October–November
Wk 43–45
The quietest stretch among this region's best weather weeks: crowd level around 32 out of 100, weather comfort near 79.
- Crowd level
- 15–47
- Comfort
- 74–83
Spain · Costa del Sol
Costa del Sol: 150 kilometres of the Málaga province coast
A hotelier invented the name in 1928 for advertising; today the strip runs from Manilva to Maro, with mountain ranges close behind it. Along it lie Málaga's Alcazaba, a Roman theatre, Moorish watchtowers and white villages in the hills.
Busiest week
AugustCrowd level 100
Wk 32 · 2,422,121 overnight stays
Quietest weeks
JanuaryCrowd level 0–1
Wk 2–4 · measured against the region's own year, not against other regions
Sweet spot
October–NovemberCrowd level 15–47
Wk 43–45 · quietest while the weather still holds
Warmest month
30 °CComfort 69
August · around 10 mm of rain in the month
The overnight-stay figures come from a statistical area that this destination shares with Andalusien. They cover the whole area, not Costa del Sol on its own.
Costa del Sol in brief
The Costa del Sol is a stretch of coast in Andalusia; its name means sun coast in Spanish. It is confined to the Mediterranean shore of the province of Málaga and runs 150 kilometres from Manilva near Estepona to Maro near Nerja, bordering the Campo de Gibraltar in the west and the Costa Tropical in the east. Mountain ranges run close behind the shoreline; in them lie white villages such as Mijas Pueblo and Frigiliana, and on the coast itself Málaga with its Alcazaba, the Castillo de Gibralfaro and a Roman theatre.
When is Costa del Sol busy, when is it quiet?
Click a week. The panel on the right explains why it is busy or quiet.
Weather profile
Weather comfort is an absolute scale (0 = poor, 100 = ideal) and a second axis next to the season-relative crowd level.
JanuaryØ 2
FebruaryØ 15
MarchØ 24
AprilØ 45
MayØ 51
JuneØ 61
JulyØ 81
AugustØ 96
SeptemberØ 65
OctoberØ 46
NovemberØ 18
DecemberØ 10
Colour = season-relative crowd levelBar = weather comfort (Sun & warmth), absolute 0–100
Why this week?
October · Wk 43
Crowd level47/100 · moderate
quietbusy
Weather comfort53/100 · Sun & warmth
+6 % versus the region's annual average.
- Contributing months
- October (100 %)
- Overnight stays/week
- 1,480,084
- School-holiday pressure (source markets)
- 14 % of source markets on school holidays · +3 % crowding from holidays
- Main source markets
- Spain (44 %) · United Kingdom (19 %) · Germany (13 %) · 88% of guests modelled
- Region range
- 628,774–2,422,121 (avg 1,389,871)
- Base years
- 2022, 2023, 2024 (excluding 2020, 2021)
v1: Crowd-Score aus der Eurostat-Basisschicht (Übernachtungen), moduliert vom Schulferien-Druck der Quellmärkte, region-spezifisch gewichtet mit dem Quellland-Mix. Season-relativ zur Region. Event-Schichten folgen.
Plan your trip
Pre-filled with the next date in week 43.
DestinationCosta del Sol
Travel datesPick a week in the calendar
FlightSearch flights (opens in a new tab)
StayFind stays (opens in a new tab)
ActivityExplore activities (opens in a new tab)Ad · commission link
Photos: Johny Goerend · reisetopia · Dino Reichmuth on Unsplash
The travel year in Costa del Sol, month by month
The year as a table to read and to cite: crowd level for every month, plus weather comfort and temperature from the climate normals.
| Month | Crowd level0–100, season-relative | Weather comfort0–100, profile “mild” | Avg temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2 | 50 | 10 °C |
| February | 15 | 56 | 12 °C |
| March | 24 | 60 | 14 °C |
| April | 45 | 75 | 17 °C |
| May | 51 | 89 | 21 °C |
| June | 61 | 86 | 25 °C |
| July | 81 | 72 | 29 °C |
| August | 96 | 69 | 30 °C |
| September | 65 | 83 | 25 °C |
| October | 46 | 86 | 21 °C |
| November | 18 | 69 | 15 °C |
| December | 10 | 53 | 12 °C |
The crowd level is season-relative: 100 is the annual peak of Costa del Sol itself, not the busiest destination in Europe. The figures say when it is quiet here — not where it is quieter than elsewhere.
