October-Barcelona/Southern Spain/Portugal

In Barcelona
We stayed at a hotel on La Rumba, very busy area ,right next to the Gothic Quarter.
Was excellent. Metro stations there as well.

In Malaga
A few train stops from the city are TORREMOLINOS and BENALMADENA, sea side towns, lots to do for you and kids.
Day trips from Malaga, Take the bus from Maria Zambrano bus station, Located in Paseo de los Tilos, to Ronda, spend the night there. there's no train to Rhonda.
Bus ride is amazing through the Mountains to Ronda. have your camera ready.
Ronda old town is beautiful, has roman ruins. Buy bus tickets online in advance, as the ticket booths are complicated at the station
from Ronda take the train to Granada, large city, but there are lots of historic sights, like Plaza de Santa Ana, and Sacromonte
take a free walking tour of the area, also there is Alhambra, stunning!! buy tickets online in advance, Gold Ticket Package with time picked for the palace.
If you go to Alhambra, get to the top and walk through downward, you will thank me for this tip.
You will want to spend a day or 2 here.
You can train it back to Malaga from Granada.

I would stay in the Eixample neighborhood. It's safe, has beautiful architecture, and is within walking distance to Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, Boqueria market, Barceloneta Beach, etc. You can look at the Hotel GranVia in the Eixample.

As much as I like Malaga, I would visit Seville, Cordoba, and/or Granada if you haven't already been there. Seville is a gorgeous city with beautiful architecture, plazas, fountains, parks, etc. The Alcazar is amazing, as is the Seville Cathedral, Casa di Pilatos, Triana, etc. You could spend 5 nights here, and visit Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville, although I usually recommend staying a night or two in Cordoba. And then you have Granada with the magnificient Alhambra!

Highly recommend Hotel Praktik Rambla in Barcelona. In Malaga, we liked the ICON Malabar. Walking the nearby El Caminto del Rey was a highlight of our Andalucia trip. Enjoy your trip!

We are going to Portugal and Barcelona in September. We are attending concerts at Palau de La Musicana in the Eixample neighborhood two evenings. Is it safe to walk to a hotel up to 15 minutes away at 10pm? Not sure if we should just book as close as possible or far enough to them take an Uber. If Uber is available.

If you want the southern coast you pretty much need to look at the Costa del Sol area in October; meaning the area between Malaga and Marbella. The smaller coastal towns east of Malaga and west of Marbella pretty much shut down in late September so there are fewer things open. Further west is Cádiz that is a smaller city. Many people enjoy a few days there.

With your limited time, consider spending all of it in Spain. I wouldn’t recommend flying into and out of Barcelona if wanting to go to Portugal, but since your airline tickets have been purchased, it’s a mute point. Going to Portugal would just add more travel time, reducing the already limited time you have to see things.

Just me, but I would only do a night in Barcelona at the beginning to get on your feet, saving the bulk of your time there for the end of the trip. Fly or take the train to Seville, from there you can get to Cadiz in a couple hours and to Tavira in Portugal by bus in the same amount of time.

Cadiz is a wonderful old town on the coast, Tavira just a great smaller town with a great beach (though October is pushing the limits of beach weather though still in the 70's.) Malaga is fine, but Seville, Cadiz, and Tavira each rank above Malaga as a stay.