Antequera, five-thousand-year-old dolmens and a sea of stone.

Antequera is in the geographical centre of Andalusia, where the Málaga–Córdoba motorway crosses the Seville–Granada one. That is why you know it from driving past on the ring road and almost never from stopping. It deserves a whole day: it has three megalithic tombs that are World Heritage, a landscape of rocks that looks like another planet and an old town with an alcazaba, a collegiate church and a cuisine of its own, that of the porra and the bienmesabe.

How do you get there from Málaga, Granada, Córdoba or Seville?

From Málaga it is 49 km, about 50 minutes along the A-45. From Granada, 99 km along the A-92, about an hour and a quarter. From Córdoba, 122 km along the A-45, around an hour and a half. From Seville, 150 km along the A-92, a little over an hour and a half. These are the Parador's distances; the times are our estimate without traffic.

Without a car, from Málaga there is a train from María Zambrano to Antequera AV station, about two kilometres from the centre, and an Alsa bus from the bus station and from the airport. Public transport does not go to El Torcal.

Where do you park?

In the old town, the streets are narrow and steep, and you climb the Alcazaba on foot. Leave the car in the car park on the Plaza de Castilla, open 24 hours, or in one of the free open-air car parks: La Moraleda, the Plaza de Jesús, Calle Saeta or the Paseo de los Colegiales, which is taken over by the market on Tuesdays. The dolmens have their own car park, and the motorhome area on Calle Miguel de Cervantes is free.

What is there to see in a day?

Start early at the Menga and Viera dolmens, at the entrance to the city on the Málaga road. The visit leaves from the Site Museum and is free with a European Union document. From the mouth of Menga you see the Peña de los Enamorados, which the dolmen faces. Three kilometres away, in another enclosure, is the El Romeral tholos, with its false stone dome. On Sunday both close at 15:00: don't leave them for the afternoon.

Then go up to the old town and enter the Alcazaba through the Arco de los Gigantes. The Keep has a terrace over the plain, and next to it is the Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María; the combined ticket costs €8. Come down to eat in the centre.

In the afternoon, El Torcal. It is 15 km along the Villanueva de la Concepción road to the visitor centre, at over 1,200 metres. The Green Route takes 45 minutes and the Yellow Route, two hours, goes into rocky alleys with shapes like a sphinx, a camel or a jug. At weekends and public holidays from autumn to spring the road is closed to cars in the morning when the car park fills and reopens between 13:30 and 14:30, so the afternoon is a good time to go up.

How much time do you need?

A day covers the dolmens, the Alcazaba and a route in El Torcal. With a night you add the guided three-hour Ammonites Route, the museums in the centre and an unhurried dinner. If you sleep two, Antequera is a good base for the Caminito del Rey, less than an hour away.

When to go?

Spring is the best time: the fields of the plain are green and El Torcal has flowers among the stones. October and November are quiet and mild. In summer, do the old town and the dolmens first thing; El Torcal, being high up, is cooler. In winter there may be fog and wind up there: wrap up.