Things to Do in Marbella, Spain: Sights, Beaches and Day Trips

If you only have a few days, the old town is where the main Marbella attractions sit closest together. The Castillo de Marbella is a listed cultural property right in the centre. Within a few minutes' walk are the Casa del Corregidor, a historic building, and the Hospital Bazán. Nearby you'll find the Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo, devoted to contemporary Spanish printmaking, and the Museo del Bonsái. Taken together, they answer most people's question of what to see in Marbella on a first morning.

Two landmarks stand slightly apart. The King Abdelaziz Mosque is about 2.5 miles from the centre and the King Fahd Mosque about 3 miles. Closer in, the Marbella Lighthouse and the Marbella Bullring are each well under a mile away. They are easy to fold into a walk between the old town and the beach.

In Marbella town itself, most things to do are walkable. You have the castle, the museums and the bullring inland of the seafront, and the beaches strung along it. Playa de Venus and Playa del Faro, the latter named after the lighthouse, are under a mile from the centre. Playa de la Fontanilla and Playa del Cable are about a mile out. Ask a local for the best beach in Marbella, Spain and you'll often be pointed east to Playa de Cabopino, around 8 miles away, which feels further from the town bustle.

For things to do around Marbella, head into the hills. Ojén, about 4 miles inland, is the gateway to the Sierra Blanca, the protected mountain range that frames the town. It also has its own castle. Istán lies about 6 miles inland and is the quieter of the two villages. Both are short drives, so car hire, which you can compare on this page, makes a hill-village afternoon easy.

With children, the simplest plan is to stay close to the town beaches. Playa de Venus and Playa del Faro are both under a mile from the centre, so you can mix sand time with an ice-cream stroll past the lighthouse without long journeys. The Museo del Bonsái is small and visual, a good fit for a shorter attention span on a cloudy morning.

For older children, the Castillo de Marbella and a drive up towards the Sierra Blanca make a change from the beach. In July and August highs reach 31 to 32°C, so plan outings for the morning and keep the middle of the day for shade or the sea.

The best months for sightseeing here are April, May, June, July, September and November. July is the driest month on record at the local station, with no rain. October and March are the wettest, at around 115mm and 104mm, so pack for a museum day or two if you travel then.

You can compare tours and tickets for Marbella things to do directly from this page, alongside car hire for the hill villages and hotel prices for the town. If you're booking a package, the deal buttons here let you compare providers flying into Málaga, around 34 minutes away, or Gibraltar, about 51 minutes by road.