There is a guided walk included in the price, it takes in twelve landmarks by name, and the one thing the operator will not tell you in advance is when it leaves.
How many lines does the Malaga tourist bus have and when do they run? 3 lines and 28 stops. The Red runs 10am to 6pm, the Blue only until 2pm, when it merges into the Red, and the Green one for the botanical garden does not run on Mondays and has no departures between 4.05pm and 6.05pm.
The Malaga sightseeing bus is a hop-on hop-off service run by City Sightseeing whose 24 or 48-hour ticket also carries entry to MIMMA and the Museo Carmen Thyssen plus a guided walk. The timetables are the catch: the Green Line to the botanical garden does not run on Mondays and has no departures between 4.05pm and 6.05pm, the Blue Line stops at 2pm, and stop 2 shuts from 1.40pm.
Three things to settle before buying. What it costs is not a fixed figure on the operator’s site, which quotes in euros, pounds or dollars depending on where the page is opened. How you get to it, since a Cercanías single ticket at 1.80 euros links the airport with the centre and the Red Line picks up from there. And whether to book, which the ticket sidesteps by selling a voucher valid 12 months with free cancellation.
What is included besides the bus ride
The guided walk bundled into the ticket is not a token add-on, and City Sightseeing names the whole route landmark by landmark.
- Plaza de la Marina.
- Calle Marqués de Larios.
- Calle Salinas.
- Plaza del Obispo.
- North face of the Cathedral.
- Museo Picasso Málaga.
- Bodega El Pimpi.
- The Roman Theatre.
- The Alcazaba.
- Plaza de la Aduana.
- The University of Malaga rectorate.
- The Bank of Spain.
The meeting point is stop 3 on the Red Line, at the port. The departure time is the gap, and the operator fills it with an instruction rather than an hour, telling ticket holders to ask its staff in Malaga. Two of those twelve landmarks have their own entrance queues, covered in the Alcazaba of Malaga and the Roman Theatre.
Practical consequence. If a walk with no fixed hour has to be slotted into a day, it goes early, before local meal times push everything back, and that is easier to judge with Malaga meal times in hand.
Which line goes where, and how long each one lasts
The lines differ less in where they go than in how long they last.
The Red Line is the backbone, with 14 stops linking the centre to the hill, and one catch worth noting, stop 2 shuts from 1.40pm. Its most valuable stop is Gibralfaro Castle, because it is the only one on the route that is not reached on the flat.
The Green Line carries 13 stops out to the garden and the Blue Line just 3, leaving from Vialia and merging into the Red at 2pm. Its useful stop serves the Russian and Automobile museums, and what became of the first is set out in what happened to the Russian Museum.
Why Monday is a different ticket
The Green Line is the one that carries the ticket’s only genuinely hard-to-reach destination, and it is also the most restricted.
| Green Line, botanical garden | Published timetable |
|---|---|
| Monday | no service |
| Tuesday to Friday | 11.05am to 6.05pm |
| Saturday, Sunday, public holidays | 11.05am to 7.10pm |
| Every day it runs | no departures between 4.05pm and 6.05pm |
A second catch on the Green Line sits outside the timetable. The ticket advertises 8 languages, but the Green Line carries no audio guide, so the longest ride of the three is the one you make without commentary. The garden itself is covered in La Concepción botanical garden.
MIMMA opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 6.30pm and the Carmen Thyssen from 10am to 8pm, and entry to the attractions is valid only for as long as the bus ticket lasts.
Can you take a dog, and what does the ticket cost
Dogs come first because the rule is stricter than most. Small dogs up to 10 kilos are accepted and must travel in a carrier, with no published exception above that weight or for dogs on a lead.
The ticket itself is sold as a voucher valid for 12 months, with free cancellation and the coupon accepted on a phone or printed, so the date is set when it is redeemed rather than when it is paid.
One more condition distorts every price comparison. The operator’s site works in 3 currencies, euro, pound and dollar, and shows whichever matches where the page is opened. Checked from outside Spain, the ticket page returned dollars rather than euros, so a figure seen before flying is a conversion and not the euro fare. Getting into the city is a separate cost, with a Cercanías single ticket at 1.80 euros from the airport, set out in getting around Malaga.
Common questions about the Malaga sightseeing bus
Does the Malaga tourist bus run to the botanical garden every day?
No. The Green Line does not run on Mondays. Tuesday to Friday it runs 11.05am to 6.05pm and at weekends and on public holidays to 7.10pm, and in both cases nothing departs between 4.05pm and 6.05pm.
Is the free walking tour included?
Yes, and it covers 12 named landmarks from Plaza de la Marina to the Bank of Spain, meeting at stop 3 on the Red Line at the port. The departure time is not published anywhere, and the operator says to ask its staff in Malaga.
Can you take a dog on the Malaga sightseeing bus?
Small dogs up to 10 kilos are accepted and they must travel in a carrier. No exception is published for heavier dogs or for dogs on a lead, so it is stricter than the rules on the city’s dog beaches.
How long do the museums included with the ticket stay valid?
Entry to the attractions lasts as long as the bus ticket does, so 24 or 48 hours. MIMMA opens Tuesday to Sunday 10.30am to 6.30pm and the Carmen Thyssen 10am to 8pm, which means a Monday ticket includes two museums that are shut.
One ticket, seven days, and only six of them buy the whole thing.