My husband and I have made a few trips to the Andalusia region in Southern Spain; a few trips before kids and two trips with them after. Each time we marvel at how much there is to in this specific region, much less the country as a whole! We generally base ourselves in Malaga and take day trips to other towns. Although it can be high effort, it is doable and I would do it again to maximize what we get to see during the trip. I have compiled our favorite highlights below:.

Malaga was a great base city for us, so much that we used it as a base city twice. We rented a car and carseats (using Sixt Car Rental – see here for a discount link) for certain day trips and, if we had wanted to, we could have used the train for others for several day trips. Yes, the drives were still anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours; however, it was central for us to accomplish the sites we wanted to and was lively enough that we looked forward to coming back each evening! It was also nice because there are several options for guided day trip tours departing from Malaga.

We loved both of the apartments we stayed in Malaga.

Apartment 1: The  firstapartment included 1 bedroom with a large double bed, a sofa bed, a kitchenette, and a free baby cot. Daily cleaning was provided. The best part of the apartment was the convenient location, just a few minutes walk to all the restaurants, shops, and several main sights including the Cathedral. The location made our entire experience more enjoyable.: Click here to see the apartment we booked.

Apartment 2: This apartment was much larger than the other apartment, but the sofa bed was not as comfortable as the first. Our kids are only 4 and 6, so they didn’t mind at all. The apartment was also in a great area, just moments away from lots of restaurants and shops. Click here to see this apartment.

There are actually many things to do in Malaga, but because we used it as our base city for several big day trips, the days that we stayed in town, we preferred to leisurely explore the shops, restaurants, and let the kids run around the town and playgrounds.

Alcazaba: An Alcazaba is a type of Moorish fortification, that used to serve as military forts, found in many Spanish cities including Malaga. The Alcazaba of Málaga is one of the best-preserved in Spain and dates back to the 11th century. It was definitely not stroller-friendly, so we baby wore our youngest and encouraged the older two to walk up the trail. We moved slowly at their pace, and they enjoyed seeing flowers, rocks, and bugs along the way. We were glad to see the viewpoint!

Malaga Cathedral: The Malaga Cathedral is a beautiful cathedral in center of the city. Roam around outside or inside to admire the beauty!

Mercado Central de Atarazanas: The Malaga market has tons of stalls full of fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat, and tapas snacks. We were able to grab juice and fruit for the kids here, although I didn’t see any seating for our family.

Museum of Picasso: Located in the heart of Old Town Malaga, the Museum of Picasso, the birth place of Picasso, is a great spot to visit. The museum offers over 200 of Picasso’s works—including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and sketches—housed within the beautifully restored 16th-century Buenavista Palace in the artist’s birthplace.

La Malagueta Beach: A short walk from the Old Town, there is a sandy beach nearby a promenade of restaurants and shops. It is not the fanciest beach, but there are sea shells galore and a small playground, that our kids could have spent hours playing on.

Colomares Castle and Mariposario de Benalmádena: If you are up for a day trip, about a 30 minute drive from the Old Town Malaga, the Colomares Castle is absolutely worth it. Only a few minutes away from it is the Mariposario de Benalmadena, a butterfly garden, which our kids thorughly enjoyed. Colomares Castle is worth visiting for its stunning blend of architectural styles and intricate detail that celebrates the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus in a fairytale-like setting. Additionally, the Mariposario de Benalmádena offers little kids a magical, hands-on adventure where they can marvel at over 1,500 free-flying butterflies, explore a lush tropical garden, and witness the captivating life cycle of these colorful creatures up close.

Shopping: There are dozens of stores, large retailers and smaller boutiques, scattered around the city that are absolutely worth a visit.

The Cereal Boom Cafe: The Cereal Boom Cafe has a huge range of cereals and milk options. Considering we are normally pretty strict with bringing sugary cereals into our house, so this was a treat for them!

Casa Aranda: No trip to Spain would be complete without chocolate and churros! We enjoyed eating at Casa Aranda. Our kids faces lit up when they got to experience it! I love how efficient the service is at this restaurant, which is a huge statement to say for a restaurant in Europe.

Helados y Turrones Casa Mira. Dimas Mira E Hijos: We are a big gelato family. When we are on vacation, we are out of control – getting two gelatos a day. So our family has had our fair share of  gelato. This place has a variety of flavors, convenient to a central and lively area, and although the line looks long, they are efficient with their system.