Weather comfort 0–100 from the climate normals, profile “mild” – the same profile as the recommendation above, not the selection in the calendar. A “–” means the data for that month is missing.
Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026
The windows worth catching
Three windows from the model: first whether the weather suits the region, then how busy it gets.
April–May
Wk 16–18
A second option, also with usable weather: crowd level around 47, weather comfort near 81.
- Crowd level
- 43–49
- Comfort
- 77–85
August
Wk 31–33
The region's peak: crowd level around 98 out of 100. Only if the dates are fixed.
- Crowd level
- 97–100
- Comfort
- 65–67
Costa del Sol compared with Europe
How full the accommodation is here, measured against Europe – on the only measure on which two travel regions can be compared.
- Bed occupancy in Costa del Sol
- 32.5
- European median
- 23.1
per cent of bed places, annual mean
per cent of bed places, annual mean
Furthest from the median: April, at 1.7× the value. Closest to the median: July, at 1.2× the value.
Mean across 12 months, weighted by their weeks. This occupancy compares travel regions with one another. The crowding in the table above compares Costa del Sol with itself. The two measures are never combined.
Climate through the year
Average temperature with day/night range and precipitation across the twelve months.
- Avg temperature
- Day/night range
- Precipitation
| Month | Avg temperature (°C) | Day avg (°C) | Night avg (°C) | Precipitation (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9 | 10 | 8 | 54 |
| Feb | 11 | 12 | 10 | 47 |
| Mar | 12 | 14 | 11 | 106 |
| Apr | 15 | 17 | 14 | 56 |
| May | 19 | 21 | 18 | 32 |
| Jun | 24 | 25 | 23 | 13 |
| Jul | 28 | 29 | 26 | 2 |
| Aug | 28 | 30 | 27 | 10 |
| Sep | 24 | 25 | 23 | 27 |
| Oct | 20 | 21 | 18 | 52 |
| Nov | 14 | 15 | 13 | 70 |
| Dec | 11 | 12 | 10 | 65 |
The band shows mean daytime to nighttime temperature. Precipitation shown as monthly total (mm). Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
How sunny?
How much sun a typical day delivers, month by month, expressed as hours of full midday sun.
Very sunny
≈ 5.1 h of full midday sun per day, annual average
Jul
Sunniest month
| Month | ≈ h of full midday sun per day |
|---|---|
| Jan | 2.6 |
| Feb | 3.6 |
| Mar | 4.6 |
| Apr | 5.8 |
| May | 7.1 |
| Jun | 7.8 |
| Jul | 8.0 |
| Aug | 7.2 |
| Sep | 5.5 |
| Oct | 4.0 |
| Nov | 2.7 |
| Dec | 2.3 |
Basis: mean daily solar irradiance in kWh/m²/day; 1 kWh/m² is roughly one hour of full midday sun (1,000 W/m²). Not the same as measured sunshine duration. Typical monthly value (climate normal), not a forecast.
Directly reachable from
Destination airports of Costa del Sol and every European departure airport with a direct connection to them.
Destination airports
Select a destination airport to see the direct departure airports.
“Directly reachable” means a direct connection exists according to our sources. We do not show a live timetable. Availability and flight days can vary by season and airline.
Ski areas in Costa del Sol
Mapped ski areas in this region with slope kilometres, lifts and elevation, plus the long-term snow average from our climate data.
