MIJAS PUEBLO
Mijas is a very charming village on the side of the mountain with distinct white-washed buildings and steep meandering, narrow, streets. Although it is a touristy place with plenty of cafes, souvenir stores, and hotels; we thought it was a worthwhile half-day diversion from the resort and beaches. A beautiful panoramic view of the entire Costa del Sol can be seen from Mijas. The highlight was the ability to go inside the old Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring), which has been in use since 1900. We were surprised at how small the arena was, but would definitely make for an exciting close-up show of the matadores.
BUS RIDE to/from COSTA DEL SOL and MIJAS
To save ourselves about $60 in transportation via taxi to get to Mijas, we researched the bus route.
Bus number 220 comes approximately every 30 minutes through the bus stop right in front of the Club La Costa compound on the beach side (east bound) of the highway. This bus goes back and forth from Fuengirola and Marbella. We walked about 10 minutes, then waited another 20 minutes in the scorching heat for bus 220. After paying €1.40/pp, we were dropped off at the main Fuengirola bus terminal about 10 minutes later. All public buses go through this Fuengirola bus terminal, so all we had to do was wait for our next bus, number 122, that goes to Mijas and back. However, we couldn't find bus 122, until we went to another part of the bus terminal square and finally located the bus stop. Another €1.40/pp and 25 minutes later, we were winding up the hills into the town of Mijas. We weren't sure where we should get off, but it became very obvious once the bus went through a roundabout into the most charming, touristy area of town.
To get back to our condo, we took the same bus 122 down the hill from Mijas to Fuengirola. There were only 2 small snags on our way back. At the main Fuengirola bus terminal, we didn't know that we could not pay for our bus ride onboard. We had to go to the ticket window and buy tickets. Okay, no problem. We also didn't have a bus stop on our way back, and no buzzer onboard to alert the driver. So, we sat close to the front, and as soon as we saw our condo, we just asked him to "stop please", and he let us off the side of the highway by a gas station. The "adventures" of bus riding!
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| Bus 122 from Fuengirola to Mijas |
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| Fuengirola bus terminal |
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| Bus stop at Fuengirola bus terminal for route 122 |
