Magical Marbella

Whether you live in Marbella all year round or are currently thinking about buying a holiday or retirement home in the town, the Costa del Sol is a magical place to be at any time of the year. With more high-profile international festivals and cultural events than many of the world’s capital cities can boast, Marbella is never a dull place to be in.
 
Stroll through the town’s Old Town and admire the wonderful architecture of Marbella’s oldest historic dwellings. See the lovely Ermita del Calvario, visit the Villa Romana de Río Verde or the Santo Cristo de la Vera Cruz church or indulge in a shopping trip of a lifetime!

Cultural Attractions

It’s not just in the summer that Marbella shines with its cultural events and treasures.

If you like visiting museums and have a thirst for knowledge try the Ralli Museum, which can be found in the avenue that connects Marbella and Puerto Banus. It is a wonderful art collection of Latin American artists displayed in 10 glorious showrooms.

The museum was founded in the year 2000 and apart from displaying Latin American art collections the showrooms also have temporary exhibits from international and domestic artists such as Beryl Cook or Picasso.

For those with an interest in horticulture Marbella’s lovely Bonsai Museum is a must-see attraction. Located in the Avenida del Doctor Maiz Vinals, the Museo del Bonsai is part of the Parque Arroyo de la Represa in the centre of Marbella and showcases one of Europe’s premier collections of indoor and outdoor miniature trees. The park also contains one of the finest collections of olive trees found anywhere in the world.
 
Among the veritable forests of mini trees are some truly ancient specimens any collector would give their right arm to possess. Some of the bonsais are 300-years-old. Perhaps best of all, the collection contains many trees that can be found as fully grown plants in the mountains and hills surrounding Marbella. Many tree species are threatened with extinction and preserving them, albeit in miniature form, has been the life’s work of Miguel Angel Garcia, who takes care of the park throughout the year.

Pre-historic Adventures

Once you have feasted your eyes on 18th century splendour in Marbella Old Town, have visited Romanesque basilicas and have had a taste of what it must have been like to excavate Roman baths or villas with Roman mosaic floors you will be hooked on the trail of Spanish history. Just 10 km inland from Marbella lies the small settlement of Ojén, where some of the country’s – and Europe’s -oldest human settlements were discovered in the Pecho Redondo caves. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, when a population of farmers lived in this hilly terrain.
 
The village is also home to the fascinating Olive Oil Museum and the informative El Cerezal Visitor and Nature Centre. It’s a fascinating look back into early European history.

And for real adventurers who prefer to see caves from the inside rather than displayed in museum exhibits and photographs, there are Marbella’s Nagüeles Caves. Located on the outskirts of the town within a 5 minute drive from the center of Marbella, the caves sit at the central base of the Sierra Blanca Mountain. Although small in comparison to the cave system found on Gibraltar, the Nagüeles Caves make for an exciting excursion into the bowls of the Costa del Sol. It is essential to take a guide and have the right caving equipment though.
 
There are a number of operators who provide guided cave visits, which cost less than EUR 40.00 per person. It’s a visit that gets many visitors hooked on caving. This pre-historic adventure takes around three to four hours, as visitors climb some 25 meters downwards into the caves, which span around 897 meters in length. Rental equipment includes the use of helmets with lights, coveralls, harnesses, carabineers, eights and various other climbing material and naturally, a water bottle for every participant.

These are just a few of the thousands of attractions life at the Costa del Sol has to offer to those who come to Marbella and make it their permanent home by buying a property here.