How to get to Malaga from Barcelona
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET FROM BARCELONA TO MALAGA?
Barcelona is one of the most popular destinations in Europe, largely due to the spectacular architecture by Antoni Gaudi. But also for its medieval history, its food markets, its many restaurants and shops… Malaga instead is a lesser known Spanish gem with a beautiful Alcazaba (Moorish fortress), a Roman theater, beaches where locals roast sardine skewers and some interesting museums. Both cities share one character in common, though: Pablo Picasso, who was born in Malaga but spent his youth in Barcelona before heading to Paris.
Combining Barcelona and Malaga on the same trip is not just possible but also a quite common choice. While Barcelona gives you the buzz of a big city, Malaga brings you the joy of the South of Spain, and in the Summer, access to the marvelous beaches of the Costa del Sol. So let us help you figure out what is the best way to get to Malaga from Barcelona!
1
Flights to Malaga from Barcelona
The flight between Barcelona and Malaga takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. The planes depart from the Barcelona - Josep Tarradelles (El Prat) airport, and arrive to Malaga - Costa del Sol airport. Getting to the Barcelona airport takes between 30 minutes to 1 hours, depending on your transportation means (find here our post about how to get to the Barcelona airport). And the Malaga airport is a mere 15 minutes taxi ride from the city. So speed is the main benefit of flying from Barcelona to Malaga.
There’s enough variety of direct flights to not have to consider flights that require a connection, and a connecting flight won’t be cheaper. Plus booking in advance you can find some really good deals (specially if you are traveling on a week day and outside the major holidays). These are the companies that operate between Barcelona and Malaga:
Vueling
The pioneer of low cost in Spain, they offer 5 to 7 flights per day. The earliest one departs around 7AM and the last one around 10 or 11PM.
Iberia
The Spanish airline per excellence, while they do advertise several daily flights to Malaga from Barcelona, in reality all their direct flights are operated by Vueling as their partner airline, and it’ll be cheaper booking them directly with Vueling. Iberia also offers a handful of connecting flights via Madrid, and one more via Valencia but operated by Air Nostrum.
Ryanair
This Irish airline famous for treating passengers like s**t cattle offers one or two flights per day, and the schedule changes depending on the day. Thu-Sat the only flight departs around 8PM, on Sunday and Wednesday there’s one around 6AM and one around 3PM, Monday there’s one at 6.45AM and one at 9.30PM. And Tuesday there’s only one at noon (or it may not fly at all). All in all, the prices are similar to Vueling, and considering the service I personally would avoid Ryanair.
2
Taking the train to Malaga from Barcelona
So choosing a direct train won’t be about shorter trips but about the comfort of staying on the same vehicle for the entire ride. And since there’s more combinations of trains via Madrid than direct trains from Barcelona to Malaga, we recommend that you choose based on the pricing and the schedule rather than focusing on getting a direct train. And just like for airplanes, the pricing is dynamic and it changes depending on availability and demand. Arriving to the station without a ticket is a bad idea: always buy it online in advance.
Now let’s discuss the companies covering the Barcelona-Malaga itinerary, their pros and cons. All the trains from Barcelona to Malaga depart from Barcelona-Sants station and arrive to Malaga – Maria Zambrano station.
AVE trains
The main train company traveling between Barcelona and Malaga is the Spanish public company, Renfe, and you’ll be travelling on their fast speed trains – the AVE. It’s the company with the most trains and a larger variety of schedules available, and two trains per day are direct. They have 4 different types of ticket:
- Basic. No-changes-allowed non-reimbursable ticket.
- Elige. Basic ticket with 1 change allowed and party refundable.
- Comfort. Like “Elige”, but with an extra large seat.
- Premium. Extra large seat with seat selection, unlimited changes, 95 to 100% refundable, and with access to club rooms.
All AVE trains allow you up to 3 pieces of luggage (25kg max).
