6 Best Family Things to Do in Costa del Sol

Alcazaba de Marbella is a ruin dating back over 1,000 years to the Caliphate era with preserved walls and astounding views of the surrounding region. This was once a citadel and fortress designed to protect Costa del Sol and was constructed by repurposing materials from a nearby Roman building. Today it's among the best-preserved fortress palaces in Spain. You can access the Alcazaba from 2 different points and explore a number of walkways, gardens and defences inside. It's free to enter on Sunday afternoons.

This site 30 minutes east of the city centre offers not only ancient history, but also romantic views and gorgeous gardens. It's a must-visit locale for the entire family.

Cueva de Nerja is a series of caves that form one of the most popular family destinations and spectacular historic sites in Spain with natural rock formations and photo ops. The cave complex stretches about 3 miles underground, and as you explore it on a guided tour, you'll see one of the largest stalagmites in the world, a natural stone spike stretching 100 feet into the air. You can also capture photos of prehistoric cave paintings left by ancient indigenous peoples.

This site just outside the town of Nerja is about an hour and 45 minutes northeast of Costa del Sol. It's a solid day trip for the whole family.

Mariposario Butterfly Park, about a 50-minute drive east of Costa del Sol, lets you walk through a colourful fairy tale wonderland of over 1,500 butterflies. These beautiful creatures represent over 150 different species and cover over 21,000 square feet of space as the butterflies flitter about in their own natural tropical paradise loaded with flowers, waterfalls and other plants. If you're lucky, you might even have one land on your shoulder.

While you walk, you'll learn about the role butterflies play in the local and world ecology. You'll also get lots of fantastic photos to light up your Instagram or other social media feeds.

Aqualand Torremolinos is about an hour up the coast from Costa del Sol and offers many exciting and pulse-pounding water slides along with bars and restaurants. Whether you're here for the adrenaline rush of racing headlong down an incline to splash down at the end, you want to relax in a lazy river, you're looking to just catch some rays, or you want a great family meal with cocktails for the grown-ups, this place has it all.

If you are an adrenaline junkie, the slide to tackle here is the Kamikaze, which is rated as one of the highest and fastest in Europe. This is a fun day out for the entire family, especially if you need a break from sightseeing.

Museo Automovilístico de Málaga, or the Malaga Automobile Museum, offers a private collection of cars estimated to be worth around 21 million pounds from throughout history and across the world. This museum is just over an hour up the coast from Costa del Sol. The collection features everything from Ferraris to Jaguars, Bentleys, Bugattis and many others. If you're not into cars, you can see other collections including 300 vintage hats from famous fashion designers like Dior and Chanel.

The Automobile Museum is inexpensive to enter and is a fun and exciting experience for the whole family. Learn about the history of automobiles, then check out the fashion collection and snap a bunch of photos while you do so.

Mayan Monkey Mijas advertises itself as the smallest chocolate factory in the world and offers kids the chance to make their very own chocolate bars. When you first drive up, you'll immediately know all you need to, as the sign above the entrance reads 'Happiness Laboratory'. You'll learn all about the process of making chocolate, from bean to sweet convection, and while you're here, be sure to grab a few scoops of homemade ice cream from a truly boggling selection of flavours.

After you learn weird and wonderful chocolate facts on the tour, you'll get to make your very own bars from your choice of hundreds of ingredients. The factory is just 50 minutes northeast of Costa del Sol.