ROUTE · 1 day

Málaga → Granada via Antequera by car

Easy one-day drive from Málaga to Granada via Antequera on the A-45/AP-46 and A-92, with an El Torcal detour and the Antequera dolmens on the way.

1 day 165 km Year-round

Day-by-day

DAY 1

Málaga → Antequera

Pick up your car at Málaga Airport, join the MA-20 ring road and follow signs for Granada/Córdoba onto the A-45 northbound. Climbing out of the city you meet the route's only real decision: stay on the free A-45 over the Puerto de las Pedrizas, a steady dual-carriageway ascent with wide views over the Montes de Málaga, or take the AP-46 toll motorway, which tunnels through the same hills and saves perhaps ten minutes when traffic is heavy. Outside rush hour the free road is perfectly good. For the classic detour, leave the motorway at the Casabermeja exit and follow the A-7075 up to El Torcal de Antequera, a karst plateau at around 1,200 metres whose stacked limestone formations look like a giant's chess set. The final ramp to the visitor centre is steep and the upper car park small — arrive early or be prepared to park lower down and walk. Back in the valley, roll into Antequera and park by the reception centre for the Menga and Viera dolmens on the edge of town: from inside Menga, the burial chamber frames the unmistakable face-shaped profile of the Peña de los Enamorados. Without stops this leg is under an hour of driving; with El Torcal and the dolmens, budget a relaxed half day before pointing the car east. Both monuments sit only a few minutes from the motorway exits, so rejoining the route afterwards is painless.

Driving note: The AP-46 is a toll motorway; the parallel A-45 over the Puerto de las Pedrizas is free, as is the AP-7 stretch between Málaga city and the airport.

DAY 1

Antequera → Granada

From Antequera, signs for Granada put you straight onto the A-92 eastbound, a fast, toll-free dual carriageway that rolls through a sea of olive groves. Archidona's ochre old town slides past on a hill to your left, then the road skirts Loja and follows the Genil valley down into the fertile vega of Granada, with the Sierra Nevada rising ahead on clear days — snow-capped well into late spring. It is about 100 km and an easy hour and a quarter of cruising; heading east in the morning, keep sunglasses handy for the low sun. Arrival needs a plan: central Granada is a camera-enforced low-emission zone, and the Albaicín's alleys are effectively closed to visiting cars, so do not let the navigation lure you towards the cathedral. If the Alhambra is your first stop, follow the A-395 Ronda Sur signs, which deliver you to the large Alhambra car parks by the ticket pavilion without touching the centre. Otherwise choose an underground garage on the rim of the old town — the San Agustín garage near the cathedral market is a typical choice — and continue on foot. Walk up through the Albaicín to the Mirador de San Nicolás for the classic view of the Alhambra against the Sierra Nevada, then collect the car and cruise back to Málaga in a little under two hours on the A-92 and A-45.

Driving note: Central Granada is a camera-enforced low-emission zone — leave the car in the Alhambra lots or an underground garage on the edge of the centre and explore on foot.