What part of the Costa del Sol is best for you?
The Costa del Sol offers a wide variety of leisure options and is perfect for a lot of fun. But what part of the Costa del Sol is best for you and for the type of vacation you have in mind? Let’s see if we can solve this pressing issue with a quick test – more like a magazine test than a school one; there is no wrong answer at all!
Test: what place in the Costa del Sol is best for you?
There are two ways to do this test: you can pick all the answers that apply to you from each question or try to pick only one answer for each question. Write down the letters that corresponds to your answers and check the results right after the questions.
1 – During your vacations what you want the most is to:
a) spend time on the beach
b) know the area as much as possible
c) visit historical buildings, places and cultural events
d) have fun with the kids
2 – While traveling, you prefer to:
a) stay near the hotel / rental
b) cover as much of the area as possible
c) take long walks without a map
d) plan ahead what will be visited
3 – Your ideal meal while traveling is:
a) a generous portion to be savored slowly
b) eat on the go – there is too much to see, and time is precious!
c) authentically local – knowing the food is part of knowing the place
d) in a restaurant that has something the kids will eat
4 – Your ideal hotel or rental is:
a) by the beach, with a pool and a TV
b) in a location from where I can move easily around
c) in a historic building full of charm
d) one with kids’ pool, lifeguards and kids’ entertainment
5 – If you had to choose only one activity to do for a full day, which one of these would you pick:
a) go to the beach
b) go up the mountains
c) visit a castle
d) visit a waterpark
6 – At night, you plan to:
a) go to a bingo
b) go to a nightclub
c) go to the beach
d) sleep
7 – You think of the locals as:
a) the people that work in the hotels and restaurants
b) people you’d love to befriend, given the opportunity
c) very interesting sources of information
d) extroverts. They start interactions with you all the time.
8 – The group that best shows what you want on your vacations is:
a)
b)
c)
d)
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🚗 Planning to rent a car? DiscoverCars
💶 Planning to transfer money? Wise
📖 Planning to learn Spanish? Italki
🏖️ Planning to go to the beach? Sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat!
Click on the linked icons to know why. 😉
✨ Test Results
Now it’s time to know what part of the Costa del Sol is perfect for you!! You did a good job choosing your answers – they are all good options available in the Costa del Sol. 😉 Just check the letter you chose more often and look for it below. If you have a tie, check all that apply.
If you answered more A: the Sun Seeker
Your idea of vacation is to stay as much time as possible relaxing, either in a comfy hotel / rental or on the sand, enjoying the sea and a nice beverage. Wake up naturally, spend time in the sun, visit a good restaurant – as long as it is near your place – rest and go to the pool. That’s life at its best, and that’s what vacations are for!
What part of the Costa del Sol is best for you?
Puerto Marina in Benalmádena
La Carihuela in Torremolinos
Los Boliches in Fuengirola
La Cala de Mijas in Mijas
You have quite a few options! The Costa del Sol, as the name implies, is excellent for sun seekers. From the list above, Puerto Marina in Benalmádena is the most Sun Seeker of all, as it has more hotels, infrastructure and restaurants; it is a more developed area than the others – meaning more comfort at hand. It gives access to two gorgeous beaches and is a hotspot for tourists, especially British. La Carihuela in Torremolinos is a fantastic place, with a great promenade and right by Puerto Marina; being in either La Carihuela or Puerto Marina allows you to enjoy both, every day.
If you had a bit of mixed answers, with specks of B and C, you may want to check Los Boliches in Fuengirola and La Cala de Mijas. These are two former fishing villages of the Costa del Sol that preserved much of their charm and past. You’ll find plenty of sun, sand and restaurants in either. Los Boliches has its own train station, which makes getting there from the airport a breeze; La Cala de Mijas is a bit more remote and, therefore, less visited and possibly more affordable. All these options offer other attractions beyond beach, promenade and restaurants, if you choose to explore a bit.
