Museums in Malaga

Our selection of the 14 best museums to explore in Malaga

Long just a stopover on the way to the Costa del Sol, Picasso's home town has reinvented itself as the cultural capital of Andalusia, with around thirty museums in its historic centre. Here are the ones worth the detour.

Picasso Museum

Opened in 2003 in the Buenavista Palace, a 16th-century mansion, the Picasso Museum in Malaga brings together a collection largely donated by the artist's family, covering his whole career.

Paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics trace the evolution of his style. In the basement, Phoenician and Roman remains discovered during the works can also be visited.

• Address: Calle San Agustín 8, 29015 Malaga
• Access: on foot, a few minutes from the cathedral
• Price: guided tour with ticket from €25 per person

Picasso's Birthplace

Pablo Picasso was born on the Plaza de la Merced in 1881. The family apartment now houses a museum devoted to his Malaga childhood, run by the Picasso Foundation.

Personal belongings, family photos and early works make for a short visit. A combined ticket lets you pair it with the Picasso Museum, very close by.

• Address: Plaza de la Merced 15, 29012 Malaga
• Access: on foot from the historic centre
• Price: from €4 per person (combo with the Picasso Museum and guided tour from €29)

Centre Pompidou Malaga

You can't miss the colourful glass cube by Daniel Buren set on the port. It marks the entrance to the Centre Pompidou Malaga, the Paris museum's first branch outside France, opened in 2015.

The modern and contemporary art collections, lent by Paris, are regularly renewed. Afterwards, a stroll along the Muelle Uno promenade extends the visit pleasantly.

• Address: Pasaje Doctor Carrillo Casaux, Muelle Uno, 29016 Malaga
• Access: on foot, on the port, 10 minutes from the centre
• Price: from €9 per person

Carmen Thyssen Museum

Housed in the Villalón Palace, a 16th-century mansion, the Carmen Thyssen Museum is devoted to 19th-century Spanish painting, and in particular to scenes of Andalusian life.

Landscapes, portraits and genre scenes tell the story of a romantic Andalusia, seen through the painters of the time. An ideal complement to the Picasso Museum.

• Address: Calle Compañía 10, 29008 Malaga
• Access: on foot, steps from Calle Larios
• Price: from €12 per person

Museum of Malaga

Opened in 2016 in the Customs Palace, a neoclassical building at the foot of the Alcazaba, the Museo de Málaga brings fine arts and archaeology together under one roof.

Nineteenth-century Andalusian paintings on one side, Phoenician, Roman and Arab objects on the other: the tour retraces the history of the region over several millennia.

• Address: Plaza de la Aduana, 29015 Malaga
• Access: on foot, opposite the Roman theatre

Contemporary Art Centre (CAC)

In a former wholesale market converted on the banks of the Guadalmedina river, the CAC Málaga presents international contemporary art exhibitions, often daring.

Located in the Soho district, known for its street art murals, it combines well with a walk through its colourful streets.

• Address: Calle Alemania, 29001 Malaga
• Access: on foot, Soho district

Museum of Imagination

Also in Soho, this museum of illusions loves to fool the eyes and ears: you walk on the ceiling, seem to lose your legs or shrink in miniature sets.

Every room is designed for photos, and you leave with an album of baffling pictures. A fun outing that appeals to children and adults alike.

• Address: Calle Martínez Campos 13, 29001 Malaga
• Access: on foot, Soho district
• Price: from €12 per person

Alcazaba

Built in the 11th century, this Moorish palace-fortress climbs the hillside above the port. Its Andalusian courtyards and gardens, punctuated by fountains, recall the Alhambra in a more intimate version.

A guided tour helps you understand the history of the site, and some packages combine it with the nearby Roman theatre or the cathedral.

• Address: Calle Alcazabilla 2, 29012 Malaga
• Access: on foot from the historic centre
• Price: guided tour with the Roman theatre from €27 per person, with the cathedral from €48 per person

Roman Theatre

At the foot of the Alcazaba, the tiers of the Roman theatre date back to the 1st century BC. The site stayed buried for centuries, until it was rediscovered in 1951 during building works.

A small interpretation centre tells its story, and entry is free. In the evening, the street running alongside it comes alive with terraces facing the illuminated ruins.

• Address: Calle Alcazabilla, 29015 Malaga
• Access: on foot from the historic centre
• Price: free entry (guided tour with the Alcazaba from €27 per person)

Automobile and Fashion Museum

In the city's former tobacco factory, this museum combines two passions: vintage cars, from the first models to the racers of the 1970s, and haute couture outfits.

The dialogue between bodywork and dresses by great couturiers is surprising. An original visit, a little away from the centre.

• Address: Avenida Sor Teresa Prat 15, 29003 Malaga
• Access: bus from the centre, about 15 minutes

Russian Museum Collection and MEET

In the same 1920s tobacco factory, the Russian Museum collection presents centuries of Russian art, with exhibitions renewed every year around names such as Repin, Chagall, Kandinsky or Tatlin.

The ticket also gives access to MEET, the Tabacalera exhibition space, which programmes artists from diverse backgrounds. Easy to combine with the Automobile Museum next door.

• Address: Avenida Sor Teresa Prat 15, 29003 Malaga
• Access: bus from the centre, about 15 minutes
• Price: from €8 per person

Revello de Toro Museum

Set in the 17th-century house-workshop of the Baroque sculptor Pedro de Mena, this museum presents the work of Félix Revello de Toro, a portrait painter born in Malaga.

His gentle portraits of women fill the rooms around a pretty patio. An intimate museum, a few steps from the cathedral.

• Address: Calle Afligidos 5, 29015 Malaga
• Access: on foot from the cathedral

Wine Museum

In an 18th-century palace, the Museo del Vino tells the story of Malaga wines, notably its famous sweet wines, through old labels, posters and winemaking tools.

The visit ends with a tasting, a chance to try a local moscatel. A pleasant stop at the end of the day.

• Address: Plaza de los Viñeros 1, 29008 Malaga
• Access: on foot from the historic centre

La Malagueta Bullring

Inaugurated in 1876 a stone's throw from the beach, the bullring houses a bullfighting museum devoted to the tradition of the corrida in Andalusia, with suits of lights, posters and objects.

The ticket with audio guide also gives access to the stands and the ring. A dive into a tradition that has deeply marked Andalusian culture.

• Address: Paseo de Reding, 29016 Malaga
• Access: on foot, 10 minutes from the centre
• Price: ticket with audio guide from €12 per person