Things to Do in Málaga

The rule is ownership, not content. The Junta's two sites, the Roman Theatre and the Museo de Málaga, close on Monday. The Ayuntamiento's Pompidou closes on Tuesday.

The private foundations and the municipal Casa Natal open seven days: the Picasso Museum and the Casa Natal never take a weekday off. The Carmen Thyssen, the Museo Ruso, La Concepción, the Museo del Vidrio and the Cementerio Inglés all take Monday. So the week has a shape: Monday is for the Picasso Museum, the Casa Natal, MIMMA, the Cathedral, the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro, and the beach.

Tuesday is the only day the Pompidou is dark. Every other day everything is open, and Sunday afternoon is when most of it is free. Full detail, with a table per day, is on what is open and free on Sunday and Monday.

The Holidays That Change the Table

Andalusia's 2026 holidays, from the Junta's calendar order, are 1 and 6 January, 28 February, 2 and 3 April, 1 May, 15 August, 12 October, 2 November, 7 and 8 December and 25 December, and Málaga adds 19 August and 8 September as local days. On those dates the Roman Theatre and the Museo de Málaga run Sunday hours, 10:00 to 16:00 and 09:00 to 15:00, and the Museo de Málaga opens on the Monday before a holiday. 28 February, the Día de Andalucía, is a free day at the Picasso Museum and the Casa Natal. The Thyssen, Pompidou, Ruso and Alcazaba pages do not list it.

The Feria, 15 to 22 August 2026, shortens the Cathedral to 10:30 to 14:30 from 17 August and closes it to visitors on 15 and 16 August, and the bullring tour runs 10:00 to 15:00 for the week. The full calendar, with Semana Santa and the Christmas lights, is on the events calendar.

Eleven of the twenty-six cost nothing at any hour, and they are not the leftovers. The Roman Theatre, Tuesday to Sunday. The Museo de Málaga, for anyone with an EU passport or ID card. CAC Málaga in Soho. Atarazanas on a weekday morning. Calle Larios and Plaza de la Constitución at 08:30, before the shops. The Parque de Málaga as the shaded route to the port. Muelle Uno, the Palmeral and the walk out to La Farola lighthouse, a working lighthouse with no published visiting hours. La Malagueta and the fifteen other city beaches, with lifeguards from 15 June to 15 September. The Mirador de Gibralfaro below the castle gate. The Cathedral between 08:30 and 09:00, when the cultural ticket is not yet on sale and the doors are open for worship. The Soho murals at any hour.

Then Sunday afternoon, when the paid places open free in a staggered sequence that can be walked in order. The Alcazaba and Gibralfaro go free at 14:00, and La Concepción at 14:00 in winter or 16:30 in summer. The Carmen Thyssen, the Pompidou, the Museo Ruso and the Casa Natal go free at 16:00. The Picasso Museum goes free in its last two hours, which means 16:00 from November to February, 17:00 in spring and autumn and 18:00 in July and August. Start at the Alcazaba at 14:00, walk down to the Thyssen for 16:00 and end at the Picasso Museum for its window. The whole route is 20 minutes on foot. For couples that Sunday sequence, finished with the free walk along Muelle Uno to La Farola at sunset, is the day to keep. For families the rules in the kids section below decide the order. Every free window, with the days in the year that add to it, is on free things to do in Málaga, and the day-by-day version is on Sunday and Monday openings.

The rules are more useful than the tips. Under-6s are free at the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro, under-12s are free at the Cementerio Inglés and pay $4.66 (€4) at the Cathedral in a group, under-17s are free at the Picasso Museum and under-18s at the Casa Natal, the Thyssen, the Pompidou and the Museo Ruso, so a family of four pays adult prices only. EMT buses carry children up to and including 14 free through 2026.

La Concepción makes under-16s stay with an adult and admits dogs on a lead after the owner signs the rules at the gate. The Caminito del Rey refuses under-8s outright and requires an original ID document for every child of 8 and over, which is the one rule on this page that has sent families home. MIMMA lets children play the instruments, the Automobile Museum's midday closure from 14:30 to 16:00 suits a beach break, and the bullring tour's children's fare is $8.16 (€7) for ages 5 to 12.

The beaches with adapted bathing points, amphibious chairs and hoists from 15 June, are Guadalmar, Misericordia, San Andrés, Malagueta, Caleta, Pedregalejo, Palo and Dedo. The family page, Málaga with kids, builds a day out of those rules. For a group of four the one-day itinerary is a better template than the three-day plan.

Five things send visitors back down the hill or away from a door, and each has a fix that costs nothing.

• Paying a reseller $18.61 for an Alcazaba entry that costs $8.16 (€7) at the gate and is free on Sunday afternoon. The platform card buys nothing extra there, so use it only if you want the booking in hand. The gate-price comparison for every card on the site is on Málaga tours.
• Arriving at the Pompidou on a Tuesday, the Roman Theatre on a Monday, or Atarazanas on a Sunday. The day table above is the fix.
• Reaching La Concepción with an online ticket that does not exist: the garden sells only at the gate, and EMT line 20 stops 15 minutes short of it.
• Treating the Cathedral rooftop as bookable: the cubiertas visit is suspended for roof works and no price or date for its return is printed.
• Buying a combined Alcazaba and Gibralfaro ticket at $11.65 (€10) at 18:30 in summer, when last entry at both is 19:00 and the walk between them is 20 minutes uphill.