# Antequera

The Menga and Viera dolmens, the karst of El Torcal and an alcazaba above the plain, 50 minutes from Málaga and at the crossroads of Andalusia.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/andalusia/antequera · Revisado: 2026-11-12

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.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Caminito del Rey and El Chorro (a 22.1 km), Priego de Córdoba and the Subbética (a 56.7 km), Setenil de las Bodegas (a 57.7 km), Ronda (a 62.1 km)

## Qué hacer
- **Menga and Viera Dolmens** (1 h 30 · All ages · Free for EU citizens · €1.50 for everyone else): Two megalithic tombs more than 5,000 years old, fifty metres apart, in the first enclosure of the Archaeological Site, at the entrance to Antequera on the Málaga road. Together with the El Romeral tholos and the landscapes of the Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal, they form the Antequera Dolmens Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What you will see
Menga is a gallery covered by stone slabs weighing tens of tonnes, with pillars in the middle and a shaft at the far end. Viera, a few steps away, is a long, narrow corridor leading to a square chamber. The visit starts at the Site Museum, where you are given the compulsory ticket, and continues on foot around the enclosure to the burial mounds. You may not climb on top of them.
Opening hours and admission
From 21 September to 20 March it is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00; Sundays, public holidays and Mondays that are the eve of a holiday, from 9:00 to 15:00. In spring on Fridays and Saturdays it stays open until 21:00 and in summer it opens from 9:00 to 14:00 and from 19:00 to 22:00. Entry is allowed until half an hour before closing. Admission is free with a European Union document and costs €1.50 for everyone else. It is closed on 1 and 6 January, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December.
Getting there
It is at Carretera de Málaga, 5, about ten minutes' walk from the centre. If you come by the A-45, take the A-7282 towards Antequera: the site is on the right. Urban bus line 1 stops in front. The El Romeral tholos is about 3 km away, in another enclosure.
- **Green and Yellow Trails at El Torcal** (2 h · 3 km · Families, with walking footwear · Self-guided · free): El Torcal is a limestone labyrinth at over 1,200 metres, with rocks piled up like plates that water and ice have carved over time. From the upper car park two marked trails set off, circular and free, which you can do on your own any day.
The two trails
The Green Trail is 1.5 km and about 45 minutes, with 40 m of ascent. It goes down to the Hoyo de la Burra and passes the best-known shapes: the Sphinx, the Canary, the Indian or the Lookout. The Yellow Trail shares its start and end with the green one, but goes into the shady alleys: 3 km and about two hours, with the Finger, the Camel, the Jug and the Bottle and a Montpellier maple listed as a notable tree. The ground is very stony and uneven on both: wear walking boots or trainers. Off the trails it is easy to get lost.
Getting up
El Torcal is about 15 km from Antequera along the A-7075, the Villanueva de la Concepción road. At weekends and public holidays from autumn to spring, access by car is closed in the morning once the upper car park is full. You then park below, next to the A-7075 between kilometres 41 and 42, and go up on the shuttle for €3 return or on foot along the Orange Trail: 3.6 km and 263 m of ascent. The road reopens to cars between 13:30 and 14:30.
- **Alcazaba of Antequera** (1 h · All ages · €5 · €4 for ages 8 to 12 and over 65s · free up to age 7 · €8 with the Collegiate Church): The fortress that crowns Antequera, high on the hill above the old town. You enter through the Arch of the Giants, from Plaza de los Escribanos, and walk the walls, the Torre Blanca and the Torre del Homenaje, which locals call Papabellotas, with rooms inside and a terrace from which you see the vega, the Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal.
What you will see
The Torre del Homenaje, from the 14th and 15th centuries, is one of the largest Christian towers in Andalusia and the symbol of the Alcazaba. The Torre Blanca, somewhat smaller and of Nasrid origin, is older and is joined to it by a stretch of wall. The history told by the walls is that of 1410, when the infante Don Fernando took Antequera: a conquest that was key to the taking of Granada eighty years later, and the moment when the city began to grow outside its walls, towards the plain.
From the top you understand the landscape that made Antequera important: the vega, the Peña de los Enamorados, El Torcal and the roads that linked Granada with Málaga.
Opening hours and admission
It is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, except Tuesdays that are not public holidays or eves of holidays, when it opens from 14:00 to 18:00. Last entry is at 17:15. It costs €5, €4 for ages 8 to 12 and over 65s, and is free up to age 7. The combined ticket with the Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María, next door, costs €8. Dogs are admitted, always on a lead and supervised.
Getting there
Walk up from the centre to Plaza de Santa María: it is a ten-minute uphill climb through the old town. The streets at the top are narrow; leave the car below, in one of the car parks in the centre. Afterwards, go down to the City Museum, which is free, or to the Descalzas Convent Museum.
