Private transfer from Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport to Montilla

Montilla sits in the Córdoba countryside and gives its name to the Montilla-Moriles wines, made largely from Pedro Ximénez grapes under the same solera system used in Jerez. Most visitors come for the bodegas: Alvear, founded in 1729 and one of Andalusia's oldest, plus Pérez Barquero and Toro Albalá, where you can taste fino, amontillado and sweet PX. In the old town you'll find the Basílica de San Juan de Ávila, whose remains are kept here, the Santiago church and the Casa del Inca, linked to the writer Garcilaso de la Vega. Visitors are mostly wine tourists, day-trippers from Córdoba city, and people touring the neighbouring towns of Aguilar de la Frontera, Montemayor and Lucena. Harvest season in late summer is the busiest and most interesting time.

The route leaves the coast almost immediately and heads inland, so don't expect sea views for long. From the airport you join the A-45 motorway towards Antequera and Córdoba, climbing over the Puerto de las Pedrizas pass, where the road winds and gains height before the terrain opens out. Past Antequera the landscape flattens into the wide agricultural plains of the Córdoba campiña, an unbroken run of olive groves and vineyards. It's dual carriageway nearly the whole way, so the drive is steady rather than twisty. Montilla lies just off the A-45, reached by a short exit road, and the final approach passes vineyards before the town rises on its low hill. Total journey is roughly an hour and forty minutes depending on traffic around Málaga and Antequera.

Book bodega visits in advance: the main houses like Alvear run guided tours and tastings by appointment, and they don't always open on demand, especially outside weekends. Tell your driver the specific address, because Montilla's old core has narrow one-way streets that don't suit large vehicles, and the pick-up or drop-off point may be a square or the edge of the historic centre rather than the door. There's little reason to stop en route, but Antequera is a natural halfway break if you want one. This is an inland trip with no coastal traffic, so timing is more predictable than a Costa del Sol run, though the airport approach and the Pedrizas climb can slow things in bad weather. Bring water in summer; the campiña gets very hot and shade in town is limited midday.