Marbella, Puerto Banús and Mijas in One Day: Organised Tour or Do It Yourself?
Updated October 19, 2026 · 5 min read
If you are staying in Marbella, do not assume the day tour will collect you. The full-day sightseeing tour of Marbella, Mijas, Puerto Banús and Benalmádena costs €59 for 6.5 hours (4.5 from 59 reviews), but all 15 pickup points on its booking page read like the Torremolinos and Benalmádena area (Torremolinos Centro, Puerto Marina, Torrequebrada, Bil-Bil). Marbella is a stop on the route, not the start. For most visitors based in Marbella, the better plan is to do Puerto Banús and the Old Town on your own and treat Mijas as its own half day.
What the tour does, hour by hour
The itinerary on the booking page is a coach day with short stops:
| Stop | Time given |
|---|---|
| Colomares Castle (guided visit) | 40 minutes |
| Buddhist Stupa of Benalmádena | 20 minutes |
| Mijas Pueblo (free time) | 1 hour |
| Marbella (free time) | 2 hours |
| Puerto Banús (free time) | 1 hour |
Coach legs between stops run from 5 to 40 minutes: 5 from Colomares to the Stupa, 15 from the Stupa to Mijas, 40 from Mijas to Marbella and 15 from Marbella to Puerto Banús. The guide speaks Spanish and English during the coach journeys, according to the listing, and admission to Colomares Castle is included. Food and drink are not, and the booking page is worth checking for the Stupa entrance.
The trade-off is plain: one hour in Mijas and one in Puerto Banús is a look, not a visit. Two hours in Marbella is enough for the Old Town and a coffee. If those slots suit you, €59 is a fair price for a day that includes transport and the Colomares Castle admission.
A similar tour also exists from Málaga, a guided day tour from Málaga through Puerto Banús, Marbella Old Town, Mijas and Colomares Castle (€35.10, 10 hours, 4.7 from 555 reviews); it starts in Málaga, so it is only an option if you are staying there.
Doing it yourself from Marbella
Puerto Banús and the Old Town are close enough that a tour adds little. The tour itself allows 15 minutes of coach time between Marbella and Puerto Banús, and local buses and taxis cover the same short hop; check the current bus timetable before you rely on it. Mijas Pueblo is the stop that is harder to reach without a plan: the tour’s own itinerary shows 40 minutes by coach between Mijas and Marbella.
For Marbella’s Old Town, a food tour gives it more time than a two-hour slot on a coach day. For the water side of Puerto Banús, see the boat tours page.
If you want Mijas, Puerto Banús and the coast on your own timetable, a hire car is the flexible way. You can compare rental cars for Marbella and check the excess and fuel policy before booking. We have not priced parking in Mijas or Puerto Banús, so look at the car park fees on the day.
A different way to see the white villages
If your interest in the white villages is more about the countryside than the postcard streets of Mijas, the e-mountain bike tour to white villages (4 hours, €99, 4.8 from 88 reviews) uses trails to reach villages such as Istán. It is a different trip from Mijas, with a guide and an e-bike, and it asks for physical effort that a coach day does not.
Practical points
The tour lists a guide for the coach journeys and the Colomares visit; in Mijas, Marbella and Puerto Banús you are on free time without one. The listing asks for comfortable shoes. It names people with mobility impairments as not suitable, so anyone who needs level access should check with the operator before booking.
Our pick: the full-day sightseeing tour if your hotel is near one of its pickup points; otherwise, go to Puerto Banús and the Old Town independently.
