The historic part of Malaga city is surprisingly beautiful.

The city centre is full of historic buildings, leafy parks, museums, twisty alleyways and a wonderful variety of bars and restaurants, and is less than 30 minutes drive from Los Curriches.

Overlooking the city centre are the Castillo de Gibralfaro and the Alcazaba. The Castillo dates from the 8th century. These huge ancient fortifications are slowly being restored to the former imposing glory. It is definitely worth the climb up to the Castillo, as the views of the port, the bullring and the Old City are spectacular. The Alcazaba is a palace-fortress dating from the 11th century and contains many Arabic vaulted ceilings, courtyards and fountains.

The recently opened Picasso museum celebrates the fact that Picasso was born in Malaga in 1881. The museum has one of the largest collections of his work in the world. It comprises of 155 works by Pablo Picasso donated by Christine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist's daughter-in-law and grandson. Entrance to the museum is even free from 3pm to 8pm on the last Sunday of each month! Throughout the year they also have many temporary exhibitions; details of these can be found on the Picasso Museum web site

The museum building is worth visiting in its own right, as the museum is housed in the Palacio de Buenavista - a fine example of 16th century Renaissance architecture. The building also contains some Phoenician remains which were uncovered in the basement during the refurbishment of the Palacio!

Malaga also has a 1st century B.C. Roman theatre which was only discovered in 1951. Another great historic building to take a look at is the imposing Baroque Cathedral, known as La Manquita (The One Armed Woman!), due to its missing bell tower. Once you've exhausted yourself wandering around the city centre, you can always take a break on one of Malaga's sandy beaches which are just a couple of hundred metres from the city centre.

In the middle of August, Malaga holds the biggest feria (fair) in the whole of Spain, and the city centre becomes one big party venue!