25 Must-See Attractions in Marbella

Playa de la Fontanilla is Marbella’s main beach and stretches along the southern side of the city. It has all the amenities you’d expect from a popular city beach: rentable sun loungers, showers, watersports, and of course a promenade lined with bars and restaurants offering everything from Indian food to tapas.

A little further to the east from Fontanilla beach, in Marbella’s old fishing quarter, is Playa de la Bajadilla. This is a much smaller, curved stretch of sand that is very crowded in summer beacuse of its calm waters. One of the city’s best seafood restaurants, Puerto Playa, has tables out on Bajadilla’s beach.

Marabella’s casco antiguo’s central square is the Plaza de los Naranjos (Oranges Square), to which all of its narrow cobbled streets eventually seem to lead. Filled with the orange trees that are one of Andalusia’s trademarks, its tapas bars and restaurants have sunny terraces on which to relax with a cold caña (small beer).

Marbella’s casco antiguo is not all about centuries-old buildings and quaint, narrow streets. It is also home to one of southern Spain’s most chic shopping scenes, boasting as it does an array of classy boutiques. These make for some great window shopping and, if you’ve a flexible budget, provide plenty of oportunity to treat yourself to something new.

Divina Pastora is a lively residential neighbourhood in central Marbella (east of the Represa Park) which is well worth exploring. Locals chatter at the street fruit and veg stalls or over coffee in the no-frills bars after shopping at the barrio’s market. The local church also houses paintings that depict the different provinces of Andalusia.

Another of the old town’s most attractive squares is Plaza Santo Cristo, where you’ll find two of the happiest buildings in Marbella: the bright yellow Ana Maria flamenco bar, and the smart maroon of the former café next to it. To your left as you look at them is the 16th century Santo Cristo hermitage.

Located to the north of Marbella’s casco antiguo, Miraflores is another of the city’s working, residential neighbourhoods. It has a friendly, local ambience all of its own, and is also home to the Miraflores Cultural Centre, where you’ll find small but intriguing olive oil and archeaological museums.

It might surprise you to learn that Marbella boasts a world-class collection of Salvador Dalí sculptures. Ten of the Catalonian surrealist’s bronze works are spread out along the Avenida del Mar, a wide boulevard that leads down to the seafront promenade, and are free to view.

The only museum of its kind in Spain, the Museo del Grabado Español Contemporaneo is housed in an elegant 16th century building that was once a hospital. The history of Spanish engraving and graphic art is explored throughout its permanent collection, and works by Dalí and Joan Miró are also showcased.

The romantic and tropical-feeling Parque de Alameda lies just behind the Paseo Maritimo in the modern city centre. Its central throroughfare is lined with attractive tiled benches and a beautiful 17th century fountain serves as its centrepiece. An eco foods market is held here on the first Saturday of the month.

For a barbecue in the country, head to the spacious Nagüeles National Park. Situated just five kilometres (three miles) north of Marbella, in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca mountains, it has a spacious recreational area equipped with several barbeques and picnic tables, as well as a play and training area for dogs.

Parque de la Constitución is the largest green space in central Marbella. Its shady pathways provide respite from the sun in spring and summer months, during which seasons concerts are staged in the park’s auditorium. A café with outside seating provides the perfect spot for an icecream or cold drink.

The only giveaways of Marbella’s long history to be found in the city centre (on the lower western side of Represa Park) are the battered walls and watchtowers that once protected a 9th century fort. They were built in the 10th and 11th centuries, during the city’s period under Moorish rule, and are all that remain of the original structure.

For a real insight into the city’s local street life, head to the Mercado de Marbella, its central food market. You’ll find everything here: cheese and wine, fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, hanging cured hams and bunches of dried peppers. And, of course, groups of locals gossiping loudly as they shop.

You’ll find plenty of tourists wandering around Marbella’s main food market (see above), but they’re few and far between in the barrio of Divina Pastora. The latter’s central hub is its colourful and chaotic food market, where you can buy fish caught that very morning in addition to, well, anything else you might want.

For a more relaxed beach experience than is often possible on the crowded sands of Marbella itself, head to San Pedro de Alcántara, a low-key town 11km (7m) to the west. Its Blue Flag beach is over 1km (0.6mi) long and 35m (115ft) wide and backs onto a palm-shaded promenade lined with chiringuitos (bars serving tapas) and fish restaurants. In between the bars and the sand is a cycling and walking track known as the Senda Litoral de Málaga, which connects with Marbella to the east and Estepona to the west.

Located on a hilltop just outside Fuengirola, a 25-minute drive east of Marbella, the Castillo Sohail is a Medieval fortress constructed on the site of Roman and Phoenician ruins. As well as being one of the major historical attractions in Costa del Sol, it’s also the venue for events such as the Medieval Market in September – a colourful week of falconry displays, archery, juggling and even some “dragon hunting” – and an Oktoberfest-inspired beer festival, usually held at the end of August.

Squeeze down Calle San Lázaro in Marbella’s Old Town, and you’ll soon reach the aptly named Narrow Bar. In a long, thin saloon, or standing around barrels out in the equally narrow alley, sample classic regional tapas such as ensalada malagueña (a summery salad with cod, olives and oranges), boquerones (anchovies), calamares (deep-fried squid) and carrillada (pork cheek braised in a red wine sauce). Best accompanied with manzanilla (dry sherry) or cañas (small draft beers).

Located 8km (5m) west of Marbella, Puerto Banús is a port community packed with designer shops, immigrants (mainly from the UK) and gleaming yachts. Every Saturday morning, the main boulevard running down from the disused bullring to the waterfront hosts one of the largest flea markets in Costa del Sol, where you can barter for everything, from antiques and vintage clothing to fruit and spices. It’s essential to arrive early, especially during summer, when most stores start packing up at about 1pm.

Situated on the Golden Mile promenade, the Ralli Museum houses one of the most important collections of Latin American art in Europe. The permanent exhibits explore varieties of surrealism and graphic and figurative art in contemporary Latin America and feature pieces by Mexican sculptors Geradro Quiroz and Mario Aguirre Roa. Alongside these, another fixed exhibit looks at surrealism as interpreted by European artists such as Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon.