Sunday in Antequera from Málaga: dolmens, Alcazaba and Torcal

The plan

The day at a glance

Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.

09:30 1
Menga and Viera Dolmens
Free with an EU ID; entrance via the Site Museum
6 min by car3 km
11:00 2
El Romeral Tholos
Same ticket and hours
10 min by car4 km
12:00 3
Alcazaba of Antequera
Park at Plaza de Castilla and walk up · €8 with the Collegiate Church
Carry on on foot
12:50 4
Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María la Mayor
Next to the Alcazaba
30 min by car16 km
14:15 5
Torcal Alto Restaurant
Go up after the road reopens; booking

Centro de Visitantes Torcal Alto, carretera A-7075, 29200 Antequera · +34 952 243 324

Restaurant €
Book
2 min on foot
16:00 6
Green and Yellow Trails at El Torcal
Green Route, 45 min, or Yellow, 2 h
17:30
Back home
Come down by the A-7075 before dark

Approximate cost About €10–20 per person

Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.

The route

Menga and Viera Dolmens

Sunday in Antequera has an order: the dolmens close at 15:00, and the El Torcal road is closed to cars in the morning on season weekends. So the town comes first and the karst after lunch, when the road reopens and the car park up there empties.

The day, hour by hour

9:30 · Menga and Viera dolmens. From Málaga, about 50 minutes on the A-45; park at the site itself. Pick up the ticket at the Site Museum and enter the two tombs. From the mouth of Menga, look at the Peña de los Enamorados.

11:00 · Tholos of El Romeral. 3 km away, at the other site, towards the Córdoba road. Same ticket.

12:00 · Alcazaba. Leave the car in Plaza de Castilla and walk up. Enter by the Arco de los Gigantes and climb the Torre del Homenaje.

12:50 · Real Colegiata de Santa María. Twenty paces away. With the combined ticket, €8 for both.

14:15 · Lunch at Torcal Alto. Drive up 16 km on the A-7075 when the road reopens, between 13:30 and 14:30. If you arrive earlier, park below and go up on the shuttle, €3 return. Migas, porra antequerana and bienmesabe on the terrace among the rocks.

16:00 · Green or Yellow Route. They leave from the same visitor centre: 45 minutes or two hours.

17:30 · Head home. Go down with daylight: the road is winding.

Where and what to eat

The Torcal Alto restaurant is the only one inside the site and opens with the visitor centre, every day from 9:30 to 17:30. If you prefer to eat in the town, Arte de Cozina revives the Antequera recipe book; its website does not publish the hours, so confirm them.

With children and with a dog

With children it comes cheap: the dolmens are free and the Alcazaba is free up to age 7. The Green Route is short and full of stone figures; bring a baby carrier, not a pushchair. With a dog, animals are not admitted to the dolmens; the Alcazaba and the Torcal routes, yes, on a lead. On the shuttle only dogs under 10 kg in a carrier go up: with a big dog, drive up after the reopening.

Time1 h 30

Olaf Tausch · CC BY 3.0

Change the route

With young children, if it rains or if you fancy something else: another stop that fits the same day.

If you go on a Saturday or public holiday from September to May: Ammonite Route with a guide, 10:30 to 13:30: Ammonite Trail and El Torcal for Families, with a guideGuided visit · 1 hr 30–3 hrs · Weekends and public holidays · From €8.50 · Booking at the Torcal Alto visitor centre

A dish from the kitchen at Arte de Cozina

To eat in the centre: confirm when booking that it is open on Sunday: Arte de CozinaRecipe-book Antequera cooking in a 17th-century house on Calle Calzada: porras, partridge in gazpacho broth, suckling kid and a €70 tasting menu.

If it rains: open every day 10:00 to 18:00: Antequera City MuseumMuseum · 1 hr · In the Palacio de Nájera, Plaza del Coso Viejo · Every day 10:00 to 18:00

Where to eat

Where to eat?

Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.

Torcal Alto Restaurant

Restaurant · Antequera · €€€€

What to order: the porra antequerana to start, the plato torcaleño or the migas, and bienmesabe for dessert

Arte de Cozina

Restaurant · Antequera · €€€€

What to order: an assortment of porras to share, the partridge in gazpacho broth or the suckling kid, and bienmesabe for dessert

Parador de Antequera Restaurant

Restaurant · Antequera · €€€€

What to order: the Antequera dishes on the menu, made with produce from the vega

Map

The stops, in order

With where to park at each one.

What to do Eat 88 €Stay Services

Getting there

By car or without one?

By car

From Málaga, 50 minutes on the A-45. From Granada, an hour and a quarter on the A-92; from Córdoba, an hour and a half on the A-45; from Seville, a little over an hour and a half on the A-92.

Without a car

Train from Málaga to Antequera AV or an Alsa bus. The morning is done on foot and by city bus; there is no public transport to El Torcal.

When to go

When to go to Antequera

From October to May. On Sundays the dolmens open from 9:00 to 15:00 and the El Torcal road is closed in the morning when the car park fills; it reopens between 13:30 and 14:30.

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Best timeGood timeLow season

Tips

Worth knowing first

1
Dolmens before 14:30
On Sundays that is the last entry.
2
To El Torcal, after the reopening
In the morning the road is closed when it fills up.
3
Wrap up warm
El Torcal is at over 1,200 metres.