- Ski areas
- 1
- Slopes in total
- 106 km
- Lifts
- 22
- Highest point
- 3,300 m
| Ski area | Slopes | Lifts | Elevation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Estación de Esquí y Montaña de Sierra Nevada | 106.43 km2.44 km cross-country | 22 | 2,138–3,300 m1,162 m vertical drop |
Slope, lift and elevation figures come from open mapping and are complete to varying degrees. “Not available” means not mapped, not “does not exist”. Opening hours and season are not included. Snow figures are long-term averages for the whole region, not snow depth on the mountain and not a forecast.
Costa del Sol in detail
Location and shape
The Costa del Sol is a stretch of coast in the south of Spain, in Andalusia; in Spanish the name means sun coast. It is confined to the Mediterranean shore of the province of Málaga, from Manilva near Estepona to Maro near Nerja, and measures 150 kilometres; the whole Mediterranean coast of Andalusia is often called by the same name, which does not match that outline. To the west it borders the Campo de Gibraltar, the Mediterranean shore of the province of Cádiz, and to the east the Costa Tropical in the province of Granada; the section from Manilva to Torremolinos is called occidental, the one from Málaga to Nerja oriental. Mountain ranges run close behind the shoreline.
A name from 1928 and what came of it
The term was coined in 1928 by the hotelier Rodolfo Lussnigg for advertising purposes. As early as the 1920s wealthy Spaniards built country houses in the fishing villages of the coast, for instance in Benalmádena Pueblo; the original settlements were left as they were. From the 1960s onwards large hotel and holiday complexes went up, and west of Málaga the settlements grew together, where the shoreline is today built up almost without a break as far as Estepona. With the recession of 2007 the property bubble burst: prices fell by up to 70 per cent within a few weeks, and unfinished complexes and abandoned building sites were left behind.
Roman and Moorish traces
The chief town of the strip is Málaga, with the Alcazaba, the Castillo de Gibralfaro, the cathedral and the Picasso Museum. At the foot of the Alcazaba lies the Roman theatre of the first century AD; it came to light by chance during the building of a house, and parts of it had been built into the fortress in Moorish times. Further Roman remains are spread along the whole line: at Fuengirola the Finca del Secretario with a preserved salting plant, a bath house and a pottery workshop, near Marbella the Villa Romana de Río Verde with its black and white mosaic floor, near Casares the Baños de la Hedionda as the remains of a sulphur bath, and at the eastern end of the Torrox promenade the remains of the town of Caviculum. From Islamic times come the watchtowers called atalayas, which mostly stood on rises close to the sea, formed an unbroken chain of sight and were manned by one or two soldiers; in the south-west of Fuengirola stands the Castillo de Sohail, around which the original town is said to have formed and whose construction is dated to about 900 AD.
Towns, harbours, white villages
In the hills above the coast lie white villages of whitewashed houses and Moorish architecture: Mijas Pueblo above Fuengirola, Frigiliana near Nerja and Casares on its hill. At the eastern end lies Nerja with the Balcón de Europa viewpoint and its caves; near Rincón de la Victoria the Cueva del Tesoro runs into the rock as one of the few underwater caves in Europe. Vélez-Málaga lies a little inland and carries the Fortaleza de Vélez, with Torre del Mar as its access to the sea; at the western end Manilva has vineyards of Moscatel and the harbour Puerto de la Duquesa. Marbella has an old town and the Puerto Banús marina and was once a destination of the jet set; further sport and fishing harbours lie at Estepona, Benalmádena, Fuengirola and Málaga.
Behind the shoreline
In the hinterland of the province of Málaga lie the Sierra de las Nieves with its pinsapo fir forest and the standing of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, the Montes de Málaga along the valley of the Guadalmedina, El Torcal de Antequera with its karst formations, and the Gaitanes gorge, through which the Caminito del Rey runs high above the water. On the coast near Nerja the Maro-Cerro Gordo nature park adjoins. Golf courses lie on the coast and in the hinterland alike: in 2021 there were around 70 of them, the largest groups near Marbella, Mijas and Estepona.
