Several winter months in Spain and Portugal

Bus and train service to nearby towns is frequent enough to fit most tourist needs (such as a couple of morning departures and a couple of afternoon returns). But there is a limit to how far you can get on a same-day roundtrip, e.g., 2 hours each way by train to Seville.

Various bus companies serve the city; the bus station is represented at www.estabus.emtsam.es. For current train schedules, see www.renfe.es or How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it all over Europe. Rick's Spain book does not cover Malaga, but does include a summary page of public transport options.

There must be something relaxing about returning to a familiar home base, but having less than a full day to visit a great city like Seville can add its own stress factor. Traveling with luggage to check into a new hotel can add stress, but traveling roundtrip on the route can add time, cost, and yet another deadline to meet.

See another, current Malaga-related thread at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/a-month-in-malaga-daytrips-with-public-transit.

I think 3 weeks in Malaga in February would not be ideal - spend a week each in Seville, Granada and Malaga.

Just wondering djp_syd, why Malaga for 3 weeks may be too much. Is it the weather? Good suggestions. Recognizing that we are all different, what location in Spain would you suggest if we were to stay in any one place for several weeks (February/March)? Thanks for replies.

Malaga v Sevilla v Granada. Have a look ...
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/grandes-ciudades/malaga.html
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/grandes-ciudades/sevilla.html
http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/grandes-ciudades/granada.html
3 weeks is a long time in any one of these destinations, especially late winter of Feb/Mar.
Asked to pick one and I would choose Sevilla. For me comparing Malaga with Sevilla and Granada, in terms of overall attractiveness to visit, is perhaps like comparing Miami with San Francisco and New York.

Have you checked on what the typical weather is for the period you are considering? One year, when we were living in London, we yearned for someplace sunny and warmish for the Christmas break from my teaching job. We researched Spain and found that it typically is mostly rather cold during that time. In fact, most of the Mediterranean area is, even northern Africa. I know you're thinking of a later period; but I think it might still be winter weather. If so, you should take into account what you'll do in an area geared toward beach resorts.
Your title mentions Portugal, but I don't see any question about it in your text. Lisbon actually could be a good base for some of your time. There's plenty to do and see. Portugal is so small that you can get to a fair amount of it day tripping from Lisbon.
FYI, we wound up going to Sicily for 9 days. We got our sunshine (mostly) and mild temperatures, and there was lots to do on the couple of rainy days.

Barbara,

I'm confused. The title of your question says "Several Winter months" - to me that means 3,4,5 or more - but your question speaks of 6 to 8 weeks, or 1 and a half or two months.

Am I missing something?