Gibraltar, Ronda or Arcos de la Frontera?

I've stayed in Ronda twice and really liked it. The gorge adds something, for sure. When using public transportation, I don't like to feel isolated in a really small town (e.g., Arcos)--but that's just a personal bias. The Comes bus company can get you from Ronda to Arcos or vice versa in about two hours. I think you might be able to cobble together a loop running Seville - Ronda (2 nights) - Arcos - Seville. The last leg could be all bus or bus Arcos-Jerez then train Jerez-Seville. I'm just not sure what you'd do with your luggage while wandering around Arcos. Or after your second night in Ronda you could leave your luggage at your Ronda hotel and treat yourself to day-trip to Arcos before retrieving your luggage and heading back to Seville. On weekdays it appears that the last train leaves Ronda just after 5 PM. I'm not having any luck finding a bus schedule at the moment.

Ypu could also consider spending only one night in Ronda and taking a one-day tour of the white villages from Seville. That would allow you to see more than just Arcos. Just find a tour that doesn't take you to Ronda.

I've never had enough desire to go to Gibraltar to explore the transportation details, but from what I've read on this forum it's rather convoluted if you don't have your own car. To me, Ronda and the white villages would have a higher priority.

Thanks Acraven for your prompt reply.
I won't be returning to Sevilla, but will head to the coast towards Malaga where I will fly home from a couple of days later. Where is the best place to spend those days to just relax at that time of year?

That I can't help with. I'm neither a "just relaxing" nor a beach person. I remember seeing several references to Nerja on this forum, though. Maybe do some Googling?

Ronda's beautiful. Gibraltar is just a rock with lots of monkeys and expensive, bad food. Really the only thing to do in Gibraltar is watch the monkeys jump on unsuspecting tourists. I don't know that Ronda needs more than a day even at a leisurely pace but it's a charming place. I've not been to Arcos so I can't help there.

I’ve been to all, only ever spent a night in Ronda, but never used public transportation. The view from the hilltop in Arcos is very nice, but not much else there. Gibraltar is more a novelty as people go just to say they went. Other than seeing the sometimes overly aggressive monkeys and the view from the rock, it too has little else to offer. Ronda has the bridge and gorge but is very popular with tourists. Of your three choices, only Ronda is worth a full day. The others are worth a couple hours at most. If heading towards Malaga from any of those, Marbella, Fuengirola, and Torremolinos are popular beach spots with foreign tourists.

Thanks to all for your helpful advice

We are going to end a Rick Steves tour in Seville and will be using public transportation. Would a hill town be a good trip to add on? We would need ease of transportation to facilitate the trip. We will stop in Ronda on the way to Seville so I was thinking something south. Thanks for any help.