- **El Romeral Tholos** (30 min · All ages · Included with admission to the Archaeological Site): The third tomb of the Dolmens Site, and the most different: a rubble-masonry corridor leading to two chambers with a false dome, made with courses of stone that close in towards the top. It is the second enclosure of the Archaeological Site, a few kilometres from Menga and Viera, among warehouses and olive groves north of the city. It forms part of the property declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What you will see
It was discovered in 1904 by two residents of Antequera, and takes its name from the estate where it stands, El Romeral. You enter along a long corridor covered with limestone slabs. A lower opening leads to the first circular chamber, with a rounded wall and closed by a false vault topped with a large slab. A second, carefully worked doorway leads along a short corridor to another, smaller chamber, roofed in the same way, where part of a slab survives that probably served as an altar for offerings.
The difference from Menga and Viera is noticeable straight away: here small-stone masonry is combined with large slabs, and the mound that covers it is artificial, whereas in the other two a natural hillock was used. That is why it is worth seeing even if you are coming from the great dolmens.
Opening hours and admission
It has the hours and conditions of the Archaeological Site. From 21 September to 20 March it is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00, and Sundays, public holidays and Mondays that are the eve of a holiday from 9:00 to 15:00; in spring and summer the hours change. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is included with that of the site, free with a European Union document. Animals are not allowed in. The visit lasts about half an hour.
Getting there
By car, take the A-7283 towards Córdoba and turn left at the first roundabout. By bus, line 1 goes as far as the Hospital, the nearest stop. There is parking next to the site.
It works well with children: it is short, you go inside the tomb and the false dome is impressive. Combine it with the Alcazaba or the City Museum, where the prehistory of the district has its own room.
- **Ammonite Trail and El Torcal for Families, with a guide** (3 h · 4.5 km · From age 4 as a family; from age 6 for the Ammonite Trail · Desde 8.5 € per person): On your own you can only walk the marked trails. To get into the Torcal Alto where there are no markers, or for a small child to understand what those stones are, the visitor centre runs two guided visits at weekends.
Ammonite Trail
About 4.5 km in a loop, in around three hours with stops, along an unmarked path that can only be done with a guide. The guide reads the landscape as you go: the ammonite fossils that lived under the Tethys Sea, the geology of the karst, the flora, the fauna and the traces of the shepherds. It runs from 10:30 to 13:30 at weekends and public holidays from September to May and costs €13.50, €11 reduced rate. It is not recommended for under-6s.
El Torcal for Families
An hour and a half for families with children aged 4 to 8: a kilometre at their pace looking for stone animals and fossils, and, if it rains or the children are very small, the visit continues in the centre's classroom with remains and an audiovisual. There are two sessions, with reception at 9:30 and 11:30. It costs €8.50 per person and is free for under-3s.
Getting there on time
Both start at the Torcal Alto Visitor Centre. At weekends access by car is cut off once the upper car park is full: go up early or count on the shuttle from the lower car park on the A-7075, which takes longer.
- **Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor** (45 min · All ages · €4 · €2 for ages 8 to 12 and over 65s · free up to age 7): Antequera's great Renaissance church, on Plaza de Santa María, at the foot of the Alcazaba. Its stone façade looks out over the city from on high, and inside it is a spacious three-aisled church. It is the natural stop after the Alcazaba, which is right next door.
What you will see
It was built between 1514 and 1550, on the initiative of the Bishop of Málaga, Diego Ramírez de Villaescusa, and ashlar blocks from the Roman city of Singilia were reused in its walls. The east end still follows Gothic models, but the rest was finished in a fully developed Renaissance style.
The façade, entirely of ashlar, is the most monumental in Antequera: three bays separated by buttresses, a doorway in each, the central one larger, and above a blind balustrade and some curious fluted conical pinnacles. Inside, the church is no longer used for worship and is almost empty of altarpieces, because it hosts concerts and exhibitions. That lets you see the architecture well: a hall church of three aisles separated by Ionic columns, with five round arches on each side, and a main chapel with a Gothic-Mudéjar rib vault of stars and windows that flood it with light.
The church is adapted for accessibility and offers an audio guide in several languages, also in a version for children.
Opening hours and admission
It has the same opening hours as the Alcazaba: every day from 10:00 to 18:00, and on Tuesdays that are not public holidays from 14:00 to 18:00. It costs €4, €2 for ages 8 to 12 and over 65s, free up to age 7; with the Alcazaba, €8. Allow about 45 minutes, a little more if there is an exhibition.
Getting there and what to combine
You walk up from the centre through the old town, in about ten minutes of uphill climbing, or arrive coming down from the Alcazaba. The streets at the top are narrow: leave the car in one of the car parks in the centre.
