Town guide · the coast
Marbella
Four towns wearing one name, and the one you buy in decides almost everything about the life.
- Málaga airport
- 60 min52.2 km by road
- Population
- 160,4781 January 2025 · INE Nomenclátor
Marbella is a municipality of 160,000 people spread along twenty-seven kilometres of coast, and the name covers four quite different places. There is the old town, whitewashed and walkable, with the Plaza de los Naranjos in the middle of it. There is the Golden Mile and Puerto Banús, which is what the name means to most people. There is Nueva Andalucía behind the port, the golf valley, where a lot of the family housing is. And there is San Pedro de Alcántara at the western end, a proper Spanish town with its own market and its own centre, and prices noticeably below the rest.
It suits buyers who want the schools, the restaurants and the medical care all within twenty minutes, and who will pay for that. It suits families in particular: four international schools are inside the municipality. It's less suited to anyone on a coastal budget who wants to be near the sea, because at €5,967 a square metre the beach here is the most expensive on the coast, and what €300,000 buys is a flat twenty minutes' walk inland.
District by district
Marbella is several places under one name.
Each district has its own guide: what it is like, what it costs, the schools and the drive times, and what we'd tell you on the phone.
The greener, quieter end of Marbella: pine woods, dunes and family villas between the hospital and Cabopino, three-quarters of an hour from the airport.
The strip between Marbella and Puerto Banús with the beach hotels, the dearest square metres on the coast, and Sierra Blanca's villas in the hills behind.
The marina, the white blocks around it and the beaches either side: Marbella's busiest few hundred metres, and a market of flats rather than houses.
The working town at the western end of Marbella: a market, a boulevard over the motorway, a long flat beach, and the most affordable square metres in the municipality.
Ten kilometres of beach, golf and new building between Guadalmina and Estepona town, sold under a name the agents gave it.
Marbella's oldest golf estate: low-rise villas on proper plots, between the Guadalmina river and San Pedro, with the beach at the bottom of the road.
Property
What your money buys here.
The average asking price in Marbella was €5,967 per m² in September 2026, +3.2% on a year earlier (idealista price report). The examples below were opened and read on 18 September 2026. Stock moves weekly, so treat them as the shape of the market, not as houses to buy.
€300,000
A three-bed, two-bath flat of 94 m² in Nueva Andalucía, built in 2001, third floor with a lift, parking, a pool and gardens in the complex, twenty minutes' walk from the beach.
Opened and read. Near Puerto Banús without being on it, which is the part that makes the price work.
€370,000
A three-bed, two-bath flat of 110 m² on the main avenue in San Pedro de Alcántara, built in 1978, first floor with a lift and a terrace.
Opened and read. San Pedro is where the square metres still are in this municipality; a 1978 build wants its surveying done properly.
€315,000 to €400,000
Two-bed flats in Elviria, Santa María Golf and Los Naranjos sit in this band.
Listed, not opened.
Add 10 to 13% on top of any price for taxes and fees. The cost calculator gives the real number for a given price.
Homes we can show you
Homes we can show you in Marbella.
Resales and new builds from agencies and developers we work with, each one read, priced with its tax and with what we'd check before an offer. We arrange the viewing and sit on your side of it. See them all on Properties.
The practical page
Where things actually are.
Every link below was opened and checked on 18 September 2026. Drive times are measured on Google Maps at a normal hour, not guessed.
I.Getting there and around60 min to Málaga airport, and the rest
- 60 min to Málaga airport (52.2 km, via AP-7)
- 66 min to Málaga city centre (Alameda) (61.7 km, via A-355 and A-357)
- 34 min to Estepona (33.8 km, via AP-7)
- Avanza coaches to and from Marbella ↗
The bus station on Avenida Trapiche runs the airport, Málaga, Estepona, Algeciras and the Banús shuttle. There is no train, and there has been no train for fifty years.
- All Avanza Málaga lines, with PDF timetables ↗
- Puerto Banús marina ↗
- Málaga airport (AENA) ↗
II.Everyday life4 places, each link checked
III.Health5 places, each link checked
Residents register with the public system through the local health centre. How that works for Irish owners is in the healthcare guide.
- Hospital Costa del Sol ↗
The public reference hospital for the whole western coast, and it is in the municipality. That is a real argument for Marbella that nobody puts in a brochure.
- Centro de Salud Leganitos (the town centre) ↗
- Centro de Salud Las Albarizas ↗
- Centro de Salud La Campana (Nueva Andalucía) ↗
- Centro de Salud San Pedro de Alcántara ↗
IV.Schools5 schools, each link checked
- Aloha College, British curriculum and IB, Nueva Andalucía ↗
- Swans International School, British curriculum, Marbella ↗
Two campuses, one in the town and one at Sierra Blanca.
- Laude San Pedro International College, San Pedro de Alcántara ↗
- Atalaya International School, IB, on the Estepona side ↗
- State schools: the Junta's school finder (catchments and places) ↗
V.Sport and outdoors4 places, each link checked
- The beach catalogue: every beach in the municipality ↗
- Golf in Marbella ↗
The Nueva Andalucía golf valley alone holds Las Brisas, Los Naranjos and Aloha.
- Municipal sports facilities ↗
- Sport and activities on the tourism site ↗
Golf
7 courses in and around Marbella.
Each has its own page: the courses, who can play, green fees where the club publishes them and how far it is from the airport. Every course on the coast.
What we'd tell you on the phone
The parts that aren't in the brochure.
The average here is €5,967 a square metre, the highest on the coast. That average hides an enormous spread: San Pedro and Las Chapas are a different market from the Golden Mile, and a Marbella postcode on a listing tells you almost nothing until you look at where the pin is.
It is an hour from the airport, and the AP-7 toll is what makes it an hour. The free coastal A-7 through San Pedro and Banús in August is a different journey entirely.
There is no train and there is no plan for one that anyone should count on. Everything here assumes a car.
The schools are the real draw for families, and they fill. If a school place is part of the plan, ring the school before you shortlist the house, because the catchment for a private school is wherever you can stand the drive from at 8am.
Puerto Banús is a place people visit rather than live in, and living beside it in July and August is a decision, not a bonus. Walk it late on a Saturday before you commit.
Start your search
Thinking about Marbella?
We've set the search to Marbella. Tell us your budget and what you want, and we'll tell you honestly whether it fits, and what else to look at.
Rather talk first? Call +353 87 440 5321 or message us on WhatsApp.