Many people taking flights into Malaga will automatically pick up a rental car without thinking about it. So can you enjoy a stay there without one?

This depends in many ways on where you are staying – many people head west for Costa Del Sol resorts, or stay in villas which are detached from urban centres. Yet, Malaga itself is often overlooked both as a culturally diverse city in its own right (Malaga is the birthplace of Picasso), and as a well connected base from which to explore near and far.

Why get a car hire in Malaga?

• Cheap car hire! Because everyone else does! Malaga airport is one of the busiest car rental centres in Europe, so there is enormous choice available at prices so low that some agencies are almost bribing you to take their cars. Malaga car hire starts from just £39 per week – you could easily spend that on one airport transfer taxi.
• Roads for driving: Some of the roads in Andalusia are absolutely superb, with many having been recently upgraded. The road from Marbella to Ronda is a personal favourite. Ronda itself sits on top of a dramatic canyon. You can get there from Malaga by train, but good luck trying to organise a trip there and back in the same day by rail.
• Cyclists still need a car: Even though there are some superb cycling routes (especially the Vias Verdes) in Andalucia, they are not well connected, and public transport options are limited. Renfe do not carry bikes on their AVE or Alaris high-speed services, and these are the ones which operate between Malaga and Puente Genil for the Subbética Greenway (which in turn becomes the Olive Oil Greenway and continues to Jaen) or Cordoba for the Campiña Greenway. To get to the best cycling areas, you will be better off with a hire car with a roof rack or even a small van.
• Walking: Another impressive area for cycling and walking is around the spectacular El Chorro Gorge – although the official path through the gorge itself has been closed since 2000, and is set to re-open in 2014 (mark the date!). Unoffocially, walkers head into the gorge using the railway tracks, but this is both dangerous and illegal. There are numerous other opportunities for walking, both along the coastline east and west of Malaga, and further inland. The local train around Malaga serves the main resorts, where it is mainly built-up, although the additional branch to Alora offers some opportunity for hill walking, and Alora itself is quite a pleasant white-washed hill town. However, a car will provide much more flexibility.
• Caves: Use a hire car to visit the Nerja Caves to the east of Malaga.
• Landscapes: For two completely contrasting landscapes, visit the lush green Sierra Nevada national park (or ski there in winter), between Granada and Almeria, or the barren Cabo de Gata Natural Park to the east of Almeria, filming location for many Spaghetti Westerns. Allow around 2 1/2 or 3 hours driving time respectively from Malaga.
• Cities: A car is ideal for a whistlestop tour of some of the major inland Andalusian cities, such as Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Although they can all be reached reasonably easy by train from Malaga, it is trickier to juggle an itinerary to see them all by train. For example, to go between Jaen and Granada, you would need to allow over 4 hours by train with a very tight connection in Cordoba. The drive takes about 1 hour 20 mins.
• Marbella: The local train network does not stretch as far as Marbella and its neighbour Puerto Banus, the playgrounds of the rich and famous. Now really darling, who wants to arrive in Marbella by bus?
• Gibraltar: To head further west towards Gibraltar, you will have to go by bus, unless you fancy the scenic train journey via Ronda. For Gibralta, allow a good four hours for the journey. If you alight at alight at San Roque – La Linea, you will still be some 10 miles from Gibraltar, whereas if you continue to Algeciras, you will find local buses to La Linea bus station, from where you can make the short walk into Gibraltar. Note that the tension between Spain and the UK still exists to the point that public transport buses do not cross the border.

Why not?