Oakberry: Acai is our other family staple. Always a safe choice for a mid-day snack. Oakberry had high top tables here, but our kids were fine! It was tight, but we managed to get our travel stroller in there.

BrunchIt: BrunchIt has great food and a good atmosphere! Kids loved the juices.

Malvon Malaga Cisneros: We loved grabbing empanadas as a late night snack and taking them back to the apartment to enjoy with the kids! Who doesn’t love a warm empanada?

The city of Granada is beautiful, but the main attraction is definitely the Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens. This stunning Moorish palace complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its intricate Islamic architecture, beautiful gardens, and panoramic views of the city.

Book in Advance: Make sure to book the tickets in advance, and make sure that the tickets include a visit to Nasrid Palace (the especially beautiful area)! We made the rookie mistake on our first trip and didn’t book in advance. My husband and I have both gone before, so it was okay, but we were disappointed to not be able to take our kids to one of the prettiest sights we both have seen! We were so glad when we were able to go during our second trip.

Guided Tour: Also, as we were on the hunt for tickets, we came across dozens of resellers, selling the tickets for much higher than the initial price. Use a trusted source like GetYourGuide or Viator, which could even include the transfer from Malaga to Granada and help streamline logistics to see everything you want to see efficiently.

Snacks/Food: If we had planned in advance, we would have taken our food for the day in our stroller and leisurely spent the whole day exploring and taking breaks around the grounds. It is absolutely beautiful and huge – the kids loved running around but because we got hungry we had to leave.

Seville is another beautiful town, and one of our favorites! We have only been able to go twice, one day each time.

The three main highlights for me include:

For brunch, make sure to check out Billys Brunch Sevilla (pancakes and club sandwich are a must) and grab an ice cream snack at Loco Polo (try to the pistachio ice cream, covered in milk chocolate and almonds). You won’t regret it.

Cordoba is a charming town that is walking friendly full of beautiful streets. The highlight of Cordoba is the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, a mosque-cathedral, one of the most remarkable examples of Islamic and Christian architecture coexisting in harmony. Its famous striped arches and rich history make it a must-visit. To purchase tickets to visit this amazing mosque-cathedral, visit here.

Known for its dramatic gorge, Puente Nuevo, and historic bullring, Ronda is a picturesque town nestled in the mountains. When visiting the city, to get this view enter in “Ronda Bridge Viewpoint” into your Google Maps. We saw many people walking down there from the top, and it seems manageable without little kids. With our kids that would have taken a full day. We opted to drive there. The roads were narrow and windy, but my husband was able to safely get us there! It is worth it to visit!

If we did not have our kiddies with us, I would booked this guided tour that would take us directly to the pretty viewpoint in Ronda, as well as an additional town.

Andalusia’s coastline boasts beautiful beaches, charming coastal towns like Marbella offer opportunities for water sports and relaxation. Many people opt to spend several days just enjoying the resort life here, and I can see why! We weren’t in the mood for a whole week of “relaxing” for this trip in particular, so we kept it quick for a day of highlights.

We ate at Mi Casa Tu Casa, a Mexican restaurant near the old town, and had the most amazing shrimp quesadillas. We spent our day leisurely exploring the Old Town and then driving to a nearby beach to enjoy the evening. We wrapped up our day with a visit to the Five Guys across the beach, that never fails to disappoint!

If we had not had our young children (with motion sickness issues), I would have liked to book this tour to Marbella which would have shown us the highlights in Marbella, as well as another charming town.

Our most high effort day trip was absolutely our day trip to Tangier, Morocco. Was it fun to take a ferry boat from Spain to Morocco and hear our kids say “We’re going to Africa today!” Yes. Would we do it again? Probably not. Here is why:

If you still opt to do this trip, I highly recommend booking a guided tour from your base, such as this one that is from Malaga to Tangier. The reason we did not is because our kids get bad motion sickness, and it is nice to do things on our time if we need to take breaks – but the tour would have helped streamline a complicated day to be as efficient as possible.

All that being said about the long process of getting to Tangier, our kids especially loved the food we ate, which was great and kept them full many hours.

The highlights were:

A few years ago, before we had kids and lived in Europe, we would have tried to fit in two or three countries over the course of a one week trip – and now we feel like even one week wasn’t enough to do everything we wanted to in this one region of one country! We look forward to going back one day – what are your favorite Andalusia highlights?

For ideas on other trips around Spain, visit my post on our trip to Barcelona, the Canary Islands, and Mallorca.