Why? Because past an outer ring of unattractive high-rise housing, the city boasts a pedestrianized city center packed with charming squares and lively terraces for a drink or a meal (seafood’s a local specialty), two historic citadels, and some of Spain’s best art museums outside Madrid’s Golden Triangle.

Luckily for Cheapos, Málaga, unlike some of the other destinations along Costa del Sol (we’re looking at you, Marbella) is also very budget friendly. Read on for our best tips to getting to know this southern city on the cheap.

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Málaga budget travel tips

Getting There

While direct transatlantic flights aren’t available to Málaga from Toronto or New York, we recently found a round-trip fare from New York (JFK) with a long layover (12+ hours) in Casablanca, Morocco on Royal Air Maroc starting at €484.

Related: Sign up for airline newsletters to find airfare deals to Spain and all of Europe.

Another good option to save some cash? Fly into a major European point of entry (London, Paris, Madrid, or Frankfurt) and then hop a flight on a budget airline into Málaga’s main airport. Flights start at €30 each way depending on your dates. For the best prices, travel Monday through Thursday.

If you’re arriving from elsewhere in Europe or Spain, buses, rental cars, rideshares, and trains are also readily available, but for the most part, they’re hard pressed to compete with low-cost flights.

Prefer to travel overland? Your best bet to stay on budget is a rideshare or a bus. However, if you’re traveling in a group, you may be better off springing for a rental car. For example, at the time of writing, rideshares with Bla Bla Car from Madrid to Málaga start at €21 one way, buses start at €26 each way and vehicle rentals start at €55. Rail travel it is by far the most expensive option, starting at €55 per person each way.

Before you book that rental car, read through our tips for saving on a rental car in Spain.

Getting Around Malaga

Málaga’s airport, also known as the Costa del Sol Airport, is 15 to 20 minutes away from the city center. There are trains every 20 minutes and buses every 10 minutes. Both will set you back substantially less than a taxi ride with fares starting at only €2. Taxis into the city center run relatively cheap for €10-15, but even when the traffic cooperates, it will only shave a few minutes off your time in transit.

Málaga’s city center, where most of the attractions are located, is best explored on your on two feet. That said, the city also boasts a shiny new subway (finished in 2014, check out the map) and a citywide bus system if you’re far from your hotel and a little worn out to return on foot.

Tips for the metro and bus

There are two types of tickets on Málaga’s metro system that work well for visitors. Both can be topped up and used for multiple passengers and multiple trips, but a billete monedero has a €5 minimum with each ride costing you €.82 cents. A billete occasional has a minimum of €1.35, and that’s what each ride will cost you. Just remember, since these tickets are rechargeable don’t throw them out when your trips are spent and buy a new one, just top them up.

The metro runs Monday through Thursday from 6:30 am to 11 pm, Fridays from 6:30 am until 1:30 am, Saturdays from 7 am to 1:30 am and Sundays from 7 am to 11 pm.

Note: There’s not an integrated ticket system that works for both the bus system and the metro. EMT Málaga bus services are available around town and a one-way ticket costs €1.30.

Free and Cheap Things to Do in Malaga

Among the top attractions in Málaga are its world-famous art museums and ancient monuments. Fortunately for budget travelers, all of them waive their entry fees for at the very least a few hours a week. And when you’re done with the museums, there are the numerous parks and outdoors spaces that are always open to the public and 100% free to explore.

Free Malaga Museums

Even if you’re not particularly interested in art, get an eyeful of Picasso over the years without paying a cent at the Picasso Museum Sundays from 5-7 pm March-June and September-October, 6-8 pm (July-August) and 4-6 pm (November-February).

Check out the Carmen Thyssen Museum’s impressive collection of 19th-century paintings for free Sundays after 5 pm.

Love modern and contemporary art? The city’s contemporary art center, the CAC is always free.

Another option is Málaga’s Centre Pompidou, the only one located outside of France (at the time of writing). Malága’s is housed in a colorful glass cube. Immerse yourself in 20th- and 21st-century art for free Sundays after 4 pm.

Free historic attractions

Looking for something truly ancient? Málaga has a Roman theater that’s in pretty good shape, all things considered, and it’s open to the public free of charge.

Entry to the equally historically important but slightly less ancient Alcazaba and Gibralfaro castles costs €3.50 daily or it’s free Sunday afternoons.

Or browse the traditional wares and pick up some tasty charcuterie and cheese at the Atarazanas Market — it dates back to the 14th century.

Outdoor recreation

Need some exercise and fresh air after taking in all that art and history? Head for the hills and take a hike on the trails in Montes de Málaga Natural Park.

Or stroll along the seafront among manicured hedges, fountains and flowers in the botanical garden at Paseo de los Curas Park.