Look out over Plaza de Santa María before you go. It is a viewpoint over the Roman baths you can see below, the course of the río de la Villa and the church of El Carmen, and in the middle it has the statue of the Antequera poet Pedro Espinosa. To continue with the city's history, go down to the City Museum, on Plaza del Coso Viejo.
- **Antequera City Museum** (1 h · All ages · Free · audio guide €3 · hosted visit €10): Antequera's municipal museum occupies the Palacio de Nájera, on Plaza del Coso Viejo, right in the centre. It began in 1908 as the Town Council's archaeological museum and today tells the story of the Antequera lands in order, from prehistory to the 20th century. Admission is free, which makes it an easy stop on any stroll round the old town.
The building and the collection
The palace was begun in the first third of the 18th century. From the square, your eye is caught by its cut-brick belvedere tower, the work of the master builder Nicolás Mejías, and inside it has a courtyard with twelve Tuscan columns and a staircase covered by a dome with plasterwork.
The rooms run from prehistory and megalithism, with an echo of the nearby Menga and Viera Dolmens, to Roman Antequera: funerary rites, daily life, sculpture from the villas of the vega and a collection of inscriptions. Next come Visigothic and medieval remains, the transition to the Renaissance city, 16th- and 17th-century vestments and embroidery, silverwork and Baroque painting and sculpture, with work by Pedro de Mena, Antonio Mohedano, Bocanegra and Juan Correa, up to 20th-century painters such as Cristóbal Toral.
The Ephebe of Antequera
The most famous piece is in Room IV. It is a 1st-century Roman bronze, hollow and cast by the lost-wax method, depicting a naked adolescent wearing a crown of ivy leaves. It turned up by chance around 1955, during farm work at the Las Piletas farmstead, in the vega, and was made known in 1963. Its arms held away from the body suggest that it held an offering.
Opening hours and admission
It is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00. On 24 and 31 December and 5 January it closes at 14:00, and it does not open on 25 December or 1 and 6 January. For the full visit you must enter at least one hour before closing. Admission is free. The audio guide costs €3 (€2 for children and over 65s) and the hosted visit, on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30, €10 (€5 reduced). Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Telephone: 952 70 83 00.
Allow an hour; a little more with the audio guide. Pets are admitted on a lead and supervised.
Getting there
Plaza del Coso Viejo is in the centre, a few minutes' walk from the Descalzas Convent Museum and a ten-minute climb from the Alcazaba.
- **Descalzas Convent Museum** (45 min · Adults and teenagers · 5 €): On Plaza de las Descalzas, the convent of San José of the Discalced Carmelite nuns shows the heritage the community has gathered over centuries: sculpture, painting and silverwork spread across the church and the rooms on the upper floor. It is a small, very dense museum, the kind you walk round slowly, and one of the richest collections of sacred art in Antequera.
What you will see
The visit starts in the church, a jewel of Antequera Baroque, with a high altarpiece attributed to Francisco Primo and presided over by a 17th-century St Joseph. From the sacristy, where two portraits of churchmen from the Indies and a Velázquez-style mirror hang, a staircase leads up to the rooms.
In the Tribune Room there is a bust of a Sorrowing Virgin by Pedro de Mena, a St Michael by the Neapolitan Giuseppe Sarno and canvases from the workshop of Antonio Mohedano. The Nicola Fumo Room holds the Immaculate Conception and the St Joseph this Neapolitan sculptor made in 1705, two canvases by the Mexican Antonio de Torres and, in a display case, the Foundress's Monstrance of 1654 and a reliquary with an autograph letter from St Teresa dated 1577.
The Nativity Room takes its name from the Descalzas' Nativity scene, which sets the mystery in a backdrop of Antequera's own acropolis, with the Alcazaba above; the figures are by Caspicara of Quito. In the St Teresa Room a canvas by Luca Giordano takes pride of place, beside the Virgin of Solitude, known as the Priorísima, by Antonio del Castillo (1692). The tour ends in the upper gallery of the little cloister, with 18th- and 19th-century Infant Jesus figures in wooden display cases.
Opening hours and admission
It is open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00, on Saturdays from 9:00 to 12:30 and from 17:00 to 19:00 and on Sundays from 9:00 to 12:30. It is closed on Mondays. Admission costs €5. Published guides do not entirely agree on the hours, so it is worth calling beforehand on 606 85 57 92, the number given by Antequera Tourism.
Allow about 45 minutes. There are stairs up to the rooms, and it is a visit that interests adults and teenagers more than small children, though the Nativity scene usually appeals to everyone.
Getting there and what to combine
Plaza de las Descalzas is in the centre, in the lower part of the historic quarter, a few minutes' walk from the City Museum, in the Palacio de Nájera. From there you can climb to the Alcazaba and the Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María in a ten-minute uphill walk. Leave the car in one of the car parks in the centre: the streets are narrow.

