Help with Itinerary in Andalucia

Madrid is good as a day trip.
Even my Spanish teacher a native of Andalusia says too hot in July.

Each to their own, but Tarifa doesn't get a lot of support on this forum.
It all depends on what floats your boat, but Andalusia is popular as a tourist destination due to its Moorish heritage. I anticipate people recommending Granada over Tarifa. Granada is the home to the Alhambra - the last Moorish stand before the reign of Isabel and Ferdinand.
I like Madrid a lot, but whether just for the day to visit your son or overnight - neither gives you a good feel for the city, so perhaps just head on to Seville the same night. One less unpack.
35 - 40+C just so you know.

Hi Maria, just to politely chime in :)
The conquest of Granada was actually during the reign of Isabel and Ferdinand in 1492, here is the famous painting of the capitulation of the Moors to the Catholic Monarchs (one can see the Alhambra in the distance).

Isabel considered the conquest of Granada her greatest achievement (even more than the Columbus Expeditions). This why she choose to be burned at the Royal Chapel of Granada, rather than at the Cathedral of Toledo, which was the traditional place to be buried for Castilian Kings and Queens.

I actually visited Granada many years ago and my sister isn't interested in it which is why we are skipping it. As for the heat, we'll have to make the most of it ... wasn't a choice on timing. If we are going to do the Tangiers day trip, where else would you recommend staying before if we take a day to drive down from Seville visiting different areas and where would you stay coming back from the boat afterwards? I'm very torn about Madrid.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tangiers isn't worth it in my opinion. It's been compared to a cross border trip to Tijuana to experience Mexico. We went last April and if I had the chance to do it again I wouldn't have done it. It's dirty, it's crass, it's boring, it's all about money, money, money, there's little of interest, you'll need a guide and they will take you to all the places where friends, relatives etc will try to sell you crap goods at inflated prices. The food was poor, animals are exploited, tourists are ripped off and quite frankly there was nothing redeeming about the place. Stick to Spain, far better places to enjoy and experience.

Thanks for the comments about Tangiers. I've read mixed reviews about it and honestly I'm on the fence with it. So if we stuck to Spain, knowing we want to pass on Granada, what would you suggest for an itinerary. I still would do 3 nights in Seville and want to drive down around Jerez and Cadiz and visit Rhonda and the last night has to be in Malaga for an early flight so that last part we will have a car.. So that leaves 4 nights to sort out.

Toledo!

Cordoba!

I so agree about Tangier. Morocco is a wonderful country; Tangier is not a wonderful place.

Other options in Spain:

Ubeda and Baeza are smaller places known for their Renaisance architecture, and thus different from a lot of what you'll see elsewhere in Andalucia.

With enough time you could visit some of the other white towns and villages. The ones most often mentioned, I think, are Arcos de la Frontera, Grazalema, Zahara de la Sierra and Vejer de la Frontera.

The train will be much faster than a car for the route Barcelona-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville-Jerez-Cadiz. Toledo has fast service from Madrid but you must return to Madrid before continuing farther south. The train will probably still be faster than a car.

If traveling Madrid-Ubeda-Cordoba, bus works better than train and a car would save at least a bit of time.

A car is extremely helpful if you're going to attempt some of the smaller white villages. There is decent rail/bus service to Ronda, but the others are harder to reach, especially if you want to hit 2 of them in a single day.

Okay I appreciate all the comments and I think we will drop the Tangiers idea. We are training from Barcelona to Seville. We will do a day trip to Cordoba from Seville. I only planned on getting a car from Seville onwards to head to Jerez-Cadiz and travel around the area instead of the train and from there head to Rhonda. Is the drive nicer from Cadiz through Zahara de la Sierra, or south around the bottom of Spain and up. I'd like to go the most scenic way.

I don't know the answer to your routing question, but if you go to ViaMichelin.com and request the route, you may get multiple options. Even if you do not, zoom in on the map and any roads VM considers especially scenic will be highlighted in green.

Based on what others have reported, a lot of the roads to the small hill towns are twisty/turny affairs. You should not expect to cover ground rapidly. I have no idea how accurate VM's driving-time estimates are for that area. Keep in mind that they do not include time for any stops, getting lost, looking for parking, or walking from where you had to park to what you actually want to see.