Or if you’d rather just relax and watch the waves, soak up the sun on one of the city’s many beaches. Playa Las Acacias, Playa de la Malagueta and Playa de la Misericordia are all easily reached on foot or via public transportation from the city center.

For more ideas, check the official website of Málaga Tourism.

Fried seafood is a specialty in Málaga. Photo: JD

Inexpensive Eats and Drinks

Málaga is well known for its high-quality seafood. Unfortunately, unlike other Spanish destinations, it’s not known for its free tapas. Sure, the odd bar may offer you a smattering of olives or a small dish of nuts with your beer, but don’t expect the elaborate offerings you’d be likely to get in cities with old-school free tapas culture like Granada.

The good news is that around town it’s pretty easy to fill your belly and throw back a drink or two for €10 or less.

Affordable late-night eats: For a late night meal on the run, we like Mafalda (Paseo Maritimo del Pedregal, 71), a local institution popular with students because of its late opening hours and Málaga’s famous hot sandwich, a campero, a toasted ham and cheese sandwich for €4-8.

Hidden jewel of a restaurant: Want something cozy and a little quirky? Head to La Recova (Pasaje Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de San Juan, 5). This old pottery shop hides an authentic local treasure — a small kitchen serving up specialties like a delicious stew of spicy grilled chorizo sausage, octopus, and vegetables.

Fresh seafood: For local seafood (mostly fried) head to Marisqueria Casa Vicente (C/Comisario 2) or Hermanos Alba in the El Palo neighborhood for shrimp, mussels and fresh fish.

A private room at the Ibis Budget Málaga Centro.

Cheap Sleeps

Dorm rooms in hostels start at €10 per night, while private hostel rooms go for around €35. Basic rooms with a private bath in the city’s budget hotels are available from €40.

Ibis Budget Málaga Centro

We particularly like the very clean and centrally located rooms at the Ibis Budget Málaga Centro. Located right in the heart of the city and quick walk from the marina, rooms at this budget chain go for around $50 — even in the high season. Book early for the best deals.

Want more budget hotel options? Search over 1,000 hotels in Málaga.

Your Malaga budget tips

Have you been to Málaga? Share your best tips in the comments section below.

The post Malaga, Spain: A budget travel guide to Malaga appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Thanks to these collections, there is no shortage of modern art (by both Picasso and others) to be found in the German capital.

The new and improved Museum Berggruen

After two years of renovations, Berlin’s Museum Berggruen has finally reopened to the public. The collection—with over 120 Picassos from every period of the artist’s career, as well around 70 pieces from German artist Paul Klee—was symbolically purchased by Berlin in 2000 after a decade-long loan by native Berliner and Paris gallery owner Heinz Berggruen.

Following both his death in 2007 and the museum’s recent renovation, Berggruen’s heirs have expanded the exhibition through the lending of further works. With works by Picasso (Spain), Klee (Germany), Matisse (France), and Giacometti (Italy), the collection gives a comprehensive overview of modernism across the European continent, and as such is considered one of the most important private collections of modern art in the world.

The renovations have expanded the exhibition space to over 13,000 square feet, allowing staff to reorganize the collection and display new lendings. Despite the expansion, the museum’s small rooms maintain the intimate character befitting such a collection of many smaller works, a character of which Berggruen himself was fond. A new small courtyard garden is accessible to the public at no charge.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week except Monday.  Admission is €10 (€5 discounted).

Other Charlottenburg museums

Given the manageable size of the museum and its location, a visit to the Berggruen can easily be combined with a visit to Schloss Charlottenburg, a Hohenzollern palace.

Same-day admission to the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection of surrealist art, located directly across the street, is included in your entry fee to the Berggruen. That museum features over 250 works by artists such as Max Ernst and Salvador Dali, displayed over three floors. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

If that’s not enough art for one day, the SMB Charlottenburg area ticket (just €2 more) includes same-day entry to the Helmut Newton Museum of Photography, located across from Zoo station. It is also open the same hours as the other two museums, with the exception of extended hours (till 8 p.m.) on Thursdays.

Finally, next door is the Bröhan Museum, a private collection of Art Deco and Art Nouveau housewares and furnishings, including a stunning array of glassworks and porcelain. A visit here rounds out the modernist Charlottenburg museums (and makes for quite a day of art-admiration). It is also open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is €6 (€4 discounted).

Need a place to stay? 

Charlottenburg offers plenty of great, Cheapo places to stay.  Check out our favorite picks for the neighborhood. If you feel like staying somewhere else in town, take a look at our complete Berlin hotel listings.

Any questions? Feel free to leave them in the comment box below, and we’ll get back to you.