## Dónde comer
- **Arte de Cozina** (Restaurant, Antequera, €€€). Qué pedir: an assortment of porras to share, the partridge in gazpacho broth or the suckling kid, and bienmesabe for dessert
- **Torcal Alto Restaurant** (Restaurant, Antequera, €). Qué pedir: the porra antequerana to start, the plato torcaleño or the migas, and bienmesabe for dessert
- **Parador de Antequera Restaurant** (Restaurant, Antequera, €€€). Qué pedir: the Antequera dishes on the menu, made with produce from the vega

## By car: By car on the A-45, and on foot in the old town
Antequera is at the junction of the A-45 and the A-92: about 50 minutes from Málaga, an hour and a quarter from Granada and an hour and a half from Córdoba. You need the car for El Torcal, 15 km away, and to go from the Menga and Viera dolmens to El Romeral. The old town is seen on foot: leave the car in a car park in the centre.
Presupuesto orientativo: 60–120 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir if you're driving
- **Parador de Antequera** (Hotel): The Parador de Antequera is a modern building, with large glass walls and sober decoration, set in a landscaped area of Paseo García del Olmo, 2, next to the bullring and the bus station. There is no castle or convent behind it: it is one of those Paradores chosen for comfort, light and gardens. From the rooms and the terrace you see the Antequera vega, and at sunset the sun falls over it.
Between the bullring and the bus station
That corner of the city has practical advantages. If you arrive by bus from Málaga or from the airport, you get off next door. If you arrive by car, the outdoor car park is free and has an electric-car charging point, so you leave it there for the whole trip and walk down to the centre in a few minutes. Going up to the Alcazaba and the Collegiate Church of Santa María is a walk with a slope; the Menga and Viera dolmens, at the other end, are better done by car. El Torcal is about 12 km away according to the Parador, and golf 8.
The Parador itself gives road distances: 49 km to Málaga, 99 to Granada, 122 to Córdoba and 150 to Seville. That is why it works as a base for exploring Andalusia from the centre.
Four room types
There are standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible doubles. All have air conditioning, a flat-screen television with Chromecast, a minibar, a safe big enough for a laptop, a hairdryer and free wifi. There is room service, breakfast in the room and laundry. Prices change with the date and are checked in the calendar on its website, with room-only, bed-and-breakfast or half-board rates; members of the Amigos de Paradores programme get 5% off online bookings.
Garden, pool and restaurant
The garden has a seasonal pool and a playground, so it suits families with small children. The Parador restaurant serves Antequera and Málaga-coast cooking in a glass-walled dining room, and there is a terrace for a drink. The Parador is set up for cycle tourists and has four function rooms; the largest, Infante Don Fernando, holds up to 200 people for a cocktail reception, so some weekends you will coincide with a wedding.
What the listing does not make clear
The Paradores website does not give details here of the pool dates or the conditions for dogs: reception can answer, on 952 840 261 or at antequera@parador.es. Rooms with a view of the vega depend on availability; ask for one when you book.
- **Arte de Cozina Guesthouse** (Small hotel, desde 59 € / night): The Arte de Cozina guesthouse is the rooms of Charo Carmona's house, on the first and second floors of a 17th-century Antequera building at Calle Calzada, 27-29, which was once part of the palace of the Baron of Sabasona. On the ground floor is its Antequera-cuisine restaurant, which is the reason many people choose to sleep here. Antequera Tourism lists it as a two-star guesthouse: a small house, without a big-hotel reception or a pool, designed for sleeping in the centre and setting out on foot.
Calle Calzada: on foot to the Alcazaba
Calle Calzada runs down from the historic quarter towards Plaza de San Sebastián, which is about five minutes' walk away. From the door you walk up to the Alcazaba and the Collegiate Church of Santa María, and down to the museums in the centre without moving the car. The Menga and Viera dolmens are on the outskirts, on the road out towards Granada: you can get there on a long walk or a short trip by car or urban bus.
