Malaga
Summary
Malaga gets a bit of an unfair reputation because of its association with the soulless and tacky Costa del Sol nearby and, to be fair, it doesn’t help itself that its right next to an industrial port! But, the central area in amongst the beautiful Cathedral and historic Alcazaba Castle and Roman Amphitheatre, is a pleasant centre white marble-floored spot crammed in with a great range of bars and restaurants. Granted, its not one of the highlights of the wonderful Andalusia, but its not too bad for an evening stop over before you fly out from what is the main airport for the area as part of a 10 day itinerary for Andalucia
Top tip – try the Hammam Al-Andalus baths right in the city centre. Beautiful setting and what feels like effortlessly chilled vibe. Some of the best baths I’ve been to in the world
highlights
#1 The Hammam Al-Andalus baths right in the city centre. Beautiful setting and what feels like effortlessly chilled vibe. Some of the best baths I've been to in the world
#2 Wandering the Alcazaba Castle - lovely grounds and some good views from the top
#3 Wandering around and through the Catedral de Malaga
#4 Seeing the Roman Amphitheatre for the Roman History fans
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Spanish Experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone