Málaga · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Málaga combines a cheap airport, walkable hostels and a city beach — the best-value base on the Costa del Sol.
Centro Histórico
Hostels cluster between the Mercado Atarazanas and Plaza de la Merced. Everything is walkable and La Malagueta beach is fifteen minutes on foot.
What a day costs
Dorm €20–35, a market lunch €10–14, a city bus €1.40. Reckon €45–75 a day, roughly $50–85, and less outside July and August.
Getting around cheap
The C1 Cercanías train links the airport to the centre in twelve minutes for under €2 and continues to Fuengirola. City buses take a rechargeable card.
Free by day
The Roman theatre below the Alcazaba is always free and the Alcazaba itself opens free on Sunday afternoons; the Gibralfaro walk gives the same view for nothing.
Plaza de la Merced
Where the free walking tours start and the terraces stay busy until late; La Malagueta's beach bars take over after dark in summer.