We're considering a trip in October to Malaga with a air/hotel inclusive deal. Looking for tips on food,sights and day trips What's the best way to get around...car rentals? Appreciate any advice

Sheri, interested to know where you are staying in Malaga; and if traveling from US, what kind of transportation (flights) you have booked. Thanks.

We stayed in Torremolinos for several days in September last year. We didn't really spend much time in Torremolinos as the water was too cold to swim in and the beaches really weren't that nice. <BR> <BR>What we did enjoy was the variety of things we could do away from the Costa del Sol. I think the days we enjoyed the most were the days we rented a car. <BR> <BR>The first day we took a bus trip out to Granada to see the Alhambra (don't miss a trip here!). The tour of the Alhambra was nice as there was a guide showing us around but the trip did not include the cathedral in Granada and we felt rushed. The reason we took the trip was because someone told us it was hard to get into the Alhambra without a guided tour but I don't know if that's true. <BR> <BR>The second day we took the guided trip to Tangier Morocco which I would not advise. It took all day and Tangier, at least what we saw, was not worth the day's journey. <BR> <BR>The third day we rented a car and drove to Gibraltar. You can ride a cable car to the top of the rock and wander down, seeing the Barbary apes and the caves. If you go, park on the Spanish side in La Linea and walk over to avoid the long traffic line. Go during the week, much of it's closed after 1:00 pm on Sat and most of Sunday. Also, if you end up with any money that says Gibraltar on it, use it or exchange it before you leave or you will have an expensive souvenir. <BR> <BR>The fourth day we drove up to Ronda. The scenery is beautiful and the town is quaint. The road is winding and steep so plan to be done before it gets dark. <BR> <BR>From Malaga to much of the rest of the Costa del Sol, there is a train line. I believe it runs from Malaga to Fuengriola (sp?). If you rent a car its just as easy to drive around. <BR> <BR>For what its worth, we enjoyed our time in the rest of Spain much more than the Costa del Sol (Madrid, Seville, Cordoba). We found a 10 day independent package that included hotel, train and 1/2 day sightseeing in Madrid and Seville from Central Holidays (we found an airfare better than the one in their brochure). <BR> <BR>Hope this helps!

Malaga is a better place than most of <BR>the beach resorts on the south coast,it's a real place (regional centre) rather than a tourist trap.The <BR>best beach resort (IMHO) is Fuengorila <BR>(spelt better!)(get the train) but the best place to go from Malaga is Seville <BR>-don't miss the Alcazar. <BR>Trains & buses are good - buses are <BR>often air conditioned.

Cars are very commonly broken into in <BR>Seville.If you have a car with local plates you are probably OK.I have seen <BR>cars with non-local (still Spanish) plates with little signs saying "Iam from Seville - leave me alone!" <BR>Foreign plates are an invitation to <BR>window beakers.Seem worse than the rest <BR>of Spain for this.Seville people are good.

By all means go and enjoy it!. A car rental is the way to go. Andalucia is meant to be explore leisurely. Kristi's schedule sounds like a keeper! <BR> <BR>It is spell Fuengirola. Also, Costa del Sol does not refers to Madrid, or Sevilla, nor Cordova. Is more the Malaga, Marbella, Torremolinos coastline. I am never this picky, but if you go about searching info, this may become an important detail. Have the best time planning!

Oops, Maira caught a grammar error, not a geography error. I should have put the parenthesis after a different part of my sentence. What I meant to write was that I enjoyed Seville, Madrid and Cordoba much more than the Costa del Sol area and that perhaps Sheri might want to think about planning her trip to include more of Spain than just the Costa del Sol.