AVLO trains
Sometimes there’s also AVLO trains available on the Renfe website: they are the Renfe’s low cost trains. However, low cost doesn’t always mean cheaper than the other options: the cheapest trains sell out fast as soon as the sales open (around 4 months in advance). So it’s not unusual to see AVLOs priced similarly to AVEs if you aren’t booking that much ahead of time. AVLO trains are not direct, and in some cases you may be traveling on AVLO for the Barcelona-Madrid portion and switching to AVE for the Madrid-Malaga part of your trip.
AVLO trains only have one ticket class, the Basic one, but you can pay extra for more flexibility or to choose your seat. You’ll only be allowed to 2 pieces of luggage: 1 hand piece of luggage and 1 carry-on.
Iryo trains
Iryo is a private low cost train company that operates trains connecting several major cities in Spain. They only have one train from Barcelona to Malaga every day, departing around noon. It’s a direct train and it also takes around 6 hours to cover the distance between both cities. Iryo has 3 different types of tickets:
- Inicial. Basic ticket, partially refundable up to 7 days in advance, changes allowed for a fee, 1 hand luggage and 1 carry-on.
- Singular Only You. Partially refundable ticket with free changes, 1 hand luggage, 1 carry-on and 1 large suitcase. Extra large seat.
- Infinita Bistro. Like the Singular Only You, but with a gourmet meal and larger refund percentages.
If you don’t mind paying premium and the schedule suits you, Infinita Bistro is often 3 times cheaper than AVE Premium, and half the price of AVE Elige. And Singular Only You is also most of the time cheaper than AVLO unless you are buying well in advance and you are traveling outside of the main holidays.
Are there any other train companies to consider?
At the moment when this post was written, the other low cost fast train company in Spain, Ouigo, didn’t offer Malaga as one of their destinations yet, but it was advertized as “Coming soon”.
3
Can you drive from Barcelona to Malaga?
The easiest way is to take the AP-7 from Barcelona to Malaga. It’s a well maintained highway with gas stations and service plazas every few miles. Barcelonans know to take the AP7 rather than the C-32 to avoid the costly toll of the Garraf Tunnels. Not worth the 10 minutes that the tunnels will spare you… Either way, both roads merge before reaching Tarragona, and from there the road goes more or less parallel to the coast (but not super close to the Sea, you just get glimpses of it from the distance) until Valencia, half way down.
After that, the road turns inland towards the cities of Murcia and Granada. Alternatively, some 3 hours before arriving, just after passing Lorca, you may want to take the A7 national road taking you to Malaga via Almeria and its beach towns – it’s only 15 minutes more except in the Summer when there’s more traffic in the area.
Stops to consider for a road trip:
- Penedes wine country, to visit some cellars
- Sitges, for an artsy beach town (if you are OK paying the tunnels fee)
- Tarragona, for its Roman Heritage
- Natural Park of the Ebre River Delta, for bird watching, rice fields and long sand beaches – REQUIRES SHORT DETOUR
- Peñiscola, for a fort over a cliff
- Valencia, for its City of Arts including an impressive Aquarium
- Granada, for the magnificent Alhambra palace and the Generalife gardens.
4
Is there a Barcelona to Malaga bus?
Alsa
The buses depart from Estacio del Nord, near Arc de Triomf and arrive to the Estación de Autobuses de Málaga. If you like to enjoy the views during the ride, their 7AM bus rides during daytime arriving to Malaga at 10PM. Instead, if you are OK sleeping on a bus, their 5PM bus rides mostly during the night and arrives to Malaga at 8AM – that can be a convenient option for backpackers with a reduced budget that prefer to spare one hostel night. There’s also another bus departing at noon and arriving at 5AM, but that’s a nightmare of a schedule… There’s also a few other schedules that require changing buses in Almeria or/and Valencia (really?).
Flixbus and Infobus
You might see options by these two bus companies online, but forget them: the buses are not direct and it’ll take you more than one day (or possibly almost two days) to get to Malaga. Who in their right mind would want that?
How are you going to get to Malaga from Barcelona?
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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