30 day Southern Spain itinerary

I would stay at least 2 nights in Cordoba. The Mezquita is amazing but the city has so much more, including a beautiful bridge and charming white buildings and patios. I think there are some cities that some might cut, or reduce days, like Cadiz or Malaga. Definitely, I think you can cut a day from Granada. I think you want at least the six days in Barcelona and the four nights in Sevilla I would say is the bare minimum.

Tell us what side trips you're planning and we may be able to relieve your mind about transportation challenges. The side trips will also affect our opinions about the number of days allocated to the stops you have listed.

I'd agree that 4 nights in Seville isn't enough if that's intended to include a day in Cordoba, and I would also agree that it's better to spend a couple of nights in Cordoba when you have as much time as you do.

4 nights is rather a lot of time in Malaga, quite a nice city but one without the wealth of sights you'll find in Seville. But perhaps you plan to hop on the regional train and see one or two of the little coastal towns.

I agree with the posters who suggest spending at least 2 nights in Cordoba.

I haven't been to Valencia or Cadiz so can't comment on those, although I hear nice things about both places . But I would take a night from Malaga and a night from Granada and add it to Cordoba. And depending on your interests, I would add a night to Madrid. Do you like art museums? If so, Madrid has some outstanding art museums, along with the Royal Palace, Retiro Park, Temple of Debod, etc. so I think 4 nights is better for Madrid. Unless you absolutely don't like art museums.

Trains and buses are the way to go for this itinerary. Regarding whether or not you need a car for day trips, it really depends on what day trips you have in mind.

And I think 6 nights is good for Barcelona because your first day there will be wasted getting over jetlag. You won't be doing too much sightseeing that day. Barcelona is a large city with a wealth of very interesting sites to see and neighborhoods to explore.

The only day trip that we had planned was a one day trip out of Malaga to Ronda. That was one of the reasons for allocating 4 nights to Malaga. We would like to work in a Cordoba trip and it seems like that warrants at least an overnight. I guess we could cut a day out of Cadiz and a day out of Malaga to make that work. My concern is on the transportation to/from without a car.

Presently, we are not planning to rent a car. It seems like day trips may not be very efficient without a car. Although travel time on trains is probably close to driving time I think we would lose a lot of time boarding/unboarding and navigating to the day trip site from a train. This time lost and because of limited daylight hours in Jan/Feb day trips by public transport may not be efficient. Therefore except for Ronda we weren't planning any day trips. Hence my query on the use of a rental car in Seville/Granada etc.

I've never rented a car in Europe, but I've always--even before retirement--been able to take trips longer than two weeks, so I haven't felt terribly constrained. However, a car can be very handy when you want to see small villages or when you are traveling to places rather infrequently served like Ronda. A lot of folks like to rent a car to travel between Seville and Granada (a trip with very fast train service which, however, involves a geographically circuitous route), allowing them to stop in such places as Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, Zahara and Grazalema. In your case, you might use a car between Malaga and Granada.

There's extraordinarily fast train service from Barcelona to Madrid, Cordoba and Seville; from Barcelona to Madrid, Cordoba and Malaga; and good (but not frequent) service from Cordoba to Granada. (As you can see, you're likely to pass through Cordoba more than once.) The trains from Seville south to Cadiz are fine but not super-fast expresses.

There's no direct rail link between Cadiz and Malaga, so a bus will probably be best for that leg of your trip. Spanish intercity buses are generally very comfortable. They are well worth considering any time the train route deviates sharply from a straight line or when train service is limited and none of the departures fit your schedule (which might happen into or out of Granada).

It's easier to get to Ronda from the west (Seville) than from the east, I think, unless you have a car. Links to Malaga may be quite good; I just never thought of traveling that way.

Side trips I enjoyed via bus include:

Seville to Carmona
Seville to Arcos de la Frontera (not a short trip; bus service is better from Jerez).
Ronda to Grazalema
Cadiz to Vejer de la Frontera (another white town)
Granada to Priego de Cordoba

You do have to be patient when dealing with public buses. I usually retain some flexibility by fiddling with lunch, choosing to skip it (or buy a banana, etc.) if I'm almost through seeing a small town and there's a bus departure coming up, followed by a really long gap before the next bus. If I have a 2- or 3-hour wait for the next bus, I will treat myself to a sit-down lunch.

When we visited Andalucia in 2017, the train tracks to/from Granada were not completed yet. They are now. So we took the ALSA bus from Cordoba to Granada, and then from Granada to Malaga. These routes were non-stop. The ALSA buses are great! Very clean, comfortable, modern, and they were always on time. I don't know if the buses will work for all of your routes, and for day trips, but don't be afraid to use them. And the bus stations are in convenient locations. So if there isn't convenient train service, check the ALSA bus schedules. Sometimes they run more frequently.

Thanks for the feed back.

There is a consensus to adding Cordoba to our trip. I can give Cadiz & Malaga a haircut to account for the time in Cordoba.

I think I still need to decide whether to take the train, bus or rent a car. I would prefer the flexibility of a car but I am still very concerned about driving and parking in the cities. Does anyone have driving experiences/recommendations that they can provide to help us make our decision? For example - was it difficult to navigate, was the cost of parking not worth it, or was it no different than driving/parking in Boston or NYC?

We did not drive in Andalusia but we live near Boston and have driven in Boston and NYC many times. I would consider driving in the Andalusian cities and finding parking to be much worse and more stressful. This is because these old cities are filled with very narrow lanes and lots of pedestrianized areas. And Granada is also very hilly.

I am not sure what day trips you have in mind but each place you are planning to visit is filled with so many interesting sites that I think you will end up spending most of your time there. I think the only exception would be if you want to visit the White Hill Towns.

In September, we spent 15 wonderful, self-drive days in Andalucia. Yes, in cities you pay to park the car, but driving in Spain is easy, traveltimes are short and, for us, the independence and flexibility of driving is well worth it. You have twice the time, but this is what we did:
Arrive Malaga - 2 nights
Drive to Caminito del Rey, visit Ronda, stay Arriate - 1 night
Drive Arriate - Sentenil - Olvera - Zahara - Arcos de la Frontera - 1 night
Drive to Gibraltor - Tarifa - 1 night
Drive through beach towns to Cadiz - 1 night
Drive to Sevilla - 3 nights
Drive to Cordoba - 2 nights
Drive to Granada - 2 nights
Drive to Nerja, visit Frigiliana - 2 nights
Depart Malaga

Highlights for us were hiking the El Caminito del Rey, the Seville Cathedral rooftop tour and the Mezquita. Our favorite white village was Olvera. Ronda was much too crowded and touristy. Tarifa was lovely and fun. Granada was super crowded but the Alhambra and good food are worth it. Nerja was a stop to relax before the flight home and was unlike anywhere else in Spain as it is a Swedish expat community. Malaga is very pleasant and relaxed. Whatever you decide, you will enjoy.!

PS - Consider taking time a day from Cadiz and/or a day or so from Granada or Malaga and spending some time in Cordoba.