After a recent and gorgeous day trip from Malaga to Mijas Pueblo in the Province of Malaga, I feel compelled to share everything I learned about the town and the best things to do in Mijas Pueblo with you because you, too, must visit and see how pretty it is for yourself.

Where is Mijas Pueblo?

Mijas Pueblo is a small village up in the mountains not far from the Costa del Sol. It is considered to be one of Malaga’s most beautiful pueblos blancos (white towns). Malaga is a province in Andalucia, in Southern Spain.

🚗 The mountain village of Mijas is located up in the Sierra de Mijas mountain range, a short drive of 30 minutes from Malaga City and 15 minutes from Torremolinos. It’s 30 minutes from Marbella, an hour from Antequera and 2hr 30 from Sevilla. 

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Is Mijas Pueblo worth visiting?

Mijas is absolutely worth visiting. It makes a perfect day trip for people on the Costa del Sol who are looking to explore inland Andalucia a little. If you have more time, you could even stay overnight and explore a hiking trail or two in the hills around Mijas. 

⭐️ The pueblos blancos of Málaga Province are one of the reasons people choose to visit Malaga over Seville but really, it’s perfectly possible to visit pueblos blancos from Seville too.

Did you know: Mijas is complicated? 

If you’ve pulled up maps and blogs about Mijas to try and figure out what you’re doing you may have three names floating around: 

Mijas Pueblo – the pueblo blanco, located up in the mountains

Mijas Costa – if you add this to Google Maps it’ll just take you right back into Mijas Pueblo

La Cala de Mijas – this is the coastal town (costa) of Mijas. Here you’ll find a gorgeous beach town between Marbella and Fuengirola (some thirty minutes from Mijas Pueblo)

Why visit Mijas?

Mijas village is truly one of the most beautiful pueblos blancos not only in the province of Malaga but in the whole of Andalusia. The pueblos blancos are small hilltop villages where all the houses have been whitewashed. Although small, the villages are generally fun to explore thanks to their winding, narrow alleyways and spectacular views.

📌 The white colour, by the way, comes from the cal (lime) used to paint the houses to keep them cool. 

📌 My town, Alcalá de Guadaíra is full of white houses but is not officially a pueblo blanco.

​​How to visit Mijas

🚗 The easiest way to visit Mijas is by car.

🅿️ There is parking just outside town, a carpark on the Plaza Virgen de la Peña and we also found parking down a narrow residential street (because we forgot to check for official parking before driving in).

→ Check for rental car availability now.

🚌 If you’re thinking of using public transport then you’ll be looking at taking a bus as there is no train station in Mijas. There are public buses between the city of Malaga, Torremolinos, Benaldemena and Mijas. They aren’t fast but a least they exist. It’s an easy twenty-five-minute drive to Mijas from the nearest international airport, Malaga Airport. 

→ Check bus timetables on Busbud.

👣 Wherever you’re staying there are likely to be great tour options available to you. I generally book my tours via GetYourGuide or Viator.

Where to stay in Mijas Pueblo

One absolute joy for me is staying overnight in popular day trip destinations and enjoying the peace and quiet of first & last thing when all the day trippers have gone home.

What to do in Mijas Pueblo

It’s utterly imperative that you spend some time just walking around the narrow streets, especially Calles San Sebastián, Carril and de Coín. Pueblos Blancos are so named because they’re beautiful to look at, so go look!

As you walk around, don’t miss:

📌 Cuevas de la Antigua Fragua – you just need to poke your head inside these tiny little cave bodegas (store rooms).

📌 Plaza de los Siete Caños – itself not wildly exciting but it’s a really nice walk to get here.

📌 Callejon de los Gitanos – a lovely narrow street with a great view. Very Instagram-friendly if that’s your thing.

📌 Plaza de la Constitución – this gorgeous square will steal your heart when you find yourself there. The fountain in the middle of this plaza was constructed with stones from houses washed away in a devastating flood that hit the town in November 1984. Heavy rains in the mountains caused a flash flood in Mijas that destroyed homes and killed locals and animals. There is also apparently a tombstone in Calle Carril that records the height waters reached although I didn’t find that. 

This plaza is surrounded by fabulous restaurants and a host of craft shops. Take your time to browse here because truly, the quality of goods surpasses anything I’ve seen elsewhere. 

📌 Plaza Virgin de la Peña – this large plaza really surprised me. Not only is it the main square of Mijas but it’s also surrounded by gorgeous buildings, lovely shops, cafes, art galleries and more. You’ll need to head to this plaza to see many of the attractions of Mijas including the chocolate factory, the Miniature museum, the Ermita de la Virgin de la Peña and more. Along one side of the plaza is the tourist office and the town hall (ayuntamiento). On Wednesdays at midday there are (weather-allowing) free flamenco shows on this plaza.

📌 Flower Stairs – leading from Plaza Virgin de la Peña upto Calle de los Caños – harder to find from the top as they’re only accessible via shops

Visit the miradors (look-out points)

📌 Mirador del Paseo del Muralla (Parque Botanico, also know Parque la Muralla) – stroll through the Botanical Gardens and marvel at the panoramic views.

📌 Mirador de la Era del Compas – right by the Ermita de la Virgin de la Peña is this fabulous mirador where you can sit and gaze out over to the Costa del Sol, the Mediterranean Sea and even, on a clear day, to the north coast of Africa. 

📌 BONUS Mirador – Look for Blue Bike Coffee upstairs on Plaza de la Constitucion – definitely stop to eat here as it’s great but also carry on around the back to find the wonderful mirador.

Museums

For sure a small town there are a surprising number of museums to visit. 

