Torremolinos is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Spain, especially with British tourists; it also boasts a large expatriate community meaning you'll feel right at home except with great weather! Located in southwestern Spain, Torremolinos is known for its family friendly, unpretentious tourism industry and fantastic range of fun things to do.
The city is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso and is also known as a hub for the fine arts. The local cuisine is fantastic and Torremolinos is known for its top quality street bites as well as for its iconic "chiringuitos", the restaurants on the beach.
Theme parks
Torremolinos' Crocodile Park is a unique fun park / zoo that offers tourists the chance to come face to face with the toothy crocs. This popular park is a must for little ones, and there's plenty to do besides oooh and aaah and the size of the resident crocodiles' impressive gnashers. There are numerous crocodile related attractions, a wildlife museum and lots of engaging and educational exhibitions.
Aqualand Torremolinos is one of the most popular water parks in Spain and Torremolinos' prime destination for prime water-based fun thanks to fantastic water slides and countless other water based activities. As the biggest water park in Costa Del Sol (one of Spain's most popular beaches), the Aqualand Torremolinos boasts lots of fun facilities, including an artificial surf beach, signature crazy cone slides, huge multi-slides for group fun and, of course, dozens of pools of all sizes and depths.
Ritmo a Caballo is a traditional Hispanic horse performance park where tourists can enjoy a unique form of entertainment. Trained riders and impressive horses perform perfectly choreographed dances that showcase some of the most amazing horsemanship skills in Spain. Tourists visiting the park are treated to a traditional meal and an insight into the unique culture that gave rise to this acclaimed horse event.
Tivoli World is Torremolinos most popular theme park and one of the most popular 'luna parks' in the whole of Spain. Tivoli World offers a dizzying array of fantastic theme park games and attractions. The atmosphere is very fun-focused and prices are fairly low, allowing families with children to spend countless hours of quality holiday time together.
Sea Life is a marine life zoo and animal reserve that acts as a theme park where young and old alike can learn more about the unique marine life of Torremolinos and come face to face with fascinating marine species, including rare fish and aquatic and semi aquatic mammalian species. This is an amazing opportunity for children to enjoy a hands-on experience with numerous rare animals they'll love it.
Golf
Lauro Golf is an impressive golf complex with 27 holes in total. The course's 27 holes can be played in three different combinations, all of them par 72, creating unique and new trails depending on each player's skill and golfing proficiency. The course holds frequent national and international competitions, welcoming pro golfers from all around the world.
Parador De Malaga is an 18 hole, par 72 golf course and one of the most popular courses in Torremolinos. The course takes golfers across beaches and Mediterranean forests, rewarding them with impressive vistas and fine golfing challenges. After a long day on the greens, the on-site restaurant serves Malagan monkfish soup and peasant-style French toast.
Torrequebrada is an impressive 18 hole, 72 par golf course with interestingly sloped trails and facilities that make golfing here accessible to newbies as well as seasoned players. The course is beautiful and immersed in Torremolinos' natural beauty, plus it offers special discount prices during off season months and for new players.
Tennis
The International Tennis Centre of Torremolinos is a popular sports centre in Malaga and one of the largest tennis course complexes in the whole of Spain. The centre is open to the public and the fees to enter and play are fairly low. During spring, the tennis centre frequently hosts national and international tennis games, welcoming internationally acclaimed players who come to compete in Spanish tournaments.
Walking & hiking
Playa Los Alamos (also known locally as El Canuelo), is the part of Torremolinos that is closest to Malaga and is mostly covered by a long, unbroken beach. El Canuelo is a popular semi urban walking trail that attracts locals and tourists alike. The trail is beautiful and sunny all day long, and if you get tired, there is always a beach bar or two at easy walking distance.
Sierra de Torremolinos is the impressive mountain that towers over the Mediterranean landscape of Torremolinos and presents numerous ideal opportunities for hiking that is both challenging and accessible to hiking novices. There are a number of trails one can follow up and down the Sierra, ranging from easy to challenging; offering something for hikers of all skill levels and endurance.
Cycling, mountain biking & quad biking
The Sierra Cycling Company is the premier provider of mountain bikes and road cycling bikes in Torremolinos as well as the single best organiser of cycling trips and holidays in the whole region of Malaga. The company ranges trips to dozens of different routes, from mountain trips to beachside trips and daylong "marathon" cycling tours across vast areas on the Spanish coast.
Rent A Bike is a local provider of bikes and motorbikes in Torremolinos that stands out from the crowd thanks to their low prices, excellent services and year round availability. Tourists can arrange for their bike(s) to be ready and waiting for them on arrival, and The staff is always ready to assist and point out the best cycling and biking routes available on any given occasion.
Quad Safari Costa Del Sol is Torremolinos' premier provider of quad biking trips. Located between Marbella and Malaga, the safaris span the breadth of Costa Del Sol but also take tourists on mountainous areas and other, less-known sights near and around Torremolinos. The prices are rather low to hire your own quad and the trips themselves offer excellent value for money and can last for a whole day.
Water sports
Scuba diving around Costa Del Sol doesn't get any better than Simply Diving's offerings. The company arranges first-class diving excursions that cover Malaga, Torremolinos, Benalmadena, Fuengirola, Mijas Costa, Calahonda and more popular destinations around Torremolinos itself. The company offers lessons and rents out affordable equipment to divers of all skill levels, providing a great diving experience for every type of tourist interested in scuba diving.
