Tourist attractions in Costa del Sol include La Carihuela district in Torremolinos, Malaga’s Alcazaba castle, Casco Antiguo in Marbella, Ronda, and Picasso Museum in Malaga.
La Carihuela district in Torremolinos is a former fishing village, which has risen into world-fame as a tourism destination thanks to its restaurants and 2.1 km long beach line.
The beach goes all way to the harbor of Benalmádena, and alongside it, there is a seaside promenade, surrounded by the most famous restaurants and beach bars in the region, as well as the best hotels.
A specialty at the beach restaurants is the “pescaíto” (small fried fish), for which the best recipes worldwide have originated from this area.
Alcazaba castle in Malaga is a Moorish fortification, originally from 8th century AD, even though most of the structures were made during the 11th century, from the orders of the King of Granada, Badis.
It is the best preserved Moorish castle in the entire Spain. Next to the Alcazaba, you can also find another tourist attraction, ruins of an ancient Roman amphitheater from about the first century AD.
While in Malaga, it is easy to visit the castle, as it is located on the hills within the city center, overlooking the harbor, and consisting of two separate wall structures.
On the nearby hill there is also the castle of Gibralfaro, from where there are great views down to Alcazaba.
Of the tourist attractions in Costa del Sol, Marbella’s Casco Antiguo, or the old town, is full of shops with local and traditional handmade artisan and craft products.
Casco Antiguo’s district of shops (www.cascoantiguodemarbella.com) has, in fact, over 400 different types of shops, stores, and boutiques.
The merchants at the Casco Antiguo have developed the area all the way from the mid-80s, to balance the effect some of the big modern shopping centers nearby have had on commerce.
Casco Antiguo contains a collection of both traditional and more modern stores, including fashion boutiques, restaurants, jewelry shops, and stores selling local crafts.
City of Ronda (laserrania.org), on the other hand, is best known for its exceptionally beautiful environment and nature, as well as the architecture, which showcases influences from several hundreds of years of interaction with other cultures in the Mediterranean.
Ronda’s highlights include Puente Nuevo bridge, Plaza de Toros (a bull fighting arena), as well as the palace of Marqués de Salvatierra.
Both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles lived in Ronda for many years, and both wrote about the beauty of the region in length, which has had a positive effect on the popularity of the place as a tourism destination today.
Ronda is located about 100 km from Malaga, an easy day trip away.
Best tourist attractions in Costa del Sol also include Picasso Museum (www.museopicassomalaga.org) in Malaga, which is located at the palace of Los Condes de Buenavista, which is a magnificent building from the 16th century.
Picasso was born in Malaga, living here up to 1895, when the then-14-year old Picasso moved with his family to Barcelona. In terms of importance, the Picasso museum in Malaga is considered the most important one, in addition to the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.
Malaga’s Picasso Museum’s collection has over 200 works of art by Picasso, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramic works, and wood carvings.
Most of the art works were a gift to the museum by Christine Ruiz Picasso, and the collection includes works from the artists every major period.
In addition to its own collection, you can often find Picasso works from other collections (from around the world) on display.