Málaga is a port city on southern Spain’s Costa del Sol, known for its high-rise hotels and resorts jutting up from yellow-sand beaches. Looming over that modern skyline are the city’s 2 massive hilltop citadels, the Alcazaba and ruined Gibralfaro, remnants of Moorish rule. The city’s soaring Renaissance cathedral is nicknamed La Manquita (“one-armed lady”) because one of its towers was curiously left unbuilt.

If you think the Costa del Sol is soulless, you clearly haven’t been to Málaga. Loaded with history and brimming with a youthful vigor that proudly acknowledges its multi-layered past, the city that gave the world Picasso has transformed itself in spectacular fashion in the last decade, with half a dozen new art galleries, a radically rethought port area and a nascent art district called Soho. Not that Málaga was ever lacking in energy: the Spanish-to-the-core bar scene could put bags under eyes of an insomniac madrileño, while the food culture encompasses both Michelin stars and tastefully tatty fish shacks.

Come here for tapas washed down with sweet local wine, and stay in a creative boutique hotel sandwiched between a Roman amphitheater, a Moorish fortress and the polychromatic Pompidou Centre, while you reflect on how eloquently Málaga has reinvented itself for the 21st century. Look out, Seville. The largest city on the Costa del Sol, Malaga has a typical Mediterranean climate and is also known as the birthplace of famous Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The city offers beaches, hiking, architectural sites, art museums, excellent shopping and cuisine. While more laid back than Madrid or Barcelona, Malaga is still the center and transport hub for the hugely popular Costa del Sol region, which is flooded with tourists in the summer, and the city has certainly cashed in on the sun and sand, with lots of new construction as well as hotels and facilities geared to tourists. However, Malaga also offers some genuinely interesting historical and cultural attractions in its old city and its setting on the coast is still beautiful.

Along the coast there are dozens of restaurants and chiringuitos (beach restaurants) where you can have fish, seafood, paella, sangria, etc. One of the most famous chiringuitos is El Tintero, at the east end, where there is no menu: the waiters sing out what they are carrying and they leave you a plate at your signal. From time to time, one of them offers to give you the bill. The most typical thing to eat in Malaga is espetos, sardines skewered on a bamboo stick and grilled over a fire (typically driftwood); and pescaíto frito: all types of deep-fried fish from anchovies to squid. A specialty of Andalucia is fish (most commonly dogfish "cazon", although sometimes other fish such as tuna, "atun") marinated in a garlic and vinegar preparation - look on the menu for "Cazon en adobo". Try also the coquinas (small clams cooked in white wine). Simply delicious! Jamon is a regional specialty, and is an aged, salted ham, from acorn-fed pork, similar to prosciutto.

Famous sweet Malaga wine can be tasted in popular pubs in the city center, like the famous old La Casa del Guardia (Avenue Alameda Principal) or the very typical El Pimpi where everyone, from celebrities to local teens meet. For good food against competitive prices, try the port area. The eastern quay is littered with restaurants competing for your patronage. They generally offer good food at mild rates. With Italian, Spanish, Mexican and Indian cuisine only being a few random examples from the wide range of restaurants, there's bound to be something to your liking. As a bonus, if you sit outside, you can look out over the water while enjoying your meal. If all you see is bars instead of restaurants, you are too northerly. The restaurants are along the southern stretch of the quay.