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As an elegy to the echoing void the thief left behind, I’ve compiled a list of these artists’ residences and studios, peppered with a little ear-popping gossip, of course. Paris has always inspired artists. Often, though, it was their very own “room with a view” that spurred them on to dizzying (and sometimes scandalous) heights.

There are so many places I want to show you that this week I’ll take you on a stroll through Montmartre. Next time we’ll visit the other great Parisian hotbed of modern art, Montparnasse and St-Germain.

Come on, Cheapos, a-façading we will go!

Pablo Picasso
13 Place Emile-Goudeau, Le Bateau-Lavoir (1904-1909)

Picasso’s view of the Sacre Coeur

Named “le Bateau-Lavoir” because of its resemblance to the laundry barges on the Seine, this former piano factory (pictured, at top) was converted into artist studios around 1880. Rent was just fifteen francs, noise and chaos abounded and newspapers served as table linens.

It was here that Picasso met Georges Braque, who was living on the other side of the hill. “Notre pard,” Picasso took to calling the six-foot boxer, race car driver and dancer, a phrase he pinched from “Les Histoires de Buffalo Bill.” A tight bond was formed, and Cubism took flight. Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”—considered by many art historians to be the first modern painting—was painted here.

Braque’s view

11 Boulevard de Clichy (1909-1912)

As more money rolled in, Picasso was able to move downhill to Clichy. Southern exposure and northern light filled the top floor of the new spacious digs, making it a perfect studio. Here Picasso fell under the spell of the stunning view of Sacré Coeur, the bewitching redheaded model Fernande Olivier and a monkey called “Mamina.” Picasso and Braque’s relationship and experimental fragmenting continued to flourish, both racing back and forth to each others’ apartments.

Georges Braque
48 rue d’Orsel and 101 rue Caulaincourt, Hôtel Roma (early 1900s)

The then brand-spanking-new, curvaceous-but-yet-angular Sacré Coeur helped kick off Cubism by rousing both Picasso and Braque. Both were driven to paint the Neo-Byzantine stunner in all her fragmented beauty. Braque could see Sacré Coeur’s powder-white towers and turrets from his window, but from the back side of the hill.

Feeling brazen, he asked the owner of his building on rue d’Orsel to post a sign stating that there were “Cubists on every floor!” But he could back it up. Cubistas. (Just saying.)

Modigliani
13, Place Emile-Goudeau Le Bateau Lavoir (1906) and 7 Place Jean-Baptiste Clément (1906-1907)

Modigliani’s House

Here Modigliani started experimenting with sculpting heads with railroad cross-ties stolen from the Barbès-Rochechouart Metro Station, which was still under construction at the time. His very public and spirited fusses with girlfriends Beatrice Hastings and Jeanne Hébuterne at Place Emile Goudeau are still legendary with the locals. Cool down at the Wallace Fountain with my favorite view, located in the middle of the square.

What’s up next?

Stay tuned for next time, when we’ll head across town to see the Left Bank digs of these artists and more! What happens when Picasso meets his new infatuation Eva Gouel? Will he stay or will he go on to leave Montmartre for Montparnasse?

Like sands through the hourglass, Cheapos, so are the nail-biting days of our lives!

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Though these three museums and museum wings may be closed for the time being, here are some ways to enjoy a similar experience in Paris.

Musée Picasso

Picasso Museum. Photo by Jane VC.

Due to a huge renovation project, the Musée Picasso remains closed until 2012. That’s a long time! The museum plans to host exhibits and other cultural events elsewhere, but no details are yet available.

Those looking for a Picasso fix can visit the Musée de l’Orangerie (pictured above) in the Jardin des Tuileries, which houses a dozen of the artist’s works (open every day except Tuesday from 9 AM to 6 PM). Admission costs €7.50, and is free on the first Sunday of the month.

The Centre George Pompidou also has a few Picassos in its permanent collection (open every day except Tuesday from 11 AM to 9 PM). Tickets cost €10-12, but like the Musée de l’Orangerie, admission is free on the first Sunday of the month.

It doesn’t much help Cheapos traveling to Paris, but a touring exhibit of some of the Picasso Museum’s collection is planned for several countries, kicking off at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki and making stops in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Seattle, New York and San Francisco.

The Catacombs

Paris’ catacombs. Photo by Adam Baker.

As a result of a serious act of vandalism, the Paris Catacombs – a massive underground mausoleum created in the 18th Century which houses the remains of some 6 million Parisians – is currently closed indefinitely. (We’ve heard that minor vandalism has long been a problem at the Catacombs. The seemingly random pile of bones near the exit is actually a stack of the artifacts visitors have tried to take home with them.)

