Treat yourself to some winter sun
05:00, 11 Oct 2025Updated 07:01, 11 Oct 2025
Your author enjoying a chilled vermouth at Antigua Casa de Guardia(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Now the Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing are back there can be no denying that we are firmly on the downslide toward Christmas. There may be people reading this who love autumn and its abundance of kicking orange leaves, chunky jumpers and ‘spooky season’ but I am not one of them so I opted to chase the sun to the south while it’s still there.
My decision took me first to John Lennon Airport AKA the best airport in the United Kingdom where I left my car in the airport car par (I did not want to get involved in the ongoing parking wars) and headed, backpack in hand, to the security gate. We flew with Ryanair but you can also travel with Easyjet or Jet2. Return flights for two adults in November are available for as little as £210.
Our destination was the city of Malaga, on the Cost Del Sol in Andalusia, whose airport has a direct connection with JLA. I’ve been to the Costa Del Sol many times but to my shame have only visited Malaga once before, about 20 years ago when I must have got lost or perhaps it was a Sunday because I remember it being dead.
People kept telling me I was sleeping on a great city, not least of which was Echo political editor Liam Thorp who shared his thoughts on the city in his own article as a new dad visiting with his new family. I do not have children so I was here for my own fun.
And fun I had, having now added Malaga to my list of fun cities including Lisbon and Budapest where you can party for a weekend without having to look at a cathedral or go to a museum even though that is an option if you really need to feel cultural.
We got the excellent local train service from the airport about 15 minutes into the centre of town for a couple of Euro and then walked another 20 minutes to our aparthotel El Museo Suites. We booked the holiday late and the local hotels had got pricey so we only found this place after my wife tried to get an NHS discount via her blue light card and we ended up spending about £260 for two nights.
That’s not bad considering some hotels were asking nearly £500. It had a king size bedroom, kitchen and separate bathroom/shower room and there was a dining room/lounge with a big TV too. The kitchen came with a loaf of bread, bottle of orange juice, butter and jams and half a dozen eggs which was a great touch.
Best of all we were about three minutes from the old town with its many bars and restaurants but just far enough away that it wasn’t too noisy.
Plaza de la Constitucion, historic and artistic centre of Malaga. Back in 1998 this would have been choked with traffic but now it’s the heart of a walkable city.
We always like to start our city breaks with a walking tour and that is where we began this one as a local tour guide called Javier introduced us to his home town. We always do a ‘free tour’ of our destination city where you don’t pay up front but pay what you think it was worth at the end. This was like many others in that it introduced us to the city’s history, geography and culture in less than two hours whole orienting us with the local landmarks and providing us with a list of recommended bars, restaurants and things to see and scams to avoid.
I know people moan when they talk about reducing traffic in Liverpool but Javier showed us what the old town was like as recently as 1998 choked by traffic until they pedestrianised it with pink marble streets and it’s become a very walkable and enjoyable shopping and hospitality neighbourhood, which makes me think they are onto something.
In no particular order we enjoyed a visit to the OXO museum of video games where you can learn about the history of video games and play (for free) arcade games and consoles from the 1970s to ultra modern Japanese imports (27 Euro for two people with a 10% discount voucher we found in a bar).
Our walking tour beneath the walls of the impressive Alcazaba fortress which was besieged by a Christian army who wanted to reclaim Spain from its Moorish lords in the 15th century.
The local ice cream is fantastic and we took a ticket and waited in line at the oldest ice cream shop in the city Casa Mira. I had been drawn by talk of the traditional ‘black and white’ made with crushed iced coffee and and ice cream but I couldn’t find it on the menu so panicked and ordered a ‘Malaga’ which turned out to be a sort of rum raisin but made with local dessert wine.
Speaking of dessert wine no trip to Malaga could be complete without popping into Antigua Casa de Guardia. This place is great. It’s one of Malaga’s oldest bars and it serves local sweet wines tapped straight from the keg. Most of the servers are little wizened old men who glug sherries and vermouth into tiny glasses to be drunk while standing at the bar.
They write down what you owe on the ancient bar top in chalk and rub it off with their hand when you’ve settled your tab. It’s hot and sweaty and has a bit of a cauldron-like atmosphere with people shouting their orders and you have to be a bit brave to step up and test your Spanish.
Lots of people on Tripadvisor seem to think it’s the least friendly bar in Malaga but I didn’t find that at all, it’s just a bit overwhelming.
The Cathedral of Malaga if you really must visit. Locals call it the one armed lady because they didn’t finish the second tower. I’ve been to loads of Cathedrals so I skipped it for more eating and drinking time.
Malaga has just had its seafront area redone in a multimillion pound renovation which is sort of impressive but was a bit like Liverpool ONE by the sea, with its own beach. I am sure many will enjoy it but I preferred the Old Town.
We were recommended a tapas bar called El Pimpi which is co-owned by Hollywood actor and local boy done good Antonio Banderas. Our guide said if you see someone who looks like Antonio Banderas but old then that’s probably him. We dined in the garden area out back which I was told is just under the balcony of his penthouse flat but I didn’t spot the great man who I believe resides mostly in Surrey. I actually didn’t like the food that much although the aubergine with cheese and nuts was nice. I much preferred neighbourhood restaurant Niccia which was really excellent.
As I climbed the stairs to my Ryanair carriage home I paused for just a moment to feel the last warmth of Mediterranean sun on my face, reflecting that I would not be like to feel warm again until about April. Until then I still have Strictly and The Traitors.