Alhaurín el Grande and Coín

The first destination from Malaga will be the town of Alhaurín el Grande, less than an hour's drive away.

Alhaurin el Grande which, as its slogan says, is a town with the soul of a village. The proposal is to walk during the morning to see some of its most beautiful places and choose a place to eat in its gastronomic center.
You can park your car around the Antonio Gala Theatre.

From the theater, you can walk along Iglesias Street to the Plaza Baja. This is where the Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación parish church is located. It is a simple church that you can visit because it is usually open in the mornings.
Some of the town's events and festivities take place in this square. You will find some shops and bars.
Nearby, on the pedestrianized Calle Real, is the tourist office, in case you want to look for a flyer.
Open Hours (tourist office): Monday - Friday: 09:00 - 14:00 Saturday - Sunday: closed

The proposal is that you continue the walk along Cantaranas Street until you reach a small dead end square. It is a nice and quiet place to visit.

Then continue along Calle Cruz until you reach the Ermita de la Santa Vera-Cruz. Along the way, you will pass the Plaza Alta, a green space with some seats where the locals usually sit and chat.
The church is a neo-Gothic style building, rebuilt and opened to the public in 1921. It is the current headquarters of the confraternity, popularly known as the Greens.

Next to the hermitage is the town hall building and a viewpoint from where you can see a large part of the city.
Also, if you go down and around the viewpoint, there is another small promenade with benches to sit on and enjoy the good views as well.

To get to know a little more of the old town, you can visit another of the city's viewpoints: the Mirador Huerto Mateo.
There you will find benches to rest, children's games and a small promenade.

Make a short detour on the way back to visit the small Plaza Virgen de Gracia, patron saint of the city.
There are benches where locals often sit and chat and a space where children often run around and spend the afternoon.

Continue your way to Avenida de la Libertad to see another part of the town. Along the way you will see another small park where you can take some pictures and where the Avenida de la Libertad begins. There are some children's playgrounds and space to rest.

Along the Avenida de la Libertad you will see several shops, bars and restaurants, but the gastronomic centre is further along.
Walk to the Parque de la Libertad and then take the street that leads to the gastronomic pole. You can enter the park, see its small waterfall and contemplate the variety of plants. From there, there are also nice views of Alhaurín el Grande.

Along the Calle Gerard Brenan is the so-called gastronomic center of Alhaurín el Grande. Here you can find restaurants serving Arabic, Indian, Chinese, Argentinian and Spanish food, as well as hamburgers, pizzas, ice cream, cafés and bars.
You can walk it from one end to the other and choose the place that suits you best. If you want to eat good Spanish seafood, the Paco restaurant is a good choice.
Open Hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 13:00 - 01:00 Monday: closed
You can stop by a supermarket (you can find it on the same street) and buy some drinks and snacks to eat near to the river on the next stop.

After a good lunch, it might be a good idea to rest under the shade of a tree while listening to the river flowing by. For this reason, the proposal is that you drive to a sector of the river Grande, in Coín.
This place is not exactly marked on the map, but it is only a few meters from La Alameda de Chaquetillas (footpath).
If you are travelling with children, they will have several places to explore, from a huge rock to climb to reed caves.
You can have a picnic for a snack afternoon.

This rural hotel is located in the Sierra de las Nieves Park, near Tolox, and has a swimming pool, spa (extra charge) and restaurant. Therefore, one possibility is to arrive at the hotel after the river and enjoy the services of the hotel and the silence and nature that surrounds it.
You can go to the pool, pay for some spa time, take a shower and have dinner in the restaurant.