Fuengirola Visitor Guide
The seaside town of Fuengirola is located approximately 28 km west of Malaga airport en-route towards Marbella, you can reach Fuengirola via the autovia or by the coastal route, it depends on how much of a hurry you may be in at the time. The coastal route is a much more pleasant drive, as the scenery is far more pleasant.
Using the coastal road you will arrive in Fuengirola’s Los Boliches district, it is here where you will also find the open air market which is held twice a week and is one of the biggest in the area. Fuengirola can also be reached by bus or by train, if you opt for the train, it is the final stop so there is no chance of missing your stop. The bus station and train stations in Fuengirola are both within close proximity to each other and are both in the centre.
Fuengirola, believe it or not, in the not so distant past was a small fishing village, realistically, it is only in the past couple of decades or so in which it has grown beyond total expectation to become a modern, desirable location.
While perhaps unfairly, in recent times it has been tarnished with a reputation somewhat similar to Torremolinos for cheap foreigners in search of cheap booze and fights, while there is no denying that this does happen on occasions, you will find that generally speaking you can enjoy a peaceful fun-packed night out without any incidents.
There are plenty of amenities and facilities in Fuengirola to keep most people entertained, there is a great variety of restaurants serving fresh fish and many other delicacies associated with the Mediterranean diet. Second line from the beach you will find a pedestrianized area with wall to wall restaurants, it is commonly known as Fish Alley, I’ll leave it up to your imagination as to perhaps why!
The zoo in Fuengirola deserves a visit, it has been very nicely done and is well maintained, the animals seem happy and in good condition, well, as happy as any animal in a zoo can be that is but you can tell that when creating the zoo, those responsible have tried to go to great lengths to try to recreate as close as possible the home environment where these animals originate from.
A little known fact is that there are many neighbourhoods in Fuengirola which remain very typically Spanish, almost as if time and the influx of foreigners has bypassed them, it offers that great charm that so many people yearn for.