Hi Folks! We are spending February 2026 in Malaga. Can anyone recommend a public transportation strategy for getting around by bus and train? We are staying in the Malagueta Beach area and plan to explore quite a lot around the city of Malaga, but also outside the city to Marbella, Seville, Nerja, Ronda, Cordoba, Granada and maybe a few others. I'm thoroughly confused by the various ticketing options - and trying to determine which service(s) to buy - EMT, Metro, Renfre, Cercanías, etc. - would love the convenience of one or two passes to work the entire month. THANKS!
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Washington DC
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Marbella: No trains. Frequent Avanza buses take 45-60 minutes. https://malaga.avanzagrupo.com/en
Nerja: No trains. Reasonably frequent ALSA buses to Maro Empalme take about 85 minutes to get you to Nerja, but I'm not sure where the bus stops; you might need a short taxi ride at the end. https://www.alsa.com/en
Seville: Trains take 2-3 hours or longer, by way of Cordoba. ALSA buses (2:45 or longer) may be more direct (and cheaper) and are worth considering.
Ronda: Trains 2 hr+ with change in Antequera. Very infrequent. Consider a Damas bus taking 1:45 or longer. https://grupointerbus.com/
Cordoba: Trains take 47 minutes and up. Decently frequent.
Granada: Trains take 78 minutes or longer and are infrequent. There are also ALSA buses taking 1:30 or longer.
For regular train schedules check www.renfe.com
Some of the smaller towns west of Malaga are served by local trains (Cercanias). Check their schedules here: https://www.renfe.com/es/en/suburban/suburban-malaga/timetables#/search
You'll be using a mixture of transportation types. I'm doubtful any pass will be useful. Fares on the regular trains serving Granada, Cordoba and Seville are variable and may be considerably cheaper if you are willing to commit to a specific date and time well in advance. However, winter weather being a bit iffy, you might prefer not to do that. There are ticket-vending machines at the train stations which permit you to change the language to English. I assume there's a Renfe app as well, though I've never used it.
I haven't taken Cercanias trains outside Malaga, but I'm sure purchasing a ticket will not be complicated.
Prices of bus tickets also may be affected by demand; they may be cheaper if bought in advance. In my experience there are ticket machines with English-language capability at the major bus stations. In general, bus tickets are less expensive than train tickets, which may be helpful since you may be making multiple trips to places like Cordoba, Granada and (especially) Seville.