How it differs from Andalusia
The Costa del Sol is a piece of Andalusia: the 150 kilometre Mediterranean shore of the province of Málaga. Andalusia takes in eight provinces and 87,268 square kilometres, and its coast runs more than 800 kilometres, with the Costa de la Luz on the Atlantic and the Costa Tropical and Costa de Almería alongside. The strip is marked by the shoreline built up almost without a break from Málaga west to Estepona, the atalaya watchtowers above the water and the white villages in the hills; on its coast and in the hinterland of the province of Málaga there were around 70 golf courses in 2021, the largest groups near Marbella, Mijas and Estepona. Beyond it Andalusia carries the Sierra Nevada with the Mulhacén at 3,482 metres, the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba, Seville with its cathedral and Alcázar, the Coto de Doñana wetland, and close to a third of the world's olive oil production, with the groves mainly around Córdoba and Jaén. Some of it is shared out: the Alcazaba of Málaga belongs to the same Moorish period as the Alhambra, Andalusia's avocados, mangoes and cherimoyas grow on this coast and on the Costa Tropical, and the dolmens of Antequera lie in the province of Málaga but inland, and so outside the strip.
Frequently asked questions about the best time to visit Costa del Sol
Short answers on timing, weather and getting there, all from the data on this page.
When is the best time to visit Costa del Sol?
- The best time to visit Costa del Sol is October–November (Wk 43–45): it is the quietest stretch among the region's best weather weeks – crowd level around 32 out of 100, weather comfort about 79 out of 100.
When is Costa del Sol quietest?
- January (Wk 2–4) is the quietest time in Costa del Sol. Crowd levels there sit at 0–1 out of 100, the lowest across the year.
When is Costa del Sol busiest?
- Costa del Sol is busiest in August (Wk 32) with around 2,422,121 overnight stays in the peak week.
What is the weather like in Costa del Sol and when is it warmest?
- It is warmest in Costa del Sol in August with an average of 30 °C and around 10 mm of rain in the month.
How do you get to Costa del Sol?
- Costa del Sol is reachable via 6 destination airports with direct flights, including Malaga Airport (AGP), Seville Airport (SVQ) and Jerez Airport (XRY).
Quiet travel windows across Europe, once a month
The Crowd Report names the emptiest weeks of the coming months — for every region, not just this one. Free, unsubscribe any time.
Sources and data vintages
Every provenance note on this page, collected in one place.
- Cover photo
- Photo by Daniel Bayer on Unsplash
- Cover video
- Video by David Pickup | Advertising & Marketing 🇬🇧 on Pexels
- Crowding figures
- Index 2.0 · As of 25/08/2026. v1 approximation, calculated from Eurostat overnight stays. Day tourism and cruises (Venice, Dubrovnik …) are still missing, so we show these destinations as quieter than they are. The crowd score is a model-based forecast, not a measurement.
- Climate data
- Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2025.
- Reachability
Data sources: direct connections from Wikipedia (“Airlines and destinations”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, aggregated and modified by us), cross-checked with Eurostat, Destatis and the UK Civil Aviation Authority; airport data from OurAirports (Public Domain). The derived connection data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Data as of: September 2026
- Ski areas
Data sources: ski areas from OpenSkiMap, based on OpenStreetMap, licensed under ODbL 1.0; snow depths from ERA5-Land (Copernicus Climate Change Service).
- Region text
- Text by HolidayHub, written from Wikivoyage „Costa del Sol“ (1741096) · Wikipedia „Costa del Sol“ (268158574) · Wikidata Q215254. Wikivoyage and Wikipedia are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikidata CC0.
- Data basis
- All figures are approximations derived from open data (crowd level from Eurostat overnight stays, climate from Copernicus/ERA5-Land), not measurements.