Southern Spain - rent a car or use the train

Matthew,

You can easily travel via train or bus to all your destinations on your list.

I’d suggest traveling from Sevilla to Granada, then to Córdoba, and finally to Madrid.

Sevilla to Granada, and Granada to Córdoba can be done by train or Alsa Bus
There may be more time options via Alsa bus than by train.

Córdoba to Madrid is an easy train ride.

You can book you train tickets on Renfe.com

Make you you book your Alhambra tickets three months in advance for best time selection.

Enjoy your trip!

Train would be better option. Finding a parking space in the narrow streets is hard enough but when you do they cost a small fortune.

Priscilla suggests your ideal routing. Here are some examples of train timings ...

SEVILLA TO GRANADA
TRN13922
Dep 11:45 SEVILLA-SANTA JUSTA (Spain)
Arr 15:12 GRANADA (Spain)

GRANADA TO CORDOBA
1) TRN13064
Dep 12:45 GRANADA (Spain)
Arr 14:35 ANTEQUERA-SANTA ANA (Spain)
2) AVN 8744
Dep 14:41 ANTEQUERA-SANTA ANA (Spain)
Arr 15:20 CORDOBA-CENTRAL (Spain)

CORDOBA TO MADRID
AVE 2083
Dep 08:56 CORDOBA-CENTRAL (Spain)
Arr 10:40 MADRID-PUERTA DE ATOCHA (Spain)

We just did your trip in reverse - Madrid to Seville to Granada to Màlaga. We flew into Madrid and out of Màlaga. We did day trips to Toledo and Córdoba. A car would have been a hindrance in any of those places. We used Trainline and Busbud to purchase our train and bus tickets in advance. We had no issues whatsoever.

If I had planned to see hill towns or more of the Costa del Sol I would have rented a car.

thanks for advice. train it is.

Read this article before you try to navigate the Renfe website. It is long but very useful and is frequently updated. Note that a lot of US credit cards don't work on the website. Pay with Paypal which takes a very small commission if your card isn't accepted.

I side with erodgreg. Unless you plan on making stops in between the locations, there’s no need for a rental. There are a few castles near Granada and some nice windmills and castle closer in to Madrid, but otherwise, it’s a lot of highway.

Matthew,

When my mom and I visited Spain in October 2014, we chose to travel to/from Granada via Alsa bus mainly because I didn’t want to deal with waiting and transferring trains.

Keep in mind that there’s still railway construction/renovations going on around Granada, which means that you’ll be traveling by train from Sevilla to Antequera Santa Ana’s train station,
then you’ll need to transfer to a bus which will take you the rest of your journey to Granada’s train station.

If you decide to travel via train from Granada to Córdoba, you’ll board a bus at Granada’s train station then will transfer to a train at Antequera.

As aforementioned, the bus offers more time selection than the train.

We actually traveled your route in reverse; Madrid >> Córdoba >> Granada >> Sevilla >> Toledo (via Madrid)

Have a wonderful trip!

Edited to add:
The train station in Granada is farther away from the historic center than the train station. We took a taxi to/from the bus station and the cost was around €8-10.

fastest and cheapest way to get between Seville and Granada is by bus. Then train everywhere else.

A car is useful if you have non-big city stops in your itinerary. For Seville, Granada and Cordoba, you won't need a car. As has been suggested, check the bus schedules against the train schedules. Train service is limited and for many legs the bus can be both faster and cheaper.

Seville to Cordoba can be done by fast train as well as Cordoba on to Madrid. I think Cordoba to Granada is one that is better by bus. I'd probably go from Seville to Granada first, then Cordoba, then Madrid. (Note: It's hard to describe how much I prefer Toledo to Madrid. Maybe a day at the beach vs. commuting to work? Something I'm always happy to do against something I'd prefer not to do at all.)