Four room types and their prices
The website publishes four types with a "from" price: single from €51 a night, standard double from €59, superior double from €67 and triple, with three beds, from €86. All have a private bathroom, air conditioning, heating and linen, and guests can borrow books from the house library. The website does not give sizes or views for each room: if a double bed or a street-facing window matters to you, ask for it when booking.
When you book on its website, the house advertises the best price, no booking fees, a 5% discount if you pay at the hotel and 14% if you stay two nights or more. Early check-in and late check-out depend on availability that day. The website does not publish check-in and check-out times or whether breakfast is included: ask on 952 840 014 or at info@artedecozina.com.
Car, train or bus
The house has no parking of its own. The nearest is the Plaza de Castilla car park, open 24 hours, and there are free areas at La Moraleda and Paseo de los Colegiales, all listed in the car parks in the centre entry. Parking in the narrow streets of the old town is difficult, so leave the car and walk up with your suitcase.
Without a car, the bus station, on Paseo García del Olmo, is about a fifteen-minute walk away; the high-speed train station, Antequera AV, is about two kilometres away and reached by taxi or the urban bus shuttle.
Who it suits
It suits you if you are travelling to eat well and see the centre on foot, as a couple, alone or with a child in the triple. If you are after a pool, a garden or parking at the door, the Parador or the cortijo of Finca Eslava, on the outskirts, suit better. The website does not say whether dogs are admitted: check before arriving with one.
- **Hotel Restaurante Finca Eslava** (Hotel): Finca Eslava is a four-star hotel set in an 18th-century Andalusian cortijo, at kilometre 120 of the Córdoba road, on the northern edge of Antequera. Around the farmhouse there are gardens, patios, a pool and marquees, and in the cortijo's old outbuildings (the grain lofts, the press, the caretakers' quarters) banquets and meetings are held. It has its own restaurant and a sports club, Aquaslava, with a gym, a spinning room and massages.
Outside the old town, with the car at the door
The location decides whether it suits you. The hotel is on the outskirts, in a countryside setting, and the historic centre is not comfortably reached on foot: to go up to the Alcazaba or dine on Calle Calzada you need a car or a taxi. In return, the motorway is next door: you arrive by the A-45 from Málaga or Córdoba and by the A-92 from Granada or Seville, without crossing the centre. The Menga and Viera dolmens and the El Romeral tholos are a few minutes by car, and El Torcal about half an hour.
Cortijo rooms
The website offers doubles with a double bed, twins with two beds, doubles with an extra bed for a third guest and junior suites. The rooms keep the feel of the cortijo, with timber beams and whitewashed walls, and have air conditioning and free wifi. The website does not publish fixed prices: the price comes up in the search tool according to the date. Booking there, it advertises a 15% discount and a further 10% on a non-refundable rate.
Offers with dinner
The hotel restaurant is part of its packages. The "Escapada con cena" (Dinner getaway) includes one night in a double, breakfast, a three-course dinner, a welcome cava and free parking. The "Especial parejas" (Couples special) adds an à la carte dinner for two, with drinks up to €20, breakfast and access to the sports club. If you do not book a package, ask whether breakfast is included in the rate.
The spa, closed for works
In November 2026 the website warns that the spa remains closed until further notice because of maintenance and refurbishment works at the sports centre. If the spa is the reason for your trip, confirm before booking that it has reopened. The gym and the garden pool are facilities separate from the spa.
Who it is for
It is a good base if you travel by car and want to park without a struggle, with children who need a garden, or if you are going to a celebration at the cortijo itself. If you prefer to walk out to dinner in the old town, the Parador, next to the bus station, or the rooms at Arte de Cozina on Calle Calzada put you closer. The website does not say whether dogs are admitted or what the check-in and check-out times are: ask on 952 844 934.