One 2 One Diving is a distinguished PADI, snorkelling and scuba diving centre that arranges the best snorkelling trips and also offers incredible diving packages for scuba divers with at least some prior experience. For complete beginners, the company offers easy to follow scuba diving lessons that are extremely popular with young tourists who wish to learn more about diving.
Chilly Surf and Skate is one of the best surfing and windsurfing providers in Torremolinos. Catering mostly to tourists, TopSurf takes advantage of the windy high season months to arrange incredible surfing trips to locations with strong, consistent surf and ideal weather conditions for surfing and windsurfing. TopSurf also rents out their equipment to experienced water sports athletes who wish to surf or windsurf around Torremolinos on their own.
Boat trips
Full day ferry trips have been gaining popularity with eco tourists and families visiting Torremolinos with children old enough to enjoy a trip to the exotic Tangier, or across the strait of Gibraltar to visit the Kasbah and experience a unique melange of cultures with snake charmers, spice markets and Hispanic tradition as it clashes with Africa.
The Costasol Cruceros Company offers a wide range of boat trips across western Mediterranean, starting from Torremolinos. The trips cater mostly to large groups of tourists and families visiting Spain with their children, but are also enjoyed by locals who visit Torremolinos from the northern parts of Spain. The cruises and trips include light meals and swimming break at several breathtaking spots across Costa Del Sol.
Flamenco
Spanish Flamenco shows offered by numerous different providers and local folk dance organisations are a must to see when visiting Torremolinos. Hispanic culture, infused with Gypsy tradition creates this unique blend of sounds and sights. Torremolinos has the largest concentration of Flamenco dancers in Spain and there are frequent Flamenco shows (often with no ticket fees) to enjoy, especially in high season or during Christian holidays.
Local markets
Calle San Miguel forms the epicentre of the tourist track in Torremolinos and manifests itself as a busy local market that is full to the brim with local souvenir shops, tourist traps and some rare (and often hidden) shops that cater to locals. This market offers a real insight on how important tourism is for Torremolinos and presents the perfect chance to buy unique Hispanic souvenirs for friends and family back home.
The Plaza Costa del Sol that runs along the busiest section of the beach of Costa del Sol itself is a busy street that is full of local shops and the famous chiringuitos (beachside bars and restaurants). This lively market attracts tourists all year round and is perhaps the best place to buy items from back home, as many shops here frequently stock imported merchandise for homesick tourists.
Great outdoors
The Playa La Carihuela is a very popular and tourist-friendly beach that is known as one of the major natural attractions around Torremolinos. This beach is children friendly and is fully equipped with accessibility facilities that make it accessible to people with disabilities and /or limited mobility.
Located in the northern area of Torremolinos, the famous botanical garden of Molino del Inca is an impressive natural attraction with landscaped gardens and natural spots of Mediterranean forests. The garden spans an impressive 40,000 square meters and houses hundreds of different plant and tree species from Spain and abroad.
The most popular beach on Torremolinos is none other than the Bajondillo beach, locally known as Playa El Bajondillo. This lovely beach is teeming with activity all year round, but during high season it becomes a true Mecca for water sports enthusiasts and beach bar partygoers. No visit to Torremolinos can be complete without a dip at Playa El Bajondillo.
The Bioparc Fuengirola is a botanical garden and a zoo rolled into one. Amazing for children of all ages, eco tourists and people who want to know more about the natural beauty of Torremolinos and southern Spain, the Bioparc Fuengirola recreates a jungle biome and allows its visitors to come face to face with exotic and often elusive animal species.
Historic & cultural highlights
The historic neighbourhood of La Carihuela used to be a traditional Spanish fishing village and is still a captivatingly iconic landmark that encapsulates the unadorned beauty of the Hispanic culture. The neighbourhood lends itself to quiet walks and relaxed socialisation in one of the local bars that brighten the atmosphere of La Carihuela.
Unique and imposing, the Parque La Bateria (battery park) is an old military fortress turned into an impressive botanic garden. This living part of Torremolinos' history is now a hospitable garden but one in which tourists can see old cannons and vintage artillery guns side by side with flowerpots and strewn across beautiful walkways inside the park.
The Church of San Miguel is a relatively new church that houses an impressive collection of old religious artefact from Spain. This church is one of the most popular religious tourism landmarks in Torremolinos as it merges old with new in terms of aesthetics and cultural influences. There are no ticket fees to enter the church and marvel at the artefacts stored within.
Located literally in the centre of Torremolinos, the Pimentel Tower is an imposing and seemingly abandoned old tower that conveys an eerie sense of mystery. The tower is in fact pretty much still in use, despite its rundown external appearance and tourists can approach and enter the tower safely.
Museums & galleries
The Pablo Ruiz Picasso Cultural Centre is a unique museum that celebrates the genius of Pablo Picasso who was born here in Torremolinos. The museum houses numerous exhibitions and tours that explain who Picasso was and what made him so special. This is a very new and modern centre that offers great value for money as it frequently houses more cultural events that are all accessible with just one ticket.
One of the world's only tattoo museums and the only one in Spain, the El Templo Tatoo Museum boasts an impressive collection of tattoo patterns, tattoo memorabilia, catalogues, vintage machines, old colours and numerous other tattoo related exhibits. This is a must visit for people who have one or more tattoos or those interested in the rich and diverse tradition of tattooing.