• Safety: The roads around Malaga airport are known for having a high rate of accidents. Driving in Spain as a whole is still much more dangerous than driving in the UK.
• Resort Rail: Recent terminal upgrades at Malaga airport have included the construction of an underground station on the Malaga to Fuengirola local train service. Although this route has been open for many years, the airport station used to be situated at the back of all the car rental facilities, with no lifts or booking office. Now much better public transport access is available both in to Malaga itself, and throughout the Costa Del Sol region.
• High Speed Inland (AVE): In our opinion, the most impressive of the Moorish edifices in inland Andalucia is the Great Mosque of Cordoba. This building takes on an almost surreal tone with its endless procession of red and cream striped arches, which then opens up into a cathedral inside the old mosque. If you are going to visit just one of these cities, Cordoba is the one we would pick out. Cordoba is easily reachable from Malaga using the AVE express train service – which is worth a trip in its own right as it was a major civil engineering feat to carve this new line (opened 2007) through the rugged terrain. The old town of Cordoba is a delight to walk around, yet it can be easily reached from the striking new Cordoba Central AVE station. The area around the station is also interesting, as a new landscaped linear park has been created along Av De America, by building over the rail tracks.
• Antequera: You can also use the AVE to visit the white walled city of Antequera – just over 20 minutes away from Malaga.
• Excusrions to Africa: Numerous options are available, including trips to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta by boat or helicopter, or flights to Melilla by small aircraft. You can also visit northern Moroccan cities such as Tangier. The crossing to North Africa is absolutely stunning, however you do it.
• Granada: Although there are no direct train services from Malaga to Granada, there are regular coach services between the two cities, taking about 2 hours. Even if a car might give you the flexibility to stop off on the way there, it is no use in Granada itself, as the old city has very narrow streets with little space for cars.
• Madrid – Although the low cost airlines have made flights to Madrid from the UK both cheaper and more accessible from regional airports, there is still a much wider selection of flights to Malaga. Now there is more than enough in Madrid to make it justify a trip in its own right, but if you have never been to the Spanish capital, it is certainly worth a look. Typical train times from Malaga are around 2 1/2 hours, with prices starting from around €35 one-way. Although it is possible to visit Madrid on a day trip from Malaga, a much wiser option is to fly to Malaga, take the train to Madrid and then fly home from Madrid – assuming flights are available back to your local airport.
• Cordoba base: To get around Andalucia without a car, we suggest that Cordoba is a much better base than Malaga. From here, you can easily head east to Granada and Jaen, south to Antequera (by high speed AVE), west to Seville (AVE), and even north to the capital Madrid (AVE), which is less than 2 hours away. Sample parking price at the AC Palaccio – €18 per day or €126 for a whole week – almost four times as much as the cost of basic car rental!
• Seville: Personal experience is that traffic in Seville is a complete nightmare, so driving there should be avoided if possible – the capital of Andalusia is notably larger than other cities in the region, and even has its own metro and tram lines. Yet the old town is surprisingly compact, and easily walkable. An Architour of the city should start at the Santa Justa train station anyway. Another must-see is the leaning bridge Alamillo bridge, designed by Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava – even though it was supposed to be built as a pair.
• Parking: Although some resort hotels will offer free parking, it is always worth checking beforehand. We found one hotel in Malaga charging upto €23 per day for parking, so this can end up being much more costly than the car rental cost!

Verdict: This is a very close no recommendation, largely because Malaga is one of those places where there is an automatic assumption to get a hire car, yet there are plenty of very interesting excursions which can be done without one, by just about any method of transport going from mundane local buses and coaches to boats, superfast express trains and even helicopters. If you use the city of Malaga itself as a base, or consider our suggestion of Cordoba instead, then a you will be able to enjoy several different excursions without a car. For simply lazing in the sun, many resorts are easily reachable direct from Malaga Airport by train. However, for resorts west of the train terminus at Fuengirola, for staying in a villa, or for general flexible travel around the coast or the interior, car hire is still a good bet.

VERDICT: NO

More suggestions for Malaga Airport Car Hire

• Is it worth getting a hire car for part of my trip? Not really, when Malaga car hire is so cheap – unless you are having to pay for parking. We found car hire quotes from just £7.50 for a one day rental – but you can still get stung if you don’t return the car at the exact fuel level you hired it at.
• Is there a price difference for Malaga Station car rental? Yes – this is slightly more expensive, from £53 for our sample week.
• Can I rent a car at Malaga airport and return it somewhere different? Yes – return it to Malaga station (or vice versa), and you will pay the same price as a week’s hire from the station. You will also pay this price for drop-off in Seville or Granada, either at the airport or main station.. Avoid drop-off in Cordoba, this will set you back another £60.
• How about drop-off at Madrid Airport? A week’s car rental from Malaga Airport, returned to Madrid Airport, will cost from £109 + tolls + fuel. We suggest dropping off at Malaga or Seville Station, and taking the AVE train from there – this will take around half the time of driving.

Disclaimer: Prices quoted were for Malaga car hire from 22nd March 2012, researched on 15th October 2011. Correct at time of writing, but please note – Carornocar is a route advice website, not a car hire comparison engine. Sample prices are not an invitation to book, and may be subject to additional fees.

File under: Malaga car hire advice - yes or no?, Malaga airport car rental.