Southern Spain Itinerary

Yes, it's doable. The plan is pretty rushed, however, so now people will start suggesting things to cut. The first thing I'd cut would be Gibraltar. If you take a direct bus from Seville to Tarifa (3 hours), that might also allow you to cut down on car rental expenses (or it might not, since reserving ahead for 1, 2, or 3 days can sometimes be all the same price). www.autoeurope.com is a US agent that works with several rental agents across Europe, so I usually get a price quote there.

Thanks - yes, I'd be interested in hearing if people would recommend skipping anything here or swapping out a town for something else not listed. Thanks!

Yes, it is all totally possible, but why not use the trains and busses? Car rentals are very expensive! I wouldn't recommend a night in Tarifa - it is extremely windy, and there isn't much there. Extremely small town, more of a stopping point. After doing a day trip in Tangier, you could stay in a much nicer place! Like Marbella!

I paid for a day trip to Tangier and it included a bus from Torremolinos and back again. From Seville, I took a bus to Torremolinos and stayed for a month, nice town, you can find lots of places to stay, then take the tour to Tangier. You can also do a "tour" to Ronda which is a day trip. Again, you can do another day trip to Granada, or take the bus to Granada and do your own thing. Public transportation in Spain is very good, reliable, punctual and reasonably priced.

I rented a car in Torremolinos just to go to Granada which was an easy drive, but in Granada parking is very difficult and expensive. It is more of a pain to have a car there than a benefit. Ronda is also a city where parking is expensive, difficult to find, and many of the streets you can't drive on. It is so small you can walk everywhere. Really beautiful!

Be very careful of car rental requirements. A lot of people do not read all the details before renting and get stuck. You will be required to pay for insurance, no way around it. Get an international drivers license in the US and bring your US license with you. Many of the companies have a prepay gas thing that you can't get around either. Europcar is a good option. I used Centauro and had some challenges with them, but all in all it was fine. Check out reviews on the company you choose, there are a LOT of flaky car rental companies in Spain.

Another option is a car ride sharing website I used. Very big in some areas of Spain. I used it quite successfully to go from Torremolinos to Balcon De Europa (forget the town, but it was 1 hour away) blablacar!

I would drop Gibraltar, Tarifa and Tangier and concentrate on Andalusia. It is rich in every respect, history, culture, art and architecture, scenery, hiking, food, wine, music . . . Add Cordoba, either as a day trip or, better, an overnight. It's less than an hour by train from Seville, and the Mezquita is the second best sight after the Alhambra. After Seville and Cordoba, take a car through the white hill towns with an overnight in Ronda, then spend a day driving to Granada, via either to the coast (Marbella, even Gibraltar - though I'd skip that) or in Antequera or hiking in El Torcal.

If you're arriving after a long-haul flight, I'd add a night to Seville since your first full day, you may not yet be near full speed. Also I would wait until Day 4 or later to start driving.

I've rented twice in Spain, once directly with Europcar, once through autoeurope.com (depending on where I get the better price). Both times I was very satisfied.

I totally agree with the skipping of Gilbraltar, Tarifa and Tangier. Gilbraltar takes a while to get to and is really nothing special. Sevilla, Cordoba, Ronda and Granada are all very special and deserve all the time you can devote to them. I would suggest the bulk of your time being spent in Sevilla and Granada with lesser amounts in Cordoba and Ronda. It's definitely worth driving to Ronda and through some of the other white villages on your way to Granada. Even though it looks as though places are within 2 hours of each other - the roads through the white villages take quite a while to navigate because they are narrow and winding.
I also recommend Auto Europe as they have great service and the prices are usually very good.

I agree with Kathryn (and others).
Perhaps look at Arcos, Jerez, Cadiz instead of Gilbraltar, Tarifa and Tangier.

For this area we started in Granada.

We had a rental car so after four days in Granada, we drove to Ronda with a day stop in Antequera to see the passage tombs. We spent about a half day exploring Ronda, which was a little fast but doable, and one night.

The next day we drove to Gibraltar, parked in La Linea, then spent about six hours taking a taxi tour and eating at a pub. Afterward we drove to Tarifa (nicer town than I expected). We didn't cross to Tangiers. I grew up in San Diego and would never cross the border to Tijuana and say I'd been to Mexico. I want to visit Morocco but will plan it when we have time to visit more places.

After a night in Tarifa we stopped at the Claudia Baelo Roman ruins then worked our way up the coast to Cadiz where we stayed another night.

Cadiz was disappointing, I'd skip it knowing what I know today. Jerez was a pleasant surprise and the only place we found that had Bodegas open for public visits. After a night in Jerez, we went into Seville for four nights, during April Fair, which was outstanding.

thanks everyone for your input! we've jettisoned Gibraltar from the agenda - maybe catch it in a future trip. we're keeping Tangiers, and Ronda. Really looking forward to the trip!