Can you get to Comares without a car? Not in a way that brings you back the same day. Bus M-360 of the Consorcio de Transporte Metropolitano del Área de Málaga carries the village’s name, yet its timetable stops at Olías, 18.1 km of mountain road short, on Mondays and Fridays only: it leaves Malaga bus station at 1.30pm and returns at 8am the next morning. With a hire car the drive is 39 km, according to the Junta de Andalucía, and roughly an hour.
What is there to see in Comares? The Moorish Route, a 1.5 km loop from Plaza Balcón de la Axarquía with 10 stops: the Puerta de Málaga gate, Calle del Perdón, the Mirador del Turrión lookout, the Church of La Encarnación, begun in 1505, and La Tahona, by the cemetery inside the old castle. For a full day, add a via ferrata or the 436-metre zip line.
Comares is a hilltop village in the Axarquía, eastern Malaga province, built on a rock at 702 metres above sea level, with ceramic footprints set into the streets to guide walkers. The regional statistics institute counts 1,345 residents, 544 of them foreign, and just over half of those come from the United Kingdom.
Is Comares worth it, and who should go
Comares rewards a morning, not a whole day. The Moorish Route is free, measures 1.5 km and takes about 20 minutes of walking; the rest of the time goes on the stop panels and the viewpoints, and the tourist office says 13 towns can be seen from the village.
It suits travellers with a hire car who want a small white village without coach-tour crowds, and anyone into adventure sport: Comares has 30 climbing routes and via ferratas starting about 300 metres from the square. It suits less well anyone who needs step-free streets, since the route itself describes narrow, steep lanes. The paved Fuente Gorda walk, 3 km and 1 hour, is the one the town hall rates suitable for wheelchair users.
How to get to Comares from Malaga
Plan on 39.8 km and about 56 minutes from Malaga bus station by road, much of it on winding mountain road. From Malaga Airport, where most hire cars are collected, it is 52.2 km and about 65 minutes. Park at the car parks by the village entrance, next to the Puerta de Málaga gate, which is also where the walk begins.
The bus is not an option. M-360 leaves Malaga bus station at 1.30pm, calls at El Palo at 1.48pm and Vilches at 2.16pm, and ends at Olías at 2.26pm; the only return leaves Olías at 8am and reaches Malaga at 8.54am. From the end of the line Comares is still 18.1 km, about 27 minutes by car.
Which villages do have a same-day bus, and what time the last one leaves, is in towns near Malaga without a car.
What to see on the Moorish Route around Comares
The route linked from the Comares tourist office starts and ends on Plaza Balcón de la Axarquía and has 10 stops, each with a panel. It begins at the Puerta de Málaga, the old main gate 54 metres from the square, climbs Calle del Perdón, the Street of Forgiveness, where 30 Muslim families who stayed after the surrender were baptised, and reaches the Mirador del Turrión, the highest point.
From there it drops to the Church of La Encarnación, built from 1505 on the site of the mosque and listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural since 2010. The Andalusian heritage institute rates its Mudéjar nave ceiling among the best preserved in the province’s parish churches; the interior has no published visiting hours, so ask when you book a guided walk.
The loop ends at the Puerta de Vélez gate and La Tahona, by the Comares Castle site. Of the castle, a listed monument, there remain 2 towers, stretches of wall and a cistern inside the cemetery that now fills the enclosure, a fate shared with Benadalid in castles in Malaga province.
How to get by in English in Comares
Comares has a sizeable English-speaking community: 544 foreign residents, just over half of them British, according to the Andalusian statistics institute. The tourist office offers guided walks of Muslim Comares in Spanish or English, booked on +34 667 473 581, and the route works on your own with the stop panels.
One mix-up to avoid: the Comares Tower and the Hall of Comares are inside the Alhambra in Granada, a different day trip covered in Granada from Malaga. The village has no link to the palace beyond the name.
What to do in Comares for a full day
The zip line is 436 metres long with a 115-metre drop, and the town hall bills it as Spain’s longest on a natural anchor. It can only be booked through an outdoor activity company such as Viveaventura, and the price is quoted when you book.
The via ferratas run from the beginners’ route at Fuente Gorda to El Turrión, 472 metres long, graded K2 to K3+, with a 32-metre suspension bridge; on every via ferrata you stay clipped to a safety cable, as the tourist office explains.