📌 Casa Museo – Museo Historico-Etnologico

When I saw this place I just knew I was going to love it. I’m a huge fan of tiny-town museums. I love the way people work to preserve and remember their history and culture. This museum doesn’t take long to explore but it’s beautifully laid out and there are even some signs in English. We all came out feeling quite exhausted having read about how much work people used to have to do (exhausted and grateful to live in the twenty-first century).

I got the feeling that not too many people visit this museum but I promise you, it’s worth both your euro and your time.  

📌 CAC – Centro de Arte Contamporaneo

This art gallery even houses pieces by Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso. I wish I’d had time to visit. When I get back to Mijas Pueblo this will be top of my places to visit.

📌 Miniature Museum (Carromato de Mijas)

Just off the Plaza Virgin de la Peña is this trailer museum that houses miniatures – tiny carved figurines, painted grains of rice and pin heads: the only other place I’ve seen like this was in Odessa, Ukraine when I studied Russian there for a summer. Visitors use magnifying glasses to examine details. 

⭐️ There are a myriad of excellent reasons to visit Spain, keep reading to learn more about this magnificent country ⭐️

Other points of interest in Mijas Pueblo

📌 Mayan Monkey Chocolate Factory

This chocolate shop and factory has two branches – a small shop on Plaza Constitucion and the factory and a second shop on Plaza Virgin de la Peña. We were sent to the factory by the guys in the smaller store when we were eating ice cream there. Apparently this is the smallest chocolate factory in Europe. If you want to learn to make chocolate, you can do this here (or go to San Cristobal in Mexico, like we did).

📌 Ermita de la Virgin de la Peña

An Ermita is a chapel and a peña is a monolithic rock. This chapel was apparently carved into the rock in the seventeenth century by a Carmelite monk to remember the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to two children who were herding sheep. If you’re interested, La Virgen Maria de la Peña is the patron saint of Mijas and she is celebrated on June 2. 

Look up at the Flour Mill and think, hah, if I want to see flour mills I should head to the gorgeous small town of Alcalá de Guadaíra just outside Sevilla for there, there are many beautiful mills to see along the banks of the river. 

📌 Botanical Gardens and La Muralla 

Be sure to visit the Botanical Garden for a lovely stroll with fabulous panoramic views. La Muralla (the wall), by the way, is all that’s left of Arab fortifications of the city. The Botanical Gardens are always open and house many lovely plants although you may not notice them given the striking views all around. 

📌 Tuk-tuk ride

Just by the Carromato Mijas is the tuk-tuk office – if you have mobility issues, don’t have much time or simply fancy a ride with an English-speaking local guide, please don’t take a donkey taxi, take a tuk-tuk instead. We saw a few of these on the streets and we heard the guides giving out great information. 

🛺 Book your tuk-tuk sightseeing adventure in Mijas Pueblo

What NOT to do in Mijas Pueblo

OK, so I’m opinionated I know. 

❌ Visit the Bull Ring

The bull ring in Mijas is located on the Plaza de Toros de Mijas.  I’ve been to see one once and even that makes me a little queasy. If you pay to visit a bull ring just to look around it still supports bull fighting. Yes it’s a massive part of Spanish culture but even plenty of Spaniards think it’s awful. I’ll never go again (I went in Ronda, by the way).  

❌ Donkey Rides

Mijas is famous for its donkeys. While exploring Mijas Pueblo, I saw a few horse and carriages, some donkey carriages and many donkeys standing around in the heat (some weren’t even in the shade and it was sweltering) waiting to carry tourists around. 

Donkeys might be work animals but they shouldn’t carry more than one-third of their own weight (including saddle). According to the British Charity, The Donkey Sanctuary, 50kg (110lbs) is the maximum a large donkey can carry. I don’t know how much you weigh but I’m not big and I weigh over 50kg. For reference, my eleven-year-old is already over 50kg too so even many kids shouldn’t be riding donkeys. 

If you want a ride around Mijas Pueblo, take a tuk-tuk ride instead or a donkey taxi. I have to say that when I was in Mijas in July 2023 I saw zero people on donkeys and quite a few on tuk-tuks, which is great news.

Where to eat in Mijas

With only one day in Mijas we felt spoiled for choice. We opted for Blue Coffee Bike where we had a delicious selection of plates all freshly prepared. We then moved to Mayan Monkey for refreshing ice cream.

Were I to spend more time in Mijas, I would choose Aroma Cafe and Secret Garden on Calle San Sebstián. This Argentine restaurant gets incredible reviews and the photos of the gardens look utterly divine.

There are also plenty of options if you enjoy a good pavement cafe experience. Pick one along the small streets and plazas where you can sit and watch the world go by on the lively streets of Mijas.

Tours to Mijas Pueblo

What else to do around Mijas, Malaga

📌 Of course, if you’re in Mijas you’re never far from coastal towns and their gorgeous beaches with kilometres of golden sandy beaches. Nearby are Mijas Costa, Fuengirola, Benalmadena, Torremolinos and Malaga. The Costa del Sol is home to some of the major tourist attractions for foreign visitors. 

In Benalmadena, you can take the teleferico (cable car) up Mount Calamorro for incredible views of the whole region. 

📌 Aquamijas – this great-looking water park near Fuengirola looks like a perfect day out. (Summer only. The Spanish are very strict about water parks only being summer fun)

📌 Nerja – with gorgeous beaches and world-famous caves, is just one hour away

📌 Antequera – if you enjoy small and beautiful towns in the hills then Antequra, just one hour’s drive away, will fill you with joy.

📌 Ronda, the city split in two by an incredible gorge is a ninety-minute drive away.

📌 For the intrepid, the famous Caminito del Rey is not far away (75 minutes)

📚 Read more about other day trip options from Malaga & Mijas here