| The special Malaga airport to Marbella bus station | | | | from Marbella, you will get your ticket at the |
| bus service provides welcome and easy access | | | | ticket office in the Marbella bus station. The Portillo |
| to visitors to the Costa del Sol. If you are arriving | | | | bus company which operates all bus services on |
| at the airport in daylight hours and would prefer | | | | the Costa del Sol is introducing online booking for |
| to pick up your hire car in Marbella the following | | | | all its bus schedules but as of July 2008 it is not |
| day or later, then the airport bus service is the | | | | up and running. |
| way to go. | | | | The bus normally arrives about 5 minutes before |
| If you have flown in from an EU country you'll | | | | the scheduled departure time and is clearly signed, |
| pick up your baggage from one of the carousels | | | | "Marbella - Aeropuerto" When it pulls in and if |
| just after passport control but if you have | | | | there is a crowd waiting to get on, this is not the |
| transited in Madrid or Barcelona, flying in from | | | | moment to be polite. Keep your place in the |
| elsewhere in the world with your bags checked | | | | queue and don't allow yourself to be pushed aside. |
| through to Malaga from your airport of departure, | | | | If two of you are travelling, one of you puts the |
| you'll pick them up on the last carousel right next | | | | bags into the baggage compartments under the |
| to Customs. | | | | bus and the other gets into the queue. If you are |
| Walk out of the baggage reclaim area into the | | | | on your own, nip round to the other side of the |
| arrivals hall in T2 and you will be greeted by a sea | | | | bus which nobody ever uses, pop your suitcase |
| of faces and cheerful noise. Welcome to Spain! | | | | into the compartment there and then come round |
| Turn first right out of the arrivals area on the | | | | the front of the bus and grab the handrail to get |
| ground floor and walk about 50 metres along the | | | | on as if you had been there all the time. |
| large tunnel under the departures level above. The | | | | Pay the driver, try to have coins or low value |
| bus stop is clearly marked and is also used by the | | | | notes ready, take a seat on the driver's side of |
| L19 service which runs every 30 minutes into the | | | | the bus for views of the sea and coast and then |
| centre of Malaga taking in the Malaga bus station | | | | take things easy for the rest of the journey |
| and the Malaga train station right next door on its | | | | listening in to one of the local radio stations. The |
| route. | | | | bus climbs the coastal bypass high above |
| You will find a printed timetable above the seats. | | | | Torremolinos and Benalmadena then drops down |
| The schedule runs with greater frequency in the | | | | behind Fuengirola taking the toll road to Marbella. |
| summer months, that's June through to the end | | | | The only stop during the 45 minute journey is for |
| of September on the Costa del Sol. Out of those | | | | the electronic toll payment behind Calahonda. You'll |
| months you may have to wait a little longer for | | | | pass the La Cañada shopping complex in the |
| the next service but there's a cafeteria in the | | | | foothills behind Marbella and then the Marbella fire |
| arrivals area with international newspapers | | | | station on the right before pulling in to the Marbella |
| available during daylight hours. At Malaga airport | | | | bus station. The taxi rank is outside the bus |
| you buy your tickets from the driver on the bus | | | | station and you are ready for the next part of |
| and when you are travelling back to the airport | | | | your adventure! |
