Málaga–Costa del Sol Airport to Torremolinos
Barely 6 km down the coast; the westbound C-1 train gets there in about 11 minutes for €1.80, and a taxi is quick and cheap too.
Torremolinos, MálagaHans Olav Lien / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0Torremolinos is the closest big resort to the airport, built around the long Bajondillo and Carihuela beaches, a busy promenade and rows of package hotels. La Carihuela is known for its seafood chiringuitos.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Torremolinos, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €25).
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €25 | Private transfer |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €25 | Private transfer |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €25 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Cheapest fare | From €1.8, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Train
€1.80 to Torremolinos station, which sits in the town centre above the beach lifts. The station is a short but steep walk up from the Bajondillo seafront.
Where to catch it: Aeropuerto Cercanías station above T3 arrivals — board a Fuengirola-bound train (the opposite direction to Málaga).
Best for budget travellers near a stationTaxi
Roughly €20-25 on the meter including the €5.50 airport add-on. The quickest door-to-door option given how close the town is, and it skips the walk up from the station.
Where to catch it: Rank outside Terminal 3 arrivals — a short hop, so no need to pre-arrange anything.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
About €25-35 fixed, and it costs the same whether you land at breakfast time or well after midnight — handy for the many early and late charter flights into AGP.
Where to catch it: Meet your driver in T3 arrivals; a short ride, but the car is already paid for.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Call it €20-45 a day. Rarely worth it for such a close resort unless you want the car for wider Costa del Sol trips; hotel parking is often charged separately.
Where to catch it: Rental centre by Terminal 3; Torremolinos is a five-minute drive on the MA-21.
Best for travellers who want to exploreTorremolinos & Málaga in photos
Buying tickets in Málaga
Málaga's best-value link is the Cercanías C-1 suburban train from the airport's own station to María Zambrano and Centro-Alameda, about 12 minutes for roughly €1.80, running every 20 minutes into the evening; the same line runs west to Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola. Buy tickets at the platform machines. Alternatively, the Línea Exprés A airport bus to the city centre costs about €4, paid on board or with a transport card. Both take cash; card payment is widely accepted.
Taxi scams & safety in Málaga
Use the official taxi rank outside Arrivals. Málaga airport taxis run on a regulated airport tariff with a minimum fare of roughly €18 by day, rising to about €22-26 in evenings, at weekends and late at night, so ask for an estimate up front. Ignore unlicensed touts inside the terminal. Uber, Bolt and Cabify all operate at Málaga; request the ride in the app and head to the marked ride-hail pickup zone rather than joining the taxi queue.
Getting from AGP to Torremolinos
Torremolinos was the resort that started the whole Costa del Sol package habit, and it sits so close to Málaga Airport that the transport question almost answers itself. The town is barely 6 km down the coast, one short stop on the Cercanías C-1 line, so the cheap train is the obvious headline before you even reach the rank. The only thing that complicates it is where your hotel actually is: the beach sits low against the water at Bajondillo and Carihuela, while the train drops you up in the town centre, and that difference in height is what decides the whole trip for a lot of people.
The C-1 reaches Torremolinos in eleven minutes for €1.80
The Cercanías station sits directly above Terminal 3 arrivals, so you follow the train signs rather than stepping outside. The catch that trips up first-timers: Torremolinos is westbound, the opposite direction to Málaga city, so you want a Fuengirola-bound train, not one heading into town. Trains run roughly every 20 minutes from about 06:15 until half past midnight, and the single fare to Torremolinos is €1.80 whether you tap a contactless card or buy a paper ticket. Eleven minutes later you are standing in the middle of the resort. For two people with cabin bags and a hotel near the centre, nothing else comes close on price, and you skip the queue at the rank entirely.
Torremolinos station sits at the top of the hill, not on the sand
Here is the part the fare table never mentions. The station is up in the town centre, above the famous beach lifts and the Calle San Miguel shopping street, while the Bajondillo seafront is down at sea level. Getting between the two means a short but genuinely steep walk, either down the stepped Cuesta del Tajo or via the elevators. Heading to the beach with the bags rolling behind you is fine; hauling a full suitcase back up at the end is the moment people wish they had paid for a taxi. If your hotel is up near the centre or the station, the train is faultless. If it is down on the Carihuela promenade among the seafood chiringuitos, weigh the last ten minutes carefully before you commit to the platform.
From the T3 rank, a metered taxi is quick and barely more than lunch
Because the town is so close, the taxi maths stays friendly. The rank sits right outside Terminal 3 arrivals, there is no need to pre-arrange anything, and the meter usually lands somewhere around €20 to €25 once the €5.50 airport supplement is added. That covers the whole car, so a family of four splits it four ways and pays less per head than four train tickets would cost. More to the point, a taxi is door to door: it takes you past the station and down to the seafront hotel without that climb up the hill, and the ride itself is about twelve minutes on the MA-21. For a short late-night arrival with tired kids, it is the sensible spend.
A pre-booked car costs the same at breakfast or after midnight
AGP takes a heavy load of charter flights, and plenty of them land before dawn or well past midnight when the meter feels less predictable and the rank can thin out. A pre-booked private transfer through Welcome Pickups or one of the Costa del Sol firms fixes the price in advance at roughly €25 to €35, and that figure holds whatever hour your flight actually touches down. You meet the driver in T3 arrivals and the car is already paid for, which is the reassurance that matters most when you have booked a cheap early-season charter with an awkward slot. It is a few euros more than the meter, but you know the number before you leave home.
Hiring a car for Torremolinos alone rarely pays off. The rental centre is beside Terminal 3, the drive is about five minutes on the MA-21, and a day runs anywhere from €20 to €45 before you factor in hotel parking, which is usually charged on top. Keep the car-hire desk in mind only if you plan to range further along the coast to Marbella or up to the villages behind it. For most stays, the honest choice comes down to a €1.80 train if your bed is near the centre, or a €20-something taxi if it is down by the water and you would rather not meet that hill twice.