For walkers, the tourist office publishes 6 routes: Fuente Gorda, 3 km in 1 hour; El Lavadero, 5 km in 2 hours 30 minutes; Ruta de las Fuentes, 8 km in 2 hours; Mesa de Maxmúllar, 12 km in 5 hours 30 minutes; La Teja, 14 km in 6 hours; and Buenavista, 26 km in 10 hours. The burro-taxi offers donkey rides of 1 to 6 hours on +34 629 071 084.
Where to eat in Comares
The tourist office lists 9 places to eat in the municipality and names gazpachuelo, Malaga’s warm fish and egg soup, and sopa de puchero as the local dishes. None publishes a priced menu online, so call ahead; only 3 sit in the old village itself.
| Place | Where | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Bar restaurante La Plaza | Plaza Balcón de la Axarquía 3, on the main square | +34 952 509 290 |
| Hotel restaurante Verde Oliva | Plaza Balcón de la Axarquía 2, on the main square | +34 744 74 50 91 |
| Restaurante Los 3 Balcones | Calle Hotel Bali 2, in the old village | +34 619 869 023 |
| Hotel restaurante La Atalaya | Calle Las Encinillas 7, at the entrance | +34 952 509 208 |
| Restaurante Mirador de la Axarquía | Las Encinillas 4, at the entrance | +34 669 27 38 50 |
Four more, El Molino, Table Mountain, Bar El Niño and Ortega, are in outlying hamlets. What the soup tastes like and where to try it in the city is in gazpachuelo in Malaga.
When to go for the verdiales
Time a visit to San Hilario, on the Saturday after 13 January, a festival of provincial tourist interest, when the village’s verdiales bands play all day, or to the Verdiales Festival on the penultimate weekend of July. The village fair falls on the last weekend of August.
A Comares-style band, according to the town hall, has 1 violin, 2 guitars, a tambourine, 2 cymbals and a lute. What verdiales are, and the big December gathering in Malaga city, is in verdiales in Malaga, and the rest of the area’s calendar in Axarquía village festivals. The Axarquía tourism association advises checking each date with the town hall on +34 952 509 233; outside festival days, go on a weekday if you want a guided walk, since it gives the tourist office’s hours as Monday to Friday 8.30am to 2.30pm, plus alternate weekend mornings.
Which village to pair with Comares
With a car, a second stop fits easily. El Borge is 22.3 km and about 35 minutes away, Almáchar 25.5 km and 40 minutes, both on the Raisin Route, explained in the Axarquía raisin route.
Vélez-Málaga, 24 km and 37 minutes away, adds a fortress and the road back to the coast, in Vélez-Málaga. How Comares compares with other villages is in the best towns near Malaga, and more ideas in day trips from Malaga.
Comares questions answered
Is Comares worth visiting?
Yes, if you have a car and half a day. Comares sits at 702 metres with views over the Axarquía, and its Moorish Route is an easy 1.5 km loop. It is not worth it without a car: no bus reaches the village, and the church publishes no visiting hours.
Can you get to Comares by bus from Malaga?
No. Bus M-360 is called Málaga-Olías-Comares, but its timetable ends at Olías, 18.1 km by road from the village, and it runs on Mondays and Fridays only, leaving Malaga at 1.30pm and coming back at 8am the next morning.
How long is the drive from Malaga Airport to Comares?
About 65 minutes for 52.2 km, most of the last stretch on winding mountain road. From Malaga bus station it is 39.8 km and about 56 minutes. Park at the entrance by the Puerta de Málaga gate, where the Moorish Route begins.
Is the Comares in the Alhambra the same place?
No. The Comares Tower and the Hall of Comares are inside the Alhambra in Granada. Comares the village is in Malaga province, 39 km from Malaga by road according to the Junta de Andalucía, and has its own ruined castle, now the village cemetery.
Can I book a guided tour of Comares in English?
Yes. The Comares tourist office runs guided walks of Muslim Comares in Spanish and English on request, booked on +34 667 473 581. The Moorish Route also works on your own, with a panel at each of its 10 stops.
Rent the car, walk the loop before lunch, then let El Borge or Vélez fill the afternoon.