While not quite as spine-tingling, another quirky museum that will take you under the city streets is a tour of the Paris sewer system. The hour-long visit gives a history of the city’s water distribution and removal, including the various pumps and engines used throughout the past several hundred years. The entrance to the sewers is located across from 93 Quai d’Orsay. The museum is open Saturday to Wednesday from 11 AM to 4 PM between October 1 and April 30, and closes at 5 PM between May 1 and September 30. Tickets cost €4.30.

For a taste of the macabre, you can also can check out the Centquatre art center (104 Rue d’Aubervilliers). Tours every other Sunday at 3 PM explain its history as the city’s centralized funeral home. The tour costs €5.

The Islamic art wing at the Louvre

Beyond tourist pleasers like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, the Louvre has an excellent collection of Egyptian and Near Eastern artifacts. Part of that includes an extensive display of Islamic art, which unfortunately remains off limits to the public until construction of its new home is completed in 2010. The new wing has been called “the most radical architectural addition since Pei’s glass pyramid.”

In the meantime, visitors can enjoy an exhibition of Islamic art at the Institute of the Arab World, which features manuscripts, tapestries, glassware and ceramics, jewelry and mosaics from Muslim nations across the globe. The Institute is located at 1 Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard. The expo is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM; Thursday until 10 PM; and weekends and bank holidays until 8 PM. Admission to the exhibition, which runs through March 14, 2010, costs €10.50. For an extra freebie, head up to the roof for a great view of the city.

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Drink specials

Here’s a short list of apéritifs—along with a few daytime touring suggestions to go with your drinks— that’ll help you ease into the evening in harmonious style. So, during “l’heure de apéritif” (the gateway to dinner), you can kick back with a journal or sketchpad avec a cold beverage, and look and feel like a vrai local.

Something old in Montmartre

Local Laurent demonstrates the art of the Picon.

Hankering for a taste of the past? Order a Picon. Created by Gaétan Picon in 1837, this bittersweet blend of oranges and deep blue gentian flowers is typically served with a demi-pression (small draft beer), into which you pour the Picon-bière. Aromatic and richly colored, the orange-toffee flavored brew combines with the hops to pack a potent punch. Take caution! “Just one,” smartly advised local film editor Laurent, “otherwise you just might tumble down.”

Everything tastes better in context. So, if you’re in Montmartre, work up your thirst with a stroll by Van Gogh’s old digs at 54 rue Lepic, Picasso’s studio at the Bateau Lavoir (13 Rue Ravignan), or the Chat Noir at 84 Blvd. Rouchechouart (where Erik Satie tickled the ivories). If you still aren’t parched, check out the old zinc bar exhibited at the Musée Montmartre.

Something new (er) in St-Germain

After the 1915 ban on Absinthe, folks had to make do with Pastis, which tastes nearly the same but no longer induces appearances of la Fée Verte (the Green Fairy) as the hallucinogenic muse of artists and poets. Opalescent green in color with a distinctive anise taste, it’s usually mixed with water and ice. For a literary twist, add champagne instead of water for a concoction Ernest Hemingway lovingly called, “death in an afternoon.”

Promenading through St-Germain? Look for the former residence of Julia Child at 81 rue de l’Université (she had her own homemade absinthe recipe!), or the Closerie des Lilas, where a plaque embedded in the bar marks Hemingway’s favorite seat. Visit the Musée d’Orsay. Note those cloudy green glasses in the works of Degas, Lautrec or Van Gogh.

Something borrowed in the Marais

In 1885 Fernand Muraux found a recipe in Switzerland and introduced Suze (named for a Swiss river). Another gentian-based apéritif, this old-fashioned bar favorite is normally served on ice with equal parts water or orange juice. Make a conversation piece of it by challenging your drinking companions to describe its strange and peculiar flavor! Picasso once said, “I put all the things I like into my pictures—too bad for the things, they just have to put up with it.” Check out his 1912 collage “Verre et bouteille de Suze.”

While meandering through the Marais, visit the Musée Picasso or Musée Carnavalet (where you’ll spot Steinlen’s original Chat Noir sign!).

Something blue in Montparnasse

Say “Kir” for a classic (and classy) refresher made of crème de cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur) in white wine. Originally called blanc-cassis, it was named for Canon Félix Kir, the Mayor of Dijon who popularized it when the good red Burgundy was confiscated during the German Occupation. As usual, brewmaster Hemingway made his own version with vermouth, called “Chambéry Cassis.”

Afternoon aperitifs near Picasso’s old haunt.

Take a break from hobnobbing in Montparnasse with a visit to the Musée Montparnasse. Also hit up Hemingway’s house at 70 bis rue Notre Dame des Champs, or see where Gertrude Stein held court at 27 rue de Fleurus (where Papa was a frequent caller). For real café-culture ambience, try Le Select at 99, Boulevard Montparnasse.

Bon Voyage et Santé, Cheapos!

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