## Car-free: Car-free, by train or bus from Málaga
Antequera can be done without a car: the Málaga train reaches the Antequera AV station and the Alsa bus the bus station, next to the Parador. The old town, the Alcazaba and the Menga and Viera dolmens are covered on foot or by urban bus. What has no public transport is El Torcal: a taxi or an organised visit.
Presupuesto orientativo: 55–110 € por persona y día.
### Dónde dormir without a car
- **Parador de Antequera** (Hotel): The Parador de Antequera is a modern building, with large glass walls and sober decoration, set in a landscaped area of Paseo García del Olmo, 2, next to the bullring and the bus station. There is no castle or convent behind it: it is one of those Paradores chosen for comfort, light and gardens. From the rooms and the terrace you see the Antequera vega, and at sunset the sun falls over it.
Between the bullring and the bus station
That corner of the city has practical advantages. If you arrive by bus from Málaga or from the airport, you get off next door. If you arrive by car, the outdoor car park is free and has an electric-car charging point, so you leave it there for the whole trip and walk down to the centre in a few minutes. Going up to the Alcazaba and the Collegiate Church of Santa María is a walk with a slope; the Menga and Viera dolmens, at the other end, are better done by car. El Torcal is about 12 km away according to the Parador, and golf 8.
The Parador itself gives road distances: 49 km to Málaga, 99 to Granada, 122 to Córdoba and 150 to Seville. That is why it works as a base for exploring Andalusia from the centre.
Four room types
There are standard doubles, superior doubles, junior suites and accessible doubles. All have air conditioning, a flat-screen television with Chromecast, a minibar, a safe big enough for a laptop, a hairdryer and free wifi. There is room service, breakfast in the room and laundry. Prices change with the date and are checked in the calendar on its website, with room-only, bed-and-breakfast or half-board rates; members of the Amigos de Paradores programme get 5% off online bookings.
Garden, pool and restaurant
The garden has a seasonal pool and a playground, so it suits families with small children. The Parador restaurant serves Antequera and Málaga-coast cooking in a glass-walled dining room, and there is a terrace for a drink. The Parador is set up for cycle tourists and has four function rooms; the largest, Infante Don Fernando, holds up to 200 people for a cocktail reception, so some weekends you will coincide with a wedding.
What the listing does not make clear
The Paradores website does not give details here of the pool dates or the conditions for dogs: reception can answer, on 952 840 261 or at antequera@parador.es. Rooms with a view of the vega depend on availability; ask for one when you book.
- **Arte de Cozina Guesthouse** (Small hotel, desde 59 € / night): The Arte de Cozina guesthouse is the rooms of Charo Carmona's house, on the first and second floors of a 17th-century Antequera building at Calle Calzada, 27-29, which was once part of the palace of the Baron of Sabasona. On the ground floor is its Antequera-cuisine restaurant, which is the reason many people choose to sleep here. Antequera Tourism lists it as a two-star guesthouse: a small house, without a big-hotel reception or a pool, designed for sleeping in the centre and setting out on foot.
Calle Calzada: on foot to the Alcazaba
Calle Calzada runs down from the historic quarter towards Plaza de San Sebastián, which is about five minutes' walk away. From the door you walk up to the Alcazaba and the Collegiate Church of Santa María, and down to the museums in the centre without moving the car. The Menga and Viera dolmens are on the outskirts, on the road out towards Granada: you can get there on a long walk or a short trip by car or urban bus.
Four room types and their prices
The website publishes four types with a "from" price: single from €51 a night, standard double from €59, superior double from €67 and triple, with three beds, from €86. All have a private bathroom, air conditioning, heating and linen, and guests can borrow books from the house library. The website does not give sizes or views for each room: if a double bed or a street-facing window matters to you, ask for it when booking.
When you book on its website, the house advertises the best price, no booking fees, a 5% discount if you pay at the hotel and 14% if you stay two nights or more. Early check-in and late check-out depend on availability that day. The website does not publish check-in and check-out times or whether breakfast is included: ask on 952 840 014 or at info@artedecozina.com.
Car, train or bus
The house has no parking of its own. The nearest is the Plaza de Castilla car park, open 24 hours, and there are free areas at La Moraleda and Paseo de los Colegiales, all listed in the car parks in the centre entry. Parking in the narrow streets of the old town is difficult, so leave the car and walk up with your suitcase.
Without a car, the bus station, on Paseo García del Olmo, is about a fifteen-minute walk away; the high-speed train station, Antequera AV, is about two kilometres away and reached by taxi or the urban bus shuttle.
Who it suits
It suits you if you are travelling to eat well and see the centre on foot, as a couple, alone or with a child in the triple. If you are after a pool, a garden or parking at the door, the Parador or the cortijo of Finca Eslava, on the outskirts, suit better. The website does not say whether dogs are admitted: check before arriving with one.
### Servicios
- **Train and Bus to Antequera**: Antequera AV station, 2 km from the centre · Bus from Málaga station and from the airport (Alsa)

