Ultimate Guide to Marbella Bus Station (Insider Tips)

If you plan to visit Marbella and you’ll use public transport, this guide covers everything you need to know about the Marbella bus station.

As someone from the area, I spend a lot of time in Marbella and use public transport from and to this bus station.

In this detailed guide, I’ve covered the bus station location (it isn’t in the centre!), the facilities and routes to other towns.

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Location

Marbella bus station isn’t far from the centre, but it’s next to the motorway; therefore, you either walk to the centre, take another bus or arrange a taxi to your hotel. 

If you opt for a walk, it’s a 20- to 25-minute walk to the old town. There’s a designated pedestrian path as you leave the bus station and head to the centre. It’s downhill, so it’s effortless. However, it isn’t ideal if you have luggage, as there are stairs and the wheels don’t always roll easily on certain streets. 

The route from the centre to the bus station is uphill, and although I often walk, I wouldn’t recommend it in the summer when it’s 30+ degrees Celsius (86°F).

Main routes from Marbella bus station

While Marbella bus station isn’t as big as the one in Malaga, it still has 14 platforms and offers good connections to nearby towns and other main cities in Southern Spain.

Here are some of the places you can visit from the Marbella bus station:

• Malaga Airport
• Malaga
• Ojén
• Benahavís
• Coín
• Benalmádena
• Torremolinos
• Fuengirola
• Estepona
• Granada
• La Línea
• Cadiz

If you want to learn more about visiting these destinations from Marbella, this article on the best day trips from Marbella has information on how to get there, what to do, and my top tips.

Facilities at Marbella bus station

Despite its small size, Marbella bus station has good facilities. 

There are toilets; however, they aren’t free as they used to be. To access the toilets, you need to enter 0.50 cents; this is why I recommend having some change with you. You can’t pay by card. 

From my experience, they are basic but clean, even more now that they aren’t free anymore.

Are you exploring Marbella for a couple of hours or a half day? You can find lockers which cost 6 euros for 24 hours. It’s possible to leave your luggage or items for up to 15 days. These have recently been renovated because they used to have very old blue lockers that didn’t look great.

There are also several vending machines containing everything from drinks and chocolates to crisps, biscuits, and toiletries. There’s even one selling power banks. We’ve all been in a situation where we needed our phones and didn’t have a place to charge them!

If you have quite a bit of time to kill at the station, there’s an on-site cafe. However, I can’t talk about the food as I have never tried it. It looks old-fashioned, but the food might be fine. 

Things to know about Marbella bus station

• You can buy bus tickets at the station ticket office, but I would refrain from doing so there. I’d save time by buying tickets online. For example, you can visit the Avanza website to buy your tickets to Malaga airport. This also helps you plan your day and avoid queuing. Staff aren’t usually very quick, at least from my experience.
• Have cash with you. You can get online tickets for all bus services, so you’ll either need a bus card or pay in cash. In addition, you’ll need cash to use the toilets at the station. 
• It can get very warm inside the station in the summer, so it’s sometimes better to wait outside next to the stand than inside. 
• If you need cash, there’s no ATM in the station. However, there’s one in the petrol station next to it. Once you get cash, you can get smaller change by buying something at the cafe. I wouldn’t rely on changing money at the ticket office, as they don’t always want to, or they say they aren’t allowed to. This has happened to me. 

Places to eat near Marbella bus station

There aren’t many places to eat within the station, besides the cafe. 

You’ll have to walk about 5 to 7 minutes to reach a few fast-food places next to the Marbella roundabout with the tree. There’s a kebab (Kebab Kapital) and a hot dog restaurant (Santo Perrote), which are super convenient, but I haven’t tried them, so I can’t recommend them. 

12-minute walk, and you can visit Art Bakery & Gourmet. This isn’t the typical Spanish cafe; it’s a beautiful cafe and restaurant serving breakfast, brunch, and lunch! I have eaten here before and loved their artisan pizzas and cakes.

Where to stay near Marbella bus station

If I were you, I wouldn’t stay near the bus station. It isn’t because the area isn’t safe; you’re just away from the beach, restaurants, and attractions. 

I mean, you can walk to them, but it’ll take you more than half an hour. Or you can rent a car or take a bus, but it’s more of a hassle. And, in my opinion, there are many fantastic accommodation options for all budgets in Marbella Centre. 

At the same time, there are barely any hotels in this part of Marbella because it’s residential, so you’ll find lots of estates (urbanizaciones). 

The most popular option is the Club Med Magna Marbella, an all-inclusive resort with two restaurants, a pool, a tennis court and other outdoor activities. So if you aren’t into all-inclusive or want to make your trip cheaper, which is completely doable, you don’t have much choice around this area.   

There are a few villas to check out, like these.

Conclusion

Marbella bus station is relatively small compared to Malaga bus station; however, it still has good connections to other towns on the Costa del Sol, a wide variety of vending machines, lockers and seats.

If you have any questions, the best way to reach me is through my Facebook group, where you can also connect with other travellers.

Safe travels!