Driving from Malaga to nearby attractions (Ronda, Granada, Gibraltar) vs. public transportation?

Spain has a very good bus system that some think is better than their train system. I think you can get around anywhere with ALSA buses and RENFE trains. Look at rome2rio (https://www.rome2rio.com/) for options.

I just returned from Spain and we used public transportation from Malaga. It was very efficient, comfortable, safe and easy to use. We purchased bus tickets through ALSA for the following trips: Malaga Airport to Granada. Granada to Cordoba and Sevilla to Malaga Airport. We used the train from Cordoba to Sevilla and purchased that through the RENFE website. We relied on taxi's to get us to and from hotels. Most were about 6 - 10 euros. We did miss one bus due to our plane being delayed - so we had to purchase a new ticket. There was no refund. The driver will check his roaster against your ticket. Luggage is stored underneath and you will have to maneuver this yourself. (we actually helped an elderly couple with their luggage). There are people of all ages on the buses. It is the way to go - don't worry about getting a car. The cities streets and parking are a nightmare even for Spanish drivers.

Margaret

Andalucia is large. It doesn't work well to try to see it from a single hub, especially without a car.

You can check rail schedules on the Renfe website. Bus schedules can be harder to pin down until you're on the ground and can inquire in person at the bus station--though I'm finding the tourist offices in Andalucia often have bus-schedule summaries to hand out upon request. In the meantime, try Googling Bus Malaga to Ronda, etc.

I think you'll find there's one practical outbound bus to Ronda and one practical return bus. Travel time seems to range from 1 hr. 45 min. to nearly 3 hr., so it will be a lot of time on the bus.

Seville is 1 hr. 55 min. from Malaga by fast train; no other means of transportation would be remotely feasible, but even 4 hours is too long to be in transit when you're heading for a city like Seville. It has a number of important sights and a large historic area to explore, so it's definitely not a one-day destination. There's also the fact that the train station isn't particularly close to the key sights and the maze of medieval streets makes even taxi service somewhat slow. To be perfectly clear, the way to see Seville is to stay in Seville, not in Malaga.

When I checked Malaga-Granada bus schedules a few months ago, I found that buses were fairly frequent but took between 1 hr. 45 min. and 2 hr. 15 min. each way. As with Seville, this seems problematic since it doesn't leave adequate time to see Granada. And trains are slower than buses on this route.

I've never considered going to Gibraltar, so I don't know anything about travel times.

If you absolutely must stay seven nights in one place in Andalucia, I'd recommend Seville. It has a lot more to see than Malaga plus two day-trips that don't take much more than an hour each way--Cordoba and Carmona. Arcos de la Frontera is about 2 hours away by bus. There are tours offered to Ronda and some of the smaller white villages.

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Look at these links. They may help you.

http://www.andalucia.com/travel/bus/malaga.htm

Thanks for the great suggestions. We will check out these websites and forego the car.

I've been driving this area for several years mainly with an automatic. They aren't as rare as many would make you believe and whilst more expensive than their manual counterparts they're often not significantly so.

Only the road to Ronda from the coast is particularly curvy and I find it an enjoyable drive although my wife is not so keen as a passenger. Most of the other routes you've detailed are on mainly fast, open motorways.

Ultimately it's your call but I would favour driving over public transport every time.