If you answered more B: the Adventurer
Your idea of vacation includes enjoying everything the area has to offer. You get to know the place as a local – or even better; you feel proud when someone asks you for directions, as you are quite competent at it. The goal is to leave no stone unturned, to see everything the place has to offer. You can rest after the vacations are over! Everybody around you wishes they had the same energy, even if they don’t say so.
What part of the Costa del Sol is best for you?
Anywhere close to a train station, as it will allow you to cover the largest area. Check in particular areas around these stations:
Málaga Maria Zambrano
Málaga Centro Alameda
Torremolinos
Benalmadena-Arroyo
Fuengirola
Málaga Maria Zambrano is the transportation hub of the Costa del Sol. You can take a train there to Cordoba, Seville, Granada or even Madrid! If your goal coming to Málaga focuses on exploring beyond the Costa del Sol, having a base near this station would be very convenient. And, of course, you can get from there to all the stations on the C1 and C2 lines, that stay in province of Malaga, as well.
If the goal is to explore the Costa del Sol, then the other four train stations listed are very interesting. These are the main stations of each of the cities covered by the C1 line; they each offer numerous possibilities to explore, as they are located in central areas of each city. 😉 Simply choose the one you would like to see the most of. To help your choice, check the posts linked to each station above – the variety of places they show is mind-blowing!
There is one place that is probably one your exploration list – and if it is not yet, it definitely should be: the Caminito del Rey, a surreal trail path across a gorge, more than 100m high above the ground. It is one of the highlights of the Costa del Sol, done with guidance and safety; one of the best adventures in Málaga! Another great idea is to take advantage of the many (many!) guided excursions available for different areas of the province of Málaga. Best part? There are several excursions for free!
If you answered more C: the Cultural Warrior
Museums, history, local festivals and heritage – a place is nothing without its context, and finding the connections between past and present are a fundamental part of knowing how a culture came to be. Taking pictures of monuments and beaches is but a scratch of what really knowing a place means; you want to know the dates and imagine the scenes of the past while wandering through the old towns.
What part of the Costa del Sol is best for you?
Málaga center
White villages
Benalmádena
Places where a Feria is going on
The center of Málaga, which you can check on the post about train stations in Málaga, is the best place for museums and cultural heritage. You can visit the Alcazaba and the ancient Roman Theatre, as well as the Castillo de Gibralfaro, all by foot. Contrast the fast passed Málaga with a white village (pueblo blanco), such as Mijas Pueblo or Benalmadena Pueblo, to see two completely different ways of Spanish life.
Check also the coastal scene – tourism is one of the main industries of the Costa del Sol, it is a very important part of the local reality. You can do that by visiting Benalmadena, which has great cultural facilities, including ruins of Roman Villas, a fantastic library, several watchtowers form Roman and Moors periods and even a museum dedicated to pre-Hispanic cultures in the American continent.
If you can make your trip coincide with a Feria, it’s a bonus! You can check a traditional celebration going on in real time. Ferias tend to celebrate both the past and the present, while being enormous and festive cultural displays. The Ferias season in the Costa del Sol run from May to October; it is amazing.
If you answered more D: the Family Traveler
Seeing your kids happy is what really makes you happy; as long as you see they are having fun, you know you are doing a good job at raising them to be nice and fulfilled adults. An ideal place is the one that combines kids’ entertainment with something for the parents too, so everybody has a great time.
What part of the Costa del Sol is best for you?
Benalmádena
Benalmádena is by far the most children friendly place in the Costa del Sol. Check Benalmadena for kids to plan the places you and your family will visit – there are way too many to list here, so the topic has its own post. Benalmádena is central and well connected to the nearby towns by train, so you can visit the best attractions they have for families, too; check the Aqualand and the Crocodile Park in Torremolinos, and the Bioparc in Fuengirola if you have a bit of adventurer in you. 😉 Now if you have a lot of adventurer in you, check the Aquamijas in Mijas and Aventura Amazonia in Marbella as well!
Conclusion
I got a tie between C and A, and I couldn’t do the test choosing only one option per question! 😳 What about you? I would love to know! Please share your test results in the comments; it helps steering the site towards what you are more interested in reading about. 😉 Thank you for participating and have a great time in the Costa del Sol!
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