This is a place im thinking of visiting next year, are the buses from the airport regular? I would also think about hiring a car to tour the area, is rail travel also viable? Thanks, glad you had a great hoilday.

I believe that buses run frequently from Malaga airport into Malaga bus station where you can find a bus to most places on the Costa Tropical. Am not so sure about trains, but buses are certainly a reliable cheap form of transport in Spain
Hiring a car is a good option, and one we might go for next year, simply because you can then explore the coast and surrounding area, including the mountains, without waiting around for buses in the heat, also it would probably work out much cheaper to hire a car from the airport for a few days than to pay for a transfer.
We did notice when on holiday that all private taxis are state of the art vehicles, hardly surprising considering the fares they charge, I can only imagine that Spanish people must be far more affluent than we Brits if they can afford such exhorbitant fares, or perhaps they just make their money by fleecing desperate holidaymakers such as ourselves. In any case I would advise anyone visiting Spain to avoid taxis/transfers like the plague and try to arrange flights that arrive at a suitable hour so that they can use the buses. Also, I would advise those booking transfers as part of a holiday package to Spain to enquire how much of the money they are paying for the holiday is actually just for the transfer, and to ask if they can have the transfer fee deducted because they would rather find alternative transport. I know that I keep banging on about this but unless petrol prices in Spain are three times the amount we pay here in the UK, or car tax is far higher over there, I cannot see a reason why the charges are so high. Wonder if anyone else can enlighten me on this????

Glad to hear you enjoyed your holiday ardath - apart of course from the transport situation

we found the taxis in benalmadena area cheap last year,no different from greece and certainly,and a lot cheaper than the UK,also used taxis in benidrom,tenerife and lanzarote and they were all about the same sort of fares.

No idea what happens in spain but in greece the reason most of the taxis are mercedes e-class and so on is because they basically pay no car tax,i dont mean the road tax,i mean the purchase tax that puts car prices right up,theyre in a way subsidised by the government and are often bought between 2 or 3 people that then use it in shifts covering 24 hours a day,much like london balck cabs,also they have to run according to set fares that are strictly enforced

Cannot argue if you found taxis cheaper than here in the UK, but if you consider that we paid £95.00 return for a people carrier transfer from our door to Stansted airport, a journey of just under 2 hours, then compare that with the charge of £240.00 euros from Malaga airport to Salobrena for a roughly similar distance, and we checked out all other transfer providers in that area who charged similar rates, I think that it is glaringly obvious which country offers a cheaper service.

maybe you were mugged,or maybe,as in Greece,people just don't take longer journeys in taxis uk airport transfers are set priced and pre arranged minicabs(in terms of operating licence,not size of vehicle) whereas if you stopped a hackney cab in the street and asked the driver to take you 2 hours to stansted you'd pay hundreds of pounds,considering that spanish taxis operate in the way hackney carriages do here then i dont think there's much to complain about,call it a lesson and get a bus

We didn't just flag a taxi outside the airport in Malaga, we had prebooked our transfer, comparing it with all other transfers from Malaga before doing so, and all transfers were roughly the same price.
As I said I cannot argue with your own experience whilst in Spain, yet you seem intent upon arguing with mine, yet just like yourself I can only give the facts as to what my family had to pay for with regard to a transfer, in the hopes that other travellers won't be caught out in a similar fashion.
And have already stated that we will be getting a bus next time, but due to the arrival time of our flight this year we could not do so.
Would hardly refer to it as being mugged, and despite the expense of transfers this did not detract from what was otherwise a wonderful holiday in a wonderful part of the world.

look i know it can often dent our egos when someone else points out 'glaringly obvious' facts when we've been relieved of a vast sum of money when we needn't have done,it happens to the best of us,that doesn't mean pointing out facts is 'arguing' so i don't really know where you've got that from.

Sorry to hear you didn't get as good a deal as you could have done,end of conversation,far be it from me to attract the attention of the moderators

compare that with the charge of £240.00 euros from Malaga airport to Salobrena for a roughly similar distance, and we checked out all other transfer providers in that area who charged similar rates
We didn't just flag a taxi outside the airport in Malaga, we had prebooked our transfer, comparing it with all other transfers from Malaga before doing so, and all transfers were roughly the same price.

Mmmmm, I don't know which transfer providers you checked, but I've just run through a few and the fare for a standard car from Malaga Airport to Salobreña is 136 euros, which is in the middle of the official Malaga province controlled tarifa for Salobreña (€122.80 and €145.80) depending which tarifa because taxis go onto tarifa 2 after 10 pm, fiestas, bank holidays and sat/sun....... what did you book.? a luxury Mercedes.?

I believe that buses run frequently from Malaga airport into Malaga bus station where you can find a bus to most places on the Costa Tropical

There is an express airport bus that runs every half hour into Malaga bus station, where you can get a bus to most places or near enough to take a taxi for a short journey, but it goes without saying that it's always worth checking the bus timetables because they may not suit your flight arrival.
It's called Linea A Express, it only makes 7 stops, runs from 7am to 24.00, takes about 20/25mins and costs 2 euros.

You don't have to flag a taxi down at Malaga Airport, there are hundreds of taxis arriving every hour, every day of the year, and the taxi rank is very well organised and runs very smoothly"¦.I have never waited more than 5 mins for a taxi, even if the queue is long.

If €240 was charged one way, what did it cost for the return journey and which company did you book with .?

Sanji

sanji, 240 euros was for a return journey, indeed I never mentioned that it was only one way, and of course when comparing it with a return fare in the UK would only compare it with a return journey in Spain.
And it was for a people carrier.
Now if anyone else wants to have a go feel free seems like it is open season on anyone who has the nerve to criticise Spanish taxis/transfers.
Have already said that I will get a bus next time and that this was the only down side to an otherwise fantastic holiday, so am not having a go at Spain as a destination in any shape or form, or doubting the fact that others might have had a different experience to me when it comes to transfer charges.
So, knock holes in that if you can!!

Glad you enjoyed your stay, my parents have a property in Nerja which we visit sometimes, don't know if you visited it. I agree about the price of taxis/transfers and don't know why everyone is getting so hot under the collar about this, for the ex-pats living in that part of Spain are well aware of how expensive it is, in fact some run their own mini-bus service organised by volunteers, am not sure if this can be used by holidaymakers but it is a good idea for those living in that part of Spain. Anyway glad to hear you will be getting the bus next year, it should save you a bundle. Lol.