## As a family: Giant stones, a castle and a rock labyrinth

Antequera works with children because everything is short and very visual: dolmens you can walk into standing up, an alcazaba with towers you can climb and a reserve of rocks shaped like animals. Split the day between the city in the morning and El Torcal, or the other way round.

### What works best
The Green Trail at El Torcal: 1.5 km and 45 minutes, looking for the Sphinx and the Canary

El Torcal for Families, for children aged 4 to 8, at €8.50 and free up to age 3

The Menga and Viera dolmens, free with an EU ID

The Alcazaba, free up to age 7

### Where to sleep
Parador de Antequera, with a garden, seasonal pool and playground

Hotel Finca Eslava, with a garden and pool

### Where to eat
Torcal Alto restaurant, with children's dishes and an outdoor play area

Parador restaurant

### Worth knowing
El Torcal is at over 1,200 metres: bring a coat even if it is nice below

The El Torcal trails are not for pushchairs: bring a baby carrier

The Ammonite Trail is not recommended for under-6s

### Qué hacer as a family
- Menga and Viera Dolmens
- Green and Yellow Trails at El Torcal
- Alcazaba of Antequera
- El Romeral Tholos
- Ammonite Trail and El Torcal for Families, with a guide

## Consejos

### Dolmens in the morning
On Sunday, the site closes at 15:00 and you can enter until half an hour before.

### To El Torcal, early or after lunch
At weekends, before 9:00 you drive up; after that, it is the shuttle until reopening.

### Buy the combined ticket
Alcazaba and Collegiate Church for €8, free up to age 7.

### Boots for El Torcal
The trails are loose, very uneven stone.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### How much does it cost to see the Antequera dolmens?
Nothing if you are a European Union citizen and can prove it. Everyone else pays €1.50. It includes Menga, Viera and El Romeral.

### Can you drive up to El Torcal?
Yes, to the visitor centre, except on weekend and high-season public holiday mornings, when you go up by shuttle from the lower car park, for €3 return.

### What is open in Antequera on Sunday?
The dolmens, from 9:00 to 15:00; the Alcazaba and the Collegiate Church, from 10:00 to 18:00; the city museum, from 10:00 to 18:00; the El Torcal visitor centre, from 9:30 to 17:30.

### Can you go to Antequera without a car?
Yes, by train or bus from Málaga. For El Torcal you will need a taxi or an organised visit.

### Can you take a dog?
On the El Torcal routes and in the Alcazaba, yes, on a lead. Animals are not allowed in the dolmens.

### How long does it take from Málaga to Antequera?
About 50 minutes by car along the A-45, 49 km.