Fuengirola Markets, Beaches, and Exploring in 3 days Travel Blog

What does your dream holiday location look like? To us, there’s nothing better than a place with sun, palm trees, markets, and lots to explore. And guess what? Fuengirola has it all! To make it even better, there are also plenty of places with delicious food, fun pubs, and yummy (cheap!) gelato. Ay caramba.

Fuengirolla downtown and beach with people walking.

We might be biased, but we’ve now been to Spain three times together, in three completely different locations, and honestly, those trips are some of the best we’ve been on.

Yes, you heard it. After traveling together for three years, Spain is amongst our favorite countries. There’s just something special about the heat, Spanish culture, the cute little towns, amazing Spanish markets, and Sangria that makes us so happy!

So yeah, if you haven’t bought your flight ticket already, you should seriously consider doing it right now. Not convinced yet? Well, read on!

Here’s a three day itinerary for things to do in Fuengirola in Spain!

Day 0 – Arrive at your Airbnb and check out the Fuengirola Market

Or your hotel, hostel, bnb. Whatever you prefer. We personally love staying with Airbnb since it’s a perfect way to get local advice, and it’s often cheaper than staying at a hotel.

As digital nomads we travel with our laptops, cameras, valuables, so we like to have a place where we know our things are safe while we’re gone exploring for the day. So far Airbnb’s have alway felt that way! Hopefully that doesn’t change anytime soon!

In Fuengirola, like most places we recommend you to stay in the center of the city and close to the water. If you can then try and book something near the Fuengirola street market since that’s one of Fuengirola’s main attractions and absolutely worth checking out while you’re in town.

The Fuengirola beaches in the sunshine coast are amazing.

The market itself is open Tuesday’s and Saturday’s from 9am – 3pm and is completely free to enter. It has everything you’d expect from a Spanish market! You will always find amazing fresh produce and meat.

If there’s one thing we can absolutely recommend is trying some of the olive samples and find the best ones. Even for myself (Dom) who isn’t the biggest fan of olives ended up having seconds…or maybe thirds.. they were just so damn good.

Besides food they also clothes vendors, antique vendors, and random other nik naks! It’s your standard market with a Spanish twist of course. So bring some cash and go and explore some of Fuengirola’s finest. 😉

Here is the location of the Fuengirola market. It’s super easy to get to and right in the centre of town.

Day 1 – Tour around Fuengirola & visit Sohail Castle

Sohail Castle in Fuengirola, Spain is worth a visit.

The castle trip is a fun little adventure to do! If you’re like us and you enjoy walking, head straight to the beach and walk along the coastal pathway all the way to the castle.

If you’d rather soak up the heat later and just get there ASAP then head downtown and check out the timetable for when the busses leave. It should only be about a 5-6 minute bus ride to Sohail castle.

The opening hours for Sohail Castle are Tuesday-Thursday 10am – 2pm and Saturday-Sunday 10am – 2pm and 3:30pm – 6pm. Spanish people need to siesta time. 😉

With its stunning views over the sea and close proximity to the beach you will be able to imagine all the pirates that used to come and attack Sohail Castle. You can even day dream about when Red Beard and his crew of pirates would come and attack the castle.

Who knows..maybe some famous write sat here and overlooked the ocean while writing his fictional tale about pirate attacks! :p

The best part? The castle is actually free for tourists to visit. Fuengirola wants to bring more tourists and push the castle’s potential as a cultural attraction to tourists. Honestly, it’s a fun little excursion that won’t take you long, so why not visit? Just one of the many things to do in Fuengirola.

Day 2 – Visit Mijas Pueblo

A day trip from Fuengirola, Spain to the white city.

Mijas Pueblo, also known as the white village, is located 7 km North of Fuengirola. It’s a typical Andalucian white-washed city high up in the mountains with an amazing view over the ocean.

Just make sure to bring your camera with you when you visit Mijas. The white town is every Instagramer’s dream. The buildings themselves have this amazing coastal feel to them with the blue flower vases attached to the walls. The contrasts of the blue vases and white walls is perfect for photos.

Luckily we weren’t there during peak season or I’m sure it would be filled with people posing for photos with the white houses!

Honestly we’d recommend making it a full day trip if you’re planning on visiting Mijas. It’s a small town but walking down all the narrow streets, visiting the (tiny) bullring, checking out the square, and walking along the outskirts of the village is not worth rushing.

There’s even a great path that takes you along the outskirts of the city where you can enjoy the panoramic views of the ocean and even if you’re lucky on a clear day you’ll get a glimpse of Africa.

Enjoying time in Fuengirola, Spain. Beautiful views all around.

If you’re looking to get to Mijas by public transport then take the bus no M122 from the central bus station. You can buy the tickets on the bus for 1.55€ each way. Otherwise there’s taxis or rental cars but taking the bus was the most convenient way for us.

Day 3 – Check out markets in La Cala de Mijas

Picture of a white house and beach in Fuengirola, Spain.

This is another little area you can’t miss. It’s only about a 15 minute bus ride from the centre of Fuengirola. The drive itself is beautiful since you follow the coast down towards Gibraltar where you’ll find this little gem.

We actually went because Jo’s mom used to live here as a child (hence the pictures) and she told us about this huge market right next to her old house that she would always go to as a child.

La Cala de Mijas market is the biggest market in the area and is open Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9am – 2pm. It has everything from spices most likely imported from Northern Africa to cute summer dresses which are made by hand by the locals. Fresh fruit, olives, nuts, and candy is all there as well! So if you missed the market in Fuengirola then head over to the La Cala de Mijas market and get your haggle game on!

Bus number M220 towards Marbella will take you all the way to the market from the central bus station. For this bus you buy tickets at the ticket office going there and on the way back you buy tickets on the bus. The price is 1.55 € each way.

So when is the best time to visit Costa del Sol

Let’s ask you this… When isn’t it a good time to go to Spain? Seriously!

But if you are looking to escape the European winter for a week or two then March or April are time months to visit the sunny region of Costa del Sol.

There aren’t many tourists yet, so you’re still able to walk through some empty streets wherever you go and have no ques for anything. We were also lucky enough to have the beach to ourselves later most afternoons. This, of course, depends on where you go. Also, not many people will be swimming in the ocean since it’s still too cold for them, but I (Dom) was enjoying every minute of it. =)

The white village near Fuengirola, Spain is a perfect day trip.

But honestly it depends what you’re after. It still does get quite warm in the winter months since it’s so south. As you can see in the weather chart of Fuengirola it’s probably best to go earliest in April and latest in October.

Since the beaches are one of the beauties of Fuengirola along with the markets, culture, and food. For some reason all those are always a little more fun when the weather is nicer. 🙂