Visitors to the Costa del Sol will arrive via air at Malaga Airport (IATA code AGP), located five miles southwest of the city of Malaga and approximately 48 miles northeast of Estepona. With 18.6 million passengers served in 2018, it is the fourth-busiest airport in Spain. It is a focus city for easyJet, Vueling, and Ryanair, and many European airlines fly direct to Malaga either seasonally or year-round. Delta Air Lines flies seasonally direct from JFK Airport in New York City to Malaga Airport.

There is an airport bus, operated by Avanza (malaga.avanzagrupo.com/en), which leaves for Estepona five times on weekdays and four times each on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets cost about €15 one-way after taxes and fees, and can be bought online or at the airport arrivals hall. It drops off at Avenida del Litoral, where there is a nearby taxi rank. A taxi into central Estepona costs between €10-€15 from the bus station. If you want to take a taxi directly to Estepona from the airport, it will set you back over €100.

If you are renting a car during the booking process with TripMasters, you will be picking it up at Malaga Airport and not in Estepona. Six rental companies are located in the arrivals hall: Budget, Avis, Hertz, Sixt, ACE, and Europcar. An additional dozen companies are located outside the airport.

Driving directions from Malaga Airport: Get on the N348 motorway. After two miles, exit the airport and head south on the MA-21 motorway. In less than 1.5 miles, use the right lane to take the ramp to E-15/A-7/Benalmadena/Algeciras. After about 19 miles, take exit 214 for the A-7 (Fuengirola/Algeciras). Use the left two lanes to merge onto the E-15/A-7/AP-7 motorway. After 20 more miles, take exit 181-A for A-7 (San Pedro/Estepona/Algeciras). Continue on the Autovia del Mediterraneo/A-7. Use the left two lanes to merge onto E-15/A-7/AP-7 (Guadiaro/Algeciras/Cadiz). After 11.5 miles, take exit 155 toward Estepona. Avenida Juan Carlos I will take you to the Marina district and the historic center.

A city-wide bus system does not exist in Estepona per se, but buses do operate between Estepona and other cities on the Costa del Sol. Service is managed by Portillo Buses, a subsidiary of Avanza Grupo (www.malaga.avanzagrupo.com/en). The bus station in Estepona is located on Avenida del Litoral, across from the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos (the town`s expo hall). It is less than a mile outside the historic center, but there is a taxi rank outside the expo hall which will take you into town. Bus routes you should know include:

- L-77, which connects Estepona with Casares
- L-79, which connects Estepona with Marbella
- The Estepona-Malaga Airport bus, described above.
- M-240, which connects Estepona with San Luis de Sabinillas (Puerto de la Duquesa), a stop on the route which eventually connects Estepona with La Linea de la Concepcion, north of Gibraltar.

For more information on timetables, visit malaga.avanzagrupo.com/en/routes-and-timetables/pdf-timetables. For extra information on ticket pricing, visit malaga.avanzagrupo.com/en.

Taxis in Estepona are white and typically have a logo on the side door, featuring the Torre de Padron on the right and the city seal and two people on the left. Their plate will also say `SP` in small letters. That stands for `servicio publico` and it means the vehicle is licensed for public use and hire. Red lights on the top of the cab mean it is taking a paying passenger to their destination; green means it is vacant. Taxis can be hailed from the street, reserved in advance via telephone, or can be hired by joining a queue at a taxi rank.

There are taxi ranks located at Avenida España at Calle Terraza; Avenida España at Avenida Juan Carlos I; Avenida del Carmen at the corner of Avenida Virgen del Puerto; and at the corner of Avenida Andalucia and Calle Calvario. You will also find taxi ranks outside the main building at Puerto de la Duquesa; La Duquesa Golf and Country Club; Plaza Vicente Espinel in San Luis de Sabinillas; on the MA8300 motorway in Bahia de Casares; at the Hotel Kempinski near the Torre de Padron; on Calle Sefardi in Guadalmansa; and on Avenida Marques del Duero in Cancelada.

Radio Taxi Estepona is the main taxi company serving Estepona and taxis can be reserved by dialing +34 952 80 29 00. Fares begin at €3 (around €4 after 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m., and on holidays and weekends), rising every mile by €1.50 (€2 nights, weekends and holidays). Waiting time is billed at approximately €20-€25 per hour. Fares from Malaga Airport, 48 miles away, run between €110-€160, depending on traffic, time of day, and number of people transported and bags handled.

