Costa del Sol

Beach life is the reason most people come. Wide sandy beaches, many lined with chiringuitos and rows of sunbeds, run almost without a break from Nerja to Estepona. The sand is mostly grey-gold and fairly coarse, and the busiest stretches at Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola are packed in July and August. The sea is warm enough to swim from June to October and reaches around 22°C to 24°C in late summer, though it can turn noticeably cooler for a few days when the wind shifts.

For the prettiest water, head east to the coves below the cliffs around Maro and Nerja, where the sea is clearer and good for snorkelling. West of Marbella, the beaches around Estepona are longer and quieter. Málaga city has its own beaches at La Malagueta and Pedregalejo, an easy walk from the centre.

The signature dish is the espeto, sardines grilled on a cane skewer over a beach fire in an old boat filled with sand. Fried fish, clams and anchovies are the other staples, along with ajoblanco in summer and Málaga's sweet wines. The best eating is in Málaga city, where tiled old taverns pour wine from the barrel and the Atarazanas market hall sells fish and fruit under a stained-glass window. Pedregalejo and El Palo, the old fishing districts east of the centre, are where locals go for fish by the sea.

Marbella and the hills behind it have a serious fine-dining tier. In the big resorts, though, many seafronts serve international menus aimed at foreign visitors, and eating well there takes some looking.

Málaga city holds almost all the heritage. The Moorish Alcazaba climbs the hill above a Roman theatre, with the Gibralfaro castle walls at the top, and the cathedral stands in the old town, its second tower never finished. The city has also built up an unusually strong set of museums: the Picasso Museum in the painter's birthplace city, the Carmen Thyssen collection of Spanish painting, a branch of the Centre Pompidou on the port, and the Museo de Málaga in the old customs palace.

Along the coast there is less to see. Marbella has a whitewashed old town around the Plaza de los Naranjos, and Nerja has its huge cave with prehistoric paintings. Most resorts, though, are twentieth-century towns built for the beach.

Nights out on the coast come in several distinct styles. Puerto Banús and Marbella's Golden Mile are about money and show: superyachts, expensive beach clubs from afternoon into evening, and clubs that run until dawn in summer. Torremolinos has one of Spain's oldest gay scenes, around La Nogalera. Fuengirola and Benalmádena's marina have the cheaper, louder bar strips that package visitors come for.

Málaga city works on Spanish hours. Tapas crawls through the old town run into packed terraces and late bars around Calle Larios and the cathedral, and nobody hurries. The coast is at its liveliest from June to September. Outside summer the resorts quieten noticeably, and Málaga is the only place with a full night out all year.

The scenery is behind the coast rather than on it. Mountains rise steeply only a few kilometres from the sea. Above Nerja, the Sierra Almijara has rugged limestone trails and the Río Chíllar walk, where you wade up a narrow gorge. Behind Marbella, La Concha gives a stiff climb with views to Africa on clear days, and the Sierra de las Nieves national park beyond has fir forests and high ridges. About an hour inland are the walkways of the Caminito del Rey, bolted to the walls of a deep gorge, and the strange eroded rock forms of El Torcal near Antequera.

On the coast, golf is a major draw and sailing, paddleboarding and dolphin trips run from the marinas. Spring and autumn are best for hiking. Summer heat makes the inland trails hard going by midday.

Day trips are one of the coast's great strengths, because some of Spain's most important cities are within reach. From Málaga, the high-speed train reaches Córdoba and its Mezquita in about an hour and Seville in about two. Granada and the Alhambra are about an hour and a half by road. Closer in, Antequera has its prehistoric dolmens and a fine old town, and from Marbella or Estepona the cliff-top town of Ronda is about an hour's drive over the mountains.

The white villages make easy half-days: Frigiliana above Nerja, Mijas above Fuengirola, and Casares in the west. From the western end of the coast, Gibraltar is about an hour away. Málaga is the best base for the train trips, and Marbella or Estepona for Ronda and Gibraltar.

This is one of Europe's classic family coasts. Hotels and apartment complexes are built around pools, most beaches are sandy and slope gently into calm water, and children stay out late in the evenings around the promenades and playgrounds. The stretch between Torremolinos and Fuengirola is the easiest base. Fuengirola has a zoo laid out as a tropical forest, Benalmádena's seafront has an aquarium and a marine park with sea lions and dolphins, and Torremolinos and Mijas both have water parks. A cable car from Benalmádena climbs Mount Calamorro for views along the whole coast.

Further west, the hills above Estepona have a safari park that you drive or ride through. Málaga has a hands-on science museum and a car-free old centre that is easy with a pushchair. There is no large theme park, so most days mix the beach with one outing. July and August are hot and very crowded, and June and September are easier with small children.

The busiest stretch is easy. A commuter train runs from Málaga through the airport to Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola, and Málaga's old centre is compact, flat and largely pedestrian. The high-speed rail station in Málaga is the starting point for trips inland.

Beyond Fuengirola the railway ends. Marbella, Estepona and Nerja are reached by coastal buses, which are frequent but slow when the coast road is jammed in summer. A car makes the white villages, mountain trails and Ronda far simpler, and the toll motorway above the coast is fast. Driving and parking in the resort centres in August is the main frustration.

Shopping divides into glamour and practicality. Puerto Banús has a harbourfront row of luxury fashion houses aimed at the yacht crowd, and Marbella's old town has smaller boutiques among its whitewashed lanes. Málaga's marble-paved Calle Larios and the streets around it hold the main Spanish fashion chains, a branch of the national department store, and the Atarazanas market for food to take home: almonds, olive oil and sweet wine.

Every resort has a weekly open-air market selling clothes, leather and ceramics, and the big malls by the motorway cover everything else. Local craft is limited, mostly painted pottery and esparto work from the inland villages.

Prices depend heavily on where you stay. Marbella, Puerto Banús and the Golden Mile are expensive, especially for hotels, drinks and beach clubs in summer. Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola are built for package travel, with plenty of mid-range hotels and apartments and a lot of competition for visitors' money. Málaga city sits in between, with high-season rooms that are far from cheap.

Eating is fair value almost everywhere away from the smartest seafronts. Fish at a beachside grill, a set lunch on a weekday or a round of tapas in Málaga are reasonably priced, and the commuter train and coastal buses are inexpensive. July and August cost the most. The shoulder months are noticeably easier.

Live performance is centred on Málaga. The nineteenth-century Teatro Cervantes is home to the city orchestra and hosts opera, dance and touring theatre, and several smaller theatres stage plays and musicals in Spanish. Flamenco is the local art to look for. Málaga's peñas, the members' clubs where singers and guitarists perform for aficionados, have weekend shows that are more authentic than the tablao dinner shows in the resorts.

In summer, Marbella and the surrounding coast hold large open-air concert seasons with international pop and rock headliners. Otherwise, live music in the resorts mostly means cover bands and hotel entertainment.

Wellness here comes from resort hotels rather than any bathing tradition. Marbella and the hills between it and Estepona have large spa hotels and residential clinics built for weeks-long fasting and detox stays, and golf resorts with spas line the coast. In Málaga, Arab-style bathhouses near the old town offer warm pools and steam rooms in the Andalusian Moorish manner.

The pace is the other restorative factor. Outside the peak summer weeks, the coast is calm and sunny, and mild winters attract long-staying visitors who come to walk the promenades and do little else. For the quietest stays, head to the eastern end around Nerja or the hill villages inland.