Malaga with Kids

Our family spent 13 days in Malaga, Spain, in September of 2021 as part of our family’s trip around the world.  Read about the impact that COVID-19 had on our travel and activities in Spain here.  We planned to visit the southern coast of Spain, but didn’t finalize plans for the Malaga area until the last minute.  We loved Portugal so much that we contemplated staying another week.  However, after searching for transportation options, we found an overnight FlixBus from Lisbon to Malaga.  It was only $94 total for all 4 of us, plus it saved the cost of a night of lodging.  Win-win!  Read about our experience on FlixBus here: spoiler alert, it was great.

We woke up on the bus arriving in the town of Malaga, a province in the Andalusian area of Spain.  We grabbed another bus to get to our Airbnb and settled in, still not aware how many amazing adventures the area offered.  However, after two weeks of amazing adventures, here are the top 5 activities to do in Malaga with kids:

1.  Canyoning the Guadalmina with Tuur Adventures

This claims the number one overall spot on our list of family adventure activities in Europe to date.  Tuur Adventures provided us an AMAZING guide, Raquel, who made sure that we stayed safe (always a challenge with Jon wanting to flip off everything) and had fun.  The adventure combined scrambling over the riverbed, climbing up and over and alongside huge rocks, jumping into deep pools, sliding down natural grooves, and rappelling down a dam.  This is such a perfect family adventure because it was safe for our kids (ages 7 and 9) and thrilling enough for us.  If you are going to be in Malaga, book the Guadalmina Canyon Tour with Tuur Adventures.  If you are experienced with this type of activity and don’t have younger kids, ask about their more difficult canyoning trips.  Check out our reel of our canyoning experience on our Instagram page.

2.  Via Ferrata in Ronda with Tuur Adventures

Due to our short car rental and geography, we packaged together doing a via ferrata route with Tuur Adventures the same afternoon as our morning canyon adventure.  Via ferrata roughly means “iron path” and involves climbing up and sideways on cliff faces using iron holds anchored into the cliff.  Ronda was a great little town, and we spent some time relaxing in the park before meeting Israel, our guide for the via ferrata.  He was great at teaching the kids the safety of proper carabiner technique and expertly calmed down Abigail the one time she got a little scared.  

3.  Hike

One of the top-rated hikes in the world is a short distance from Malaga, the Caminito Del Ray.  It is an amazing hike but requires reservations that are usually sold out well in advance.  It is possible to get tickets on-site the morning of your hike, but there is no guarantee: you can read about our attempt here.  

However, kids are required to be at least 8 years old to hike Caminito Del Ray, so plan to take advantage of other trails when planning activities to do in Malaga with kids younger than this.  After we hiked around the Caminito Del Ray area, we drove back to the Sierra de Mijas and did an amazing (and amazingly difficult) hike.  Pro-tip: take 3 times as much water as you think you will want.  The Andalusian area is hot and sunny most of the time, so don’t end up like us, rationing water on a hot, long, strenuous hike.  Pro-tip #2: continuously increasing the amount of ice cream your kids get to eat later that night is an effective strategy to keep their legs moving!

4.  Paddle-board or kayak in Nerja

We took advantage of our last day with the rental car to drive to Nerja.  There are plenty of great beach options: our favorite was Playa de Maro.  Jon was able to drop off Ashley and the kids right at the beach before proceeding back up the drive to park.  However, here is your warning regarding the parking situation: it’s not good.  It costs 1 euro to get through the gate, but then it is a free-for-all to find a spot in the ditch, I mean the side of the road, to actually park.  We went to Playa de Maro early in the morning on a weekday, and in a Jeep, so it worked out fine.  By the time we left, it was a zoo.  If you are planning to drive for a beach activity in Malaga with kids, get there early.

We rented 2 double kayaks for an hour, at a total cost of 40 euros, to paddle over to see the Nerja waterfall.  Unfortunately for our tour, the avocado farmers had diverted all the water that morning for irrigation purposes.  Do you know what you get when a waterfall has no water?  A cliff.  But it was still very cool to kayak out.  The water was crystal clear, and the entire Nerja region has some of the best snorkeling spots in Spain.  It is very easy to snorkel with kids from shore, so bring your goggles and snorkels. 

5.  Enjoy the beach and pool

Just about every day we walked from our Airbnb down the Playa Riviera, our closest beach.  A few days the waves were bigger so visibility suffered, but mostly the water was calm and crystal clear.  The water temperature is a bit on the cold side, but in September the air was still plenty hot for the water to be refreshing.  We would also definitely recommend budgeting for a vacation rental with a pool like our Airbnb.  For us, we chose to have a 10-minute walk to the beach to find an excellent price point that included a pool.

Overall, Malaga scores an A+ in our book for a family destination.  Read about the affordability of traveling to Malaga here.  When you consider the cost, the weather, the beach, the mountains, and all the adventure activities, the southern coast of Spain is truly a gem.  We hope you found our top 5 activities to do in Malaga with kids helpful!

Spain was one of our first stops during a year-long trip around the world!  To see all our travel adventures, head over to our Instagram page.

If you have questions or tips for traveling to Spain with kids, let us know!