of Fitur yesterday to sign a collaboration agreement with Halcon Viajes

The capital city of Malaga wants to promote its tourism in depth and will be offering travel packages to visit specific events such as the Holy Week or the Carnival, as announced by the mayor Francisco de la Torre yesterday, who assured that Malaga wants to contribute towards the “creation of a powerful and competitive sector that’s one step ahead of the events”.

The town hall took advantage of the first day of Fitur yesterday to sign a collaboration agreement with Halcon Viajes so that the company promotes and commercialises the city’s tourist offer, both in agencies and online, an agreement that has a budget of 140.000 euros (50% each between both signers) that will allow the visitors to discover all about the Holy week, all the museums, under the slogan “Malaga, city of museums”, or all the exhibition fairs and conferences.

Furthermore, the Halcon website will include banners of Malaga where they will be offering information on the resources and tourist attractions of the city and will create a specialised dossier about Malaga as a commercial tool for the company, as well giving out information via MMS to all the most important offices with a higher influx in Andalusia, Catalonia or Madrid.

The mayor insisted in the importance of online promotion and in the necessity to apply innovation to tourism. “Malaga is a unique city, well communicated, with unique traditions and big events, such as the Holy Week, the Carnival or the Film Festival”, he affirmed; and stated the importance of the public-private collaboration to advance in the improvement of the tourism sector. In that sense, he mentioned the foundation that is planned to be created in the Malaga tourism forum and trusts that it will be able to start rolling during this year, just like two of the clubs of products included in this project that have already begun.

Malaga has its very own 124 square meter exhibitor in Fitur, where the tourism forum meeting was held yesterday, and attended the fair in Madrid with an agenda including over 35 professional contacts.

Related articles

• http://www.malaga.us/blog/2012/01/malaga-in-fitur/

Alhambra overview

Malagaweb website has updated the Granada section and added useful information about Alhambra Palace.

If you are planning a visit to the south of Spain, a visit to this monument is more than recommended, and you may also want to visit Granada city during your day trip.

The Alhambra is a walled city (medina). Alhambra could operate with autonomy from the city. In the Alhambra were all the necessary facilities for the people living there: the palace, mosques, schools, workshops, etc..