This municipality in the province of Malaga is located in the western part of the Costa del Sol, half way to Gibraltar and in the lower area of Sierra Blanca. This municipality is crossed by the motorway and the Mediterranean highway which are the main accesses to Marbella.
Marbella as a municipality occupies 27 km of coast and hosts a great amount of golf courses and small residential areas; it’s the chosen place by many tourists, who use to stay at some of those fantastic Marbella hotels, or buy a holiday home where to live after retirement.
The main population cores are in Marbella and San Pedro de Alcantara, as well as in the districts of Nueva Andalucia and Las Chapas.
As it was during the Arab dominion, the inhabitants of Marbella still maintain the same name; the locals are called “Marbellies” or “Marbelli”, as Marbella was dominated by the Muslim kingdom for many centuries. We’ll analyse its rich history of Marbella in the link.
Marbella offers the visitor a great amount of places to visit, the large number of centuries gone by provide an important cultural and archaeological richness:
The old town: Covers the old walled grounds and encompasses the ‘Barrio Alto’ (the high neighbourhood) which is located north and the ‘Barrio Nuevo’ (the new neighbourhood), to the east.
The Golden Mile is the long road where one can spot some of the most luxurious houses on the Costa del Sol and some of the most popular hotels in Marbella like the Hotel Melia Don Pepe, the Hotel Puente Romano and the Marbella Club.
We must highlight 2 buildings in San Pedro de Alcantara: - Trapiche de Guadaiza, which is one of the first industrial buildings in this town, a sugar factory of a high historical value. - Ingenio Azucarero, where today we’ll find the cultural centre El Ingenio.
Near San pedro are some of Marbella’s most important archaeological sites.
Here is one of the Phoenician findings that date back to the 7th century before our era, near the mines of iron from where this mineral was extracted back in ancient times.
The municipality extends along 27 km. of coast, providing beaches in Marbella with different characteristics; in total there are 24 urban and semi-urban beaches, with varied features that go from fine sand to stones. They are very popular during the strongest months of the summer.
Puerto Banus
One of the most famous marinas in the world, where luxury and fun mix and you can learn more about it here and here.
To know more visit our extended guide of Marbella.
In Marbella you can do many different activities, including visiting natural parks or simply enjoying the good weather and the beach. If you want ideas about what you can do in Marbella, visit the following image and we will make suggestions of activities that we consider essential.
Marbella is not very far away from Malaga airport, and there’s even a bus service that connects to this municipality; if, on the other hand, you wish to hire a car in Malaga for your transfer to Marbella, we offer the best service and the best prices.
Other option is a transfer from Malaga airport to Marbella, a journey than takes less than 40 minutes.
On the map below you can see the recommended route to get to Marbella from Malaga airport, you can’t get lost, however if you wish you can hire your vehicle with a GPS.
Town council: Glorieta de la Fontanilla, s/n.
Phone: +34 952 77 14 42.
Official website: Ayuntamiento de Marbella.
Credit cards accepted
