Itinerary recommendations for 7 night stay in Malaga

You need at least 3 days to see Seville properly. I would rate Seville a 5 star and Malaga 3.5.

If you stay in Malaga, consider Rhonda.

You're either staying at Marriott's Playa Andaluza or Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort, neither of which are in Malaga but are an hour or 45 minute drive away respectively.

Malaga itself is a great city to visit and is a straight forward drive from either resort. Parking is best in one of the many underground car parks but be aware that the parking spaces are quite small as they were designed for smaller cars.

Marbella is a pleasant town to walk around with its superb tree lined boulevards and winding streets of the old town. Both resorts are close and driving is the fastest and best method to get there. Again, parking is best in underground lots.

Estepona is a lovely, traditional and unspoilt town on the beach with a wonderful old town full of streets of beautiful whitewashed houses adorned with pots of begonias and other flowers. It's closer to Playa Andaluza and can be reached within 15 minutes by car.

Ronda is a delightful town however it is in the mountains and the roads to get there are very winding with plenty of impatient locals tailgating and overtaking recklessly. My wife refuses to go there because of this and I suspect it would not be enjoyable for your wife.

Nerja is a popular destination with most people visiting the caves which I recommend followed by lunch somewhere on the Balcón de Europa, a popular spot with incredible views of the Mediterranean.

Gibraltar is an easy drive with most visitors taking the cable car or a guided taxi tour to the top of the Rock. There are some interesting defensive tunnels built by the British to help defend the strategically import Strait of Gibraltar. If you do decide to visit then I recommend parking on the Spanish side of the border and crossing into Gibraltar on foot. There's an underground car park about five minutes walk from the border.

Granada can be visited in a day albeit a long one. The drive is a little over two hours and the obvious attraction is the Alhambra. Be mindful that tickets sell out well in advance. Both resorts usually offer guided tours from the resort to the Alhambra but these should be arranged well ahead of your arrival. If you're interested then I'd recommend contacting the resort now to arrange it.

Seville takes about three hours one way so it's not really an option as a day trip and you may want to consider keeping it for the end of your trip and fly home from Seville.

We own at Playa Andaluza and have done for many years so the area is quite familiar. Nowadays we spend most of the time relaxing at the resort and pop out to some of our favourite restaurants and shops in Estepona, Benahavis, Marbella and Malaga.

Have you mapped it? It’s two hours plus each way, not a day trip.
Antequera is an easy day trip.

As JC mentioned, the word Málaga in the resort names refers to the province the resort is in, not the city itself.

The is a highway along the coast, but once off of it there will be some twists and turns, but not terrible. Driving more slowly along those stretches can reduce and motion affects.

Note that AP roads, e.g., AP-7, AP-46, are toll roads.

Thank you for all the great advice. To clarify, we are staying at Marriott’s Playa Andaluza near Estepona. Based on the recommendations, we have decided to add a two night stay in Seville, after a high speed train ride from Malaga, before flying home. While doing my research, I have repeatedly come across recommendations to visit small white washed hill towns in the area. Are there any that can be reached without having to drive on winding roads? Also, my son and I are planning to do the El Caminito del Rey hike one day while my wife stays at the resort. Is visiting Ronda on the same day doable? Any of these hill towns worth stopping at on our way to or from ECDR or Ronda? Is Cordoba worth a day trip from our resort? How is the drive? Should we consider a tour in Cordoba to the Mezquita and the Alcazar?

Cordoba is a great city--one of Andalusia's three best destinations. It's a bit faster to reach than Seville but still takes over 2 hours by fast train, each way. It has the advantage of not being quite as spread out as Seville, so one could make a day trip there and see not only the fabulous Mezquita but some other sights of interest. I would be remiss if I didn't also say I spent multiple nights in Cordoba and had no trouble at all filling my time. A day trip from Malaga will be a once-over-lightly visit. Cordoba is a much easier day trip from Seville; there are many trains taking only 40-45 minutes. So you could shift another night to Seville and handle Cordoba that way.

I'm not optimistic about getting to one of the classic white villages while avoiding twisty roads, but perhaps one of our other posters has a good diea.

Sunrise will be approximately 7:40 and sunset around 8:50.

The most direct route from the resort to the Caminito del Rey will take 1.5 hours, meaning 3 hours driving round trip plus whatever time it takes to do the walk. Then, it’s an hour’s drive to get up to Ronda, meaning an additional two hours driving plus the time you’d spend in Ronda.

To me, that’s more driving than I’d want to do in a day plus the hike. If you wanted to visit any of the white villages and Ronda, maybe do them separately. One route with better roads and fewer twists and turns would be the A-397 from the resort to Ronda, then the A-372 from Ronda over to Grazalema, then west to El Bosque.

To return to Ronda turn south at El Bosque on the A-373 and head east when reaching the A-374. I will advise that there are some turns on the initial part of the A-374, but will get better before Benaocaz. When you get back to the A-372 head east again and back to Ronda before heading back to the resort. The drive from El Bosque back to Ronda via Benaocaz should be just under 1.5 hours.

There are other routes and roads depending on which villages you want to see. With the motion issue you’ll probably want to stay on roads that start with the letter A as they will be in better condition with possibly fewer sharp turns. One road you definitely want to avoid is the CA-9104 between Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema.