The final stop in my dad’s and my portion of the trip was Málaga, the capital of the Costa del Sol. While we still enjoyed our time in Málaga, it had a very different feel than the quaint historical centers of Sevilla and Granada. There was high end shopping, cruise ships in port, and higher prices—overall felt more like a proper city, whereas the parts of Sevilla and Granda that we visited felt more like towns.

Because our trip to Tenerife was mostly characterized by family time and learning about our ancestry, I decided it didn’t warrant its own blog post. I threw in the few touristy activities we did and photos that I took into this blog post instead, even though Málaga and Tenerife are completely unrelated.

If you haven’t already, check out my last few blog posts about my itinerary and time in Sevilla and Granada:

Two Weeks in Spain: Itinerary and Details

Two Weeks in Spain: Sevilla

Two Weeks in Spain: Granada

Málaga

Where We Stayed

In Málaga we stayed at the Hotel Palacio Solecio, a boutique hotel built in an 18^th century palace. This was the fanciest hotel we stayed in during our trip, complete with a restaurant, a rooftop bar, a concierge desk, and a car service (we were picked up from the train station when we arrived and dropped off at the airport when we left). Again, the location of this hotel couldn’t have been better and was central to most of the main attractions.

Alcazaba and Roman Theater

The Alcazaba is a fortress on a hill right in the city center. While you can pay to tour it, we decided not to because we felt a little spoiled by the Alhambra… However, we still enjoyed wandering around the outside, going up to the free viewpoint, and enjoying gelato next to the ancient Roman Theater. I think had we visited Málaga first in our trip we would have definitely toured it, but after the Alhambra and Real Alcazar, we decided there were other attractions we would rather see.

Málaga Film Festival

This was very unique to the week that we were in Málaga, but one of the highlights of our trip was seeing a movie premier at the Málaga Film Festival. I spent a lot of time researching the different films they were showing and decided on Playa de Lobos, as it was a film from Spain (the festival included movies from other Spanish-speaking countries) and it was showing in an old elliptical theater, Teatro Cervantes. I was kind of nervous for the experience—worried that there was an unspoken rule that it was only for locals—but it turned out to be so much fun. They even had English subtitles, which I did not expect, and the movie was hilarious. Afterwards, the actors came out on the stage, and once everyone left the theater they walked the red carpet and were presented awards. It was such a unique and glamorous experience!

I booked the tickets two weeks in advance, and they were shockingly only 16 euros each. We did sit in one of the last rows of the theater, but since it was a movie screen it didn’t matter. I would recommend seeing a show at the Teatro Cervantes if you get the chance because it was a really cool setting.

Museo Picasso

Málaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, so there is both an art museum and a birthplace museum in his name. We only went to the art museum. Some of his most famous paintings, like Guernica, are located in other museums around the world, but I still enjoyed seeing some of his work and his progression from realism to cubism. I booked our tickets to this museum two weeks in advance, and they were sold out on the day we visited. It wasn’t a very large museum so we only spent a little over an hour there. It did include an audio guide, though I elected just to enjoy the art pieces rather than hear about them.

Museo del Automovil y la Moda

When researching things to do in Málaga I stumbled across the niche and very unique Car and Fashion Museum. Lucky for us, my dad is a car guy and I am a fashion gal—so it felt like a museum made just for us! We were both tickled by the idea of car and couture pairings, similar to a cheese and wine pairing. There were so many cool cars and vintage dresses here that I am considering doing a separate post on it to share more of my photos. While I booked our tickets two weeks in advance, I think I saw people purchasing their tickets at the door. This museum is also out of the city center (we had to Uber there) so it seemed like less of a tourist destination. We spent a couple of hours there, and because we visited on a Sunday at the right time, we got to see an engine show where they turned on and revved the engines of three of the vintage cars. So fun!

Málaga Cathedral

On our last afternoon—a very rainy one in the Costa del Sol—we decided to tour the Málaga Cathedral, affectionately known as the One Armed Lady because only one of the towers was completed. We were both feeling a little churched-out at this point, but I’m glad we still decided to go because it had one of the most memorable paintings I’ve ever seen—The Beheading of St. Paul. It was a relatively new painting (late 1800s) but absolutely massive, depicting a very gruesome scene. In fact, I noticed a lot of graphic depictions in the churches we visited on this trip, particularly imagery of martyrdom. Something about this painting was just very striking to both my dad and me, and it made the visit to the cathedral worth it.

Tenerife

Tenerife was very different than I expected. Unfortunately, it was unusually cold while we visited, so it didn’t quite feel like the hot vacation destination I know it is for many Europeans. It was also very volcanic looking rather than tropical, at least on the south side. At one point we drove onto the north side to see the capital Santa Cruz, which was more green and lush like you would expect from an island getaway. We were all surprised and intrigued by the landscape!

Los Gigantes

We stopped in the town Los Gigantes to see the Acantilados de Los Gigantes, or giant rock formations on the west coast of Tenerife. There were some fun souvenir shops in the town and a couple of cute boutiques, but in my opinion the best part of the stop was the beautiful black sand beach hidden behind the pier. I had never seen a black sand beach before but it was magical! We only stayed in the town for about an hour, though I think we could have ventured inland for more shopping and restaurants.

Teide National Park

Mt. Teide is the active volcano near the center of Tenerife, which gives the island its volcanic scenery. The drive to the national park felt otherworldly—as we climbed into the mountains, it became cold and a thick fog enveloped us. We passed through dark leafy forest for several miles before we emerged out of the fog, above the tree line, and into a lunar landscape. We could see the blue sky again and an ocean of white cloud below us, as far as the eye could see. It felt fake and to me, a bit vertigo-inducing. We were all mesmerized by the unique volcanic setting. We picnicked at the base of the peak, where there is a (very expensive) gondola that takes you to the tippy top where you can view the crater. Gondola tickets were sold out. However, we saw how packed they were and how much they rocked in the wind, so some of us weren’t that disappointed… Aside from the family time and adventures, seeing Mt. Teide was the highlight of Tenerife for me.

Playa del Duque

We spent our final day on the island lounging at Playa del Duque, which was busy but beautiful. There was a normal sandy beach and then touching, like someone drew a line in the sand (pun intended), was a black sand beach. Crazy how they were right next to each other and seemed to form separately! We ended up getting our last meal at a fancy restaurant right on the water, overlooking the beach and watching the sunset. It was the perfect ending to the trip.

If you made it all the way to the end of this series of my Spanish travels, thank you so much for reading. Please reach out if you have any questions about these destinations or our trip. I hate looking for flights and hotels, but I absolutely love researching and planning all the activities! For this vacation in particular, I think research and planning ahead made all the difference.

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace