Andalusia itinerary for 20 days

I want to experience more of the country and culture and have a relaxed pace

Not my idea of a relaxed pace as you are bouncing from place to place, often for only a night. "Being there" means slowing your pace.

Upon arriving in Malaga IMMEDIATELY continue on to Granada via bus/train. You don't need a car while in Granada. Are you flying thru Madrid with a connection to Malaga? If so, you may desire to inquire about changing you arrival destination to Granada.

Granada - 3
Cordoba - 2
Seville - 4
Cadiz - 3
Ronda - 2
Malaga - 3

Recommend picking up car in Seville and dropping it off in Malaga.

I agree with Marbleskies that so many 1 and 2 night stays is not a relaxing pace and would go with this itinerary other than I would take a night from Malaga and add it to Cadiz so you can have a day trip to Jerez.

Thanks. I am flying TAP with a connection in Lisbon. Unfortunately, the tickets are not flexible. They charge $300 per ticket for any change.

Nick has suggested Ubeda, which I think is a good idea since you're interested in architecture and this is your second trip to Andalucia. Ubeda has a different look from places like Seville, Cordoba and Granada; so does neighboring Baeza.

Thank you. I did not consider Ubeda (2) and Antequera (1) before. Should I rent the car for the whole duration or it's better only for part of the trip and use trains for the rest?

I agree with Nick's comments about Marbella and Nerja, although I suppose you wanted some beach time. I personally would assign those nights elsewhere. I do want to say that I really liked both Baeza and Úbeda very much and if you are looking for architecture, culture, history and dramatic landscapes they offer that. The historical old town of both cities is very small. Both are beautiful and as someone else said, have a very different ambience and feel than much of Andalucia. They are both well worth visits. The two towns are not far from each other. We took a taxi over from Baeza to Úbeda and a public bus back. In Baeza there is a lookout over the beautiful Guadalquivir Valley that is filled with thousands of olive trees. There are also tours of olive farms in the area to see how the olive oil is produced. I think that if you are only spending one night in Cádiz then your time would be best spent in scenic Cádiz and you will not have time to see Gibraltar.

Hello from Wisconsin,

Listen to these people. When they say rushed, they mean not truly enjoyable. Arriving one day and leaving the next means you have hours in a location if you don't count time sleeping. Arriving one day and leaving the next when visiting an interesting place at this pace leaves so much unexplored. Later on, you might ask your self why you even visited.

15 days to me would divide into almost four four-day blocks of time. Pick four places you most want to visit. Seville, Granada could use four days, Cordoba three at least.

Four days mean this. An evening of touring the day you arrive in a place. Followed by a full day, a second full day, and then you leave the forth day. In Granada almost a full day could be spent in the Alhambra. It takes time to get into the place. Then your queue time. Going through the restricted areas. Seeing other spaces in this huge area. You would probably have time to see St. John's basilica on the same day. That leaves so much more to see in the city for the next full day.

Going to only cities makes for a concrete visit. If you can mix in a smaller place you might find it very enjoyable. Baeza was a joy for me. Their Cafe Central Teatro is worthy a visit and a drink. Slow down and soak this strange place in. Nearby is Ubeda, another smaller place. Stay in one of these two and take a local bus to visit the other. Don't waste time packing up and unpacking, just hop on and go. Take a later bus back.

wayne iNWI

We did see "must-see" attractions in Andalusia

So I take this to mean you saw The Alhambra, Seville and Granada Cathedrals, Mezquita, Alcazar Palace, etc... in the big 3 cities, correct? While I agree with others about this initial plan not being a relaxed pace, I don't think you need as much time in the big 3 as has been suggested, but I also agree with cutting down on one-nighters since that won't be relaxing ... driving almost every day can be a beating ... you have plenty of time to figure out what you want to see and do and 20 days should allow a good mix of moving around and staying put in a few locations ... something to also remember, if you rent a car and make several cities a 'home base' for a few days, chances are that car just sits while you pay for the privilege of it sitting ... might be better to use trains to get to the different bases and then either use local transportation or rent a car for a day to go somewhere outside the city.

And it's only a little over 2 hours from Seville to Faro (Algarve) by car (and another 30 minutes to get to the Benagil Cave) so if you do have a few extra days, that is a possibility (full disclosure, I LOVE the Algarve so I am just little biased)

Another car point is paying for parking. We got our car a day early, to go to Carmona and Italica from 3 or 4 nights in Seville. So we had to put it in a cavernous, narrow aisled, narrow-stalled underground garage for our last night. Not whining, just pointing out. Parking is a problem in Ronda and Arcos, as well, not just in bigger cities. Costs extra at the high-priced Pousada.

We didn't care for Jerez, but we're not interested in sherry. Do you want to go to the horse dressage show?

Elaborating on the short-stay problem: We stopped in Arcos and tried to stop in one white village on the way from Seville to Ronda. Even I sometimes call this (perhaps unfairly) a "Rick Steves Forced March." But it makes more sense than checking in and out of a hotel every day! Had to cancel Zahara because it was too far off the highway, turned around, for a relaxed dinner in Ronda. We also did Gibraltar as a daytrip from three nights in Ronda, which was practical, but not as rewarding a visit as we had imagined. Also very long drive, I admit. (Good highways.)

BTW, air conditioning is a significant factor in summer.

Edit: Typos only

Thank you all. Based on the suggestions here, I am redoing my itinerary. I do love to see Portugal's Algarve region if it is so close.
Also trying to see when should I rent a car there. I will post here as soon as I come up with a better trip for you to review. Thanks

At the end, I come up with this itinerary:
Arriving and departure to the US from Malaga. I am planning to use trains and a rental car on some legs. Planning side-trips from those cities by using them as bases to explore surrounding areas as well. How does it look now?
City: Nights:
Malaga 3
Ronda 2
Cadiz 3
Seville 4
Lagos 3
Cordoba 3
granada 2
Malaga 1