Torremolinos Travel Forum

My wife and I will be in Torremolinos this October with a group of friends from the US. We would like to hire a driver/guide to take us to places of interest in the immediate area (Seville, Jerez, Ronda, Granada, etc.). Two years ago we did this in Italy using a comany know as "Drivers in Rome" and found it worked out very well for us. You tell them where you want to go and they provide the driver/guide and the proper size van. If you know of such a company in this area of Spain I would appreciate a response with company name and how they can be contacted.

We returned from this part of Spain three weeks ago, we had our own car so sorry can't help with with the driver for you.

However I can tell you to remember the distances in your plans. We stayed inland about 60 km north of Malaga. From there Seville took the best part of two hours so from Torremolinos nearer three. Nearly as long for Jerez and slightly less for Granada are my estimates. All to easy to spend all your time traveling if you are not careful!

The traffic along the coastal road where you are staying is a nightmare so extra time can be wasted there!

If you want something nearer I suggest you check out the White Villages when you visit Ronda - details on my Ronda pages.

You will love Andalucia.

Hi. I just got back from 3 weeks Spain and spent a week in Fuengirola. I figure you booked a hotel in Torremolinos already and I haven't been there in 20 years so I can't say what it's like. But you know...look at my pages about Costa del Sol, I have a fresh, American perspective on it. I KNOW Costa del Sol has a bad rep and a lot of critics HATE it and think it's awful and gaudy compared to other parts of Spain. Well, it is...but you don't have to have the same experiences on the Costa del Sol everyone else does - you already said you plan to get out and about. Where you stay is a matter of personal preferences in my opinion and Torremolinos is more convenient than many places as a launching pad to nearby attractions and the hotels I looked into on the Costa del Sol were bigger, nicer and better priced than most city hotels, say in Malaga or Granada. I was on the Costa del Sol the last week of my vacation to relax. It was convenient, easy to find what we needed and family friendly so I make no apologies.

About the car and driver. That sounds like a wonderful idea but I think it also sounds like it will be really expensive and if that's not a problem, okay. I would ask how many people are in your group and is anyone brave enough to drive in a foreign country because car rentals are fairly cheap and it's really NOT that bad driving there, at least, it's not that hard navigating the highways. My mom and I rented a car for a week and went from Malaga city to Cadiz and getting there was a no-brainer, we had a good map and the highways were really good, modern, well marked, etc. We didn't run into the traffic too badly. We did get pulled over twice by the Guardia Civil doing apparently random checks. We both speak fluent Spanish so it was only a little nerve wracking but I think that definitely worth getting a car so we could go wherever we wanted.

Another idea. When I was in Fuengirola, just down the coast a bit from Torremolinos, I saw many travel agencies offering day trips to Ronda, Granada, lots of places nearby including Morocco! The prices were okay considering there was transportation and lunch and things are pretty expensive anyway. I would think, based on what taxis charge to take you from one city to another, that the travel agency deals to other cities and sites would be a bargain in comparison!

And finally, there is the public transportation option which can be a cheap option but maybe in some cases, more hassle or stress than you want but for shorter trips just fine, Renfre has a train that goes from Malaga City, the airport, all the way to Fuengirola, stopping at Torremolinos and it's only a few euros at most. The public buses are very comfortable and modern and cheap too.

Feel free to send me an e-mail if you have any questions. I will try to give you some more tips if I can.

One of the snags is that the driver taking you from say Torre to Granada may know the road and the place to go but know very little else. So I suspect that whilst there are plenty of private transfer people who could transfer your entire group in one vehicle, the guided tour part is really best left to locals in each city.
So as I fathom this out, you could take a 'van' or mini bus from your accommodation to say Granada. this may take 2 hours depending on the road. You can take a more scenic run along the coast then up through the Sierra near Motril if you wnt. At Granada your main task is to get into the Alhambra complex in good time to wander at leisure. You can make internet bookings in advance etc for this. So your driver can take you to the Alhambra directly. Alhambra does not necessarily require a local guide as they do have audio guides which are good and to a large extent the main sight is the Palaces complex which are wonderful just to wander around at leisure and discovering the different rooms and courtyards. Obviously some details will be required so you know more about the history of the place.
Then I am going to throw a spanner in the works. get from the Alhambra to the train station and get on a train ! Just 3 hours later you will be in Seville where you can head for your hotel in Barrio Santa Cruz. You will need to get into more than one taxi clearly. Then proceed to explore Seville having obtained some idea of your party's 'must sees' beforehand. The Barrio Santa Cruz is handy for exploring the main sights of the old city of Seville.
After Seville ?? Finally return to your Torre by private transfer or by train to Malaga then onward train or taxis to Torre.
have a look at these
people who have 'vans' and based in Costa del Sol and maybe they can be of help?
http://www.transfersdelsol.co.uk/index.asp

meant to say that if you have some time before your visit to the Alhambra this page leads to an excellent 'virtual' walking tour and will give you some clearer idea of the Alhambra complex and history.
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/

I don't have any first hand experience of this but in the past when I needed anything new to do with Torremolinos I have emailed the website www.TorremolinosIndex.com and they have never let me down. They have always given me a fairly swift reply with a good contact. You might like to try them.

Best of luck sounds like a great trip you are planning,

Birdie2