The drive from Sevilla to Jerez de la Frontera, then to Cadiz is fairly boring and takes about an hour. If you just want to get there quickly, take the autopista toll road E-5/AP-4. The non toll road A-4/A-480 is a little slower, but not a bad road. Between Jerez and Cadiz, there can be a lot of traffic, but the roads are nice and well marked. If you have time, Puerto de Santa Maria is worth a short stop to see the castle and church. From Cadiz, I feel the more scenic route to Ronda is up to Arcos de la Frontera, then east through the white towns, and over to Ronda. No matter which route you end up taking, once off the interstate, the roads are rural, 2-lane, with plenty of twists and turns through the mountains.

Plan on it being hot, probably very hot, the farther south you go, and the lower in elevation.
I realize you already know that, but just accept, before the trip, that it will be hot, probably hotter than you think, and that this may well impact how much you can do in the middle of the afternoons.

We spent just 1N in Ronda and wished we had be able to stay at least 2N. It is a lovely town, but very crowded during the day. It was so nice to be able to stroll through the streets at night after the crowds left. If you did 2N, you could use it as a base to visit other nearby white towns. Have fun!

The route to Ronda is very scenic indeed but not for the driver, that requires full attention to the road ahead as the mountain roads are very twisty and often with sheer drops (I don't have much confidence in those flimsy railings between the road and the 100ft drops). Also be mindful that many locals know the roads like the back of their hands and will often be driving faster than you, some will get irritated and perfrom dangerous overtakes, try not to be intimidated and allow them to pass rather than be beligerent (which I'm guilty of at times).

If you'd like a bit of coastal scenery together with attractive old white town ambience then you could head to Estepona from Ronda (we often do the reverse) https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/heres-why-you-should-visit-estepona-spain-before-everyone-catches-on/

From there you can visit nearby Benehavis, a small village in the mountains with some of the best restaurants in the area.

From there Marbella is a short drive away and has a pleasant, small old town and ancient fortress.

Malaga is roughly 45 minutes away from Marbella.

Take the train to Jerez (or Cadiz) and spend a night. Then get the rental car and drive to Ronda, for 2nights, stopping at Arcos on the way. Once you are in the hills, it's all scenic.

You can leave Madrid on an early train to Cordoba, leave bags at the bus station across the street from the train station and spend a full day, then take an evening train to Sevilla.

These have all been great comments. I thought about going to Cordoba along the way as suggested, but my sister is not as mobile so I'm thinking we are better off getting straight to Seville and drop the bags. She loves trains so won't mind the short ride back another day to visit. Another reason I was planning on driving from Seville to Jerez/Cadiz. We will stay one night there - not sure which - we don't care about the beach, we are more about scenery, architecture, food, markets, culture. From there we will head to Rhonda. I'm a bit nervous about the driving although I've done some scary drives in the past ... going to Rhonda by way of Arcos would we be more on the inside or on the outside edges? Thinking this is my preference but if its less nerve wracking going south and up then will head that way. So the schedule is now looking like Madrid (1 night), Seville (3 nights), Jerez or Cadiz (1 night), Ronda (1 night), Malaga (2 nights). Other option could be to stay a 4th night in Seville and day trip to Jerez/Cadiz?

My recollection is that they are hills, not cliffs. They are well-graded and I didn't think they were narrow. There are pull-outs along the way where you can stop to admire the views and take photos. If you've driven mountain roads, you'll be fine. I am very comfortable behind the wheel and was able to enjoy the scenery as I drove, though I did take every opportunity to pull over and soak up the scenery. Slow down for the curves and if there are cars behind you, try to find places to pull over and let them pass you and you'll be fine.

The route to Ronda from the coast is very much mountains with sheer drops rather than hills. Once on the plateau things are more hill like than mountainous.

Chani is correct, they are more hills, and you’re not going through mountains (really foothills, rather than mountains. Nothing like the Rocky’s) the entire time. The driving is pretty easy and road fairly well marked. There are plenty of signs to the different towns. There is no reason to be nervous.

This has all been so hopeful. Thank you everyone. After a lot of back and forth we have decided we will stay Madrid (2 nights), Seville (3 nights), Cadiz (1 night), Malaga (2 nights). We will drive the coast from Cadiz to Malaga and the next day drive to Ronda for the day. I'd rather go from Cadiz to Ronda over the top way, but I would have had to make it 1 night in Madrid and then end our trip with 3 1 nights in a row.

Of course it's not like driving the Rockies, but still more than hillside driving. I enjoy it, my wife can't stand it.

This is what you expect to see:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.6260069,-5.0778819,3a,75y,259.94h,67.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1st7nZ3CX7ASR8dbZjlx7nWQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656