Yes. It is easy to get lost in the winding streets and alleyways of Estepona, in particular its historic center. Estepona`s historic center is the size of approximately 1/4 of a square mile, meaning it is quite compact. There are many different walking paths for all fitness levels located throughout the city. The best walking opportunities for all ages can be found along the waterfront, either on Avenida del Carmen or Avenida España, as well as the nearby promenade, the Paseo Maritimo Pedro Manrique. The Malaga coastal path, the senda litoral, passes through Estepona along the promenade.

Out of the destinations on the Costa del Sol, we have heard that Estepona has a higher crime rate than nearby Marbella. From our research, we see that the rise in crime is largely due to theft, namely theft of items from inside parked cars. If you park your car in Estepona, we suggest taking anything of value out before leaving your car unattended. If you are the victim of a theft, local police will have English-language resources and translators available, due to the city`s popularity with British expatriates.

Here are some safety tips to keep in mind while traveling on the Costa del Sol: 1) Carry small amounts of cash with you. Do not pull out all the money you will be spending on your trip. 2) Even though you are carrying small amounts, break up the amounts and store them in different areas on your person. 3) Keep your documents in a separate place on your person. Don`t take your passport out sightseeing with you, unless you absolutely need it. 4) Use common sense, like you would in the U.S., when visiting an ATM. `Skimmers` are also an issue in Spain, so study the ATM before using it, and if you feel like it looks suspect, find another ATM to use. Be mindful of your surroundings while withdrawing money. 5) Stick to well-lit routes at night, just in case. While you shouldn`t have a problem walking in Estepona at night, it is best to stick to main avenues.

The currency of Spain is the Euro. U.S. dollars are not accepted. Please be sure to have the correct currency on hand or be prepared to exchange your dollars for euros upon arrival. Currency exchange desks and ATMs can be found at the airport and many locations throughout the city.

English may be spoken at your hotel, in tourist areas such as the port and the historic center, and a few nearby resorts, but not everywhere. We suggest you get a good English-Spanish dictionary and familiarize yourself with common phrases such as hello, goodbye, excuse me and numbers 1-10. To ask someone if they speak English, say `¿Habla inglés?`.

Traditionally Spanish people eat their meals later than in other European countries. Breakfast (desayuno) is usually from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the morning and is a light meal with `café con leche`, which means coffee with milk. With the coffee you might have a croissant or a `tostada` (toast with butter and jam). Lunch is an important meal and usually lasts about two hours, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., but some shops and business close by 1 p.m. Dinner (cena) is generally from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., but you can often find people eating until midnight. Most upscale restaurants do require a reservation, and depending on the restaurant, may require booking weeks in advance.

Note: New anti-smoking laws in Spain prohibit smoking in all enclosed public spaces including restaurants and nightclubs.

For decades, Estepona had the distinction of having perhaps the most beautifully-preserved historic centers, with whitewashed traditional Andalucian houses lining side streets. The Estepona City Council hatched a plan around 2010 to select certain streets in the urban area which would be targets of massive clean-up operations, all the way down to the distinctive flowerpots on the sides of the buildings. Flowers are elevated to art forms all over Andalucia, and Estepona is no exception. As a result, city politicians insisted that City Hall be in charge of planting, filling, and painting the flowerpots on these streets. These streets (Calle Papuecas, Calle Silva, Calle Pintado, and Calle Barranca, to name a few) have distinct color schemes for their flowerpots, and in some cases the colors of the flowers also match the pots. Since undertaking this effort, Estepona has been marketed across Europe and worldwide as `the Garden of the Costa del Sol`. The moniker has stuck and people now travel to Estepona specifically to view the colorful flowerpots along the lanes deep inside the historic center.

The most popular place to go shopping in Estepona is the outdoor tourist market (Mercadillo del Puerto) in the Marina district. It is open every Sunday morning from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Also on Sunday, there is a local craft market every Sunday in Plaza ABC from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For those who will be in town on a Saturday, there is a handicraft market (Mercadillo de Artesania) every week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Plaza Begines. Finally, there is a weekly market for locals that opens up shop every Wednesday morning at the roundabout linking Calle Carmen Laforet and Calle Eslovaquia. For luxury shopping, visit Laguna Village, near the Torre de Padron, or Puerto Banus, east of San Pedro de Alcantara and west of Marbella.

Estepona is surrounded by mountains but the area near the waterfront is fairly flat, allowing people of all experience levels to enjoy a bicycle ride while visiting the area. Bicycle rental shops in Estepona include Costa Bike (Plaza ABC, No. 2, +34 645 24 59 54) and Radikal Bike (Calle Ceuta 19, +34 951 89 98 86).