Wondering whether it’s best to do 2 nights Malaga or split between Nerja

Based on our experience, on return, I would stay in Malaga and skip Nerja. Frigiliana is beautiful but essentially a tourist town. Nerja is an expat community with a nice enough beach but does not feel like Spain. Malaga is a relaxing, comfortable Spanish city in which to walk the old center and waterfront, including beach, enjoy local sights and eat well.

I move locations very often, but this is feeling rushed. I’ve stayed in all of the cities you’ve mentioned, except just a half day in Frigiliana. Consider skipping Ronda. Go from Granada south to Nerja/Frigiliana. Have your unrushed beach time - not the beaches downtown but over at Burriana & go explore Frigiliana. ( I have a beautiful canvas photo on my home office wall from that day at Frigiliana.)

Then the next day go to Malaga & enjoy the sites, museums, etc. there. The Picasso museum is great; I’ve been there twice, Be sure to purchase your ticket ahead because it’s timed entries, and it’s very popular.

If you are a Picasso aficionado you will love the museum in Malaga -- better than several others devoted to Picasso.

There is also a branch of the Thyssen museum in Malaga, too.

the distinction above between tourist towns and 'real' towns is an important one -- Rick himself had a bad impression of Malaga because he went to the wrong part. Like he says about Gibraltar and some other spots along the coast, many Europeans and Brits who only want the nice weather and nothing else have turned some areas into Brighton/Hove. Your Malaga experience can be like an English summer camp or like a visit to Antibes, depending on where you look.

Malaga is a beautiful old city with a compact pedestrianised centre and many worthwhile sites.
I imagine Rick visited many years ago before its transformation.
I'd stay in Malaga - it also has beaches - the one east of town is better.

I vote for Malaga which is wonderful! The walk to the top of the alcazaba is gorgeous; the Picasso museum is fascinating; you can stroll along the seaside promenade and have drinks by the water. The pedestrianized center is beautiful ; don’t forget the gorgeous Malaga cathedral. And the atarazanas market.

I move locations very often, but this is feeling rushed. I’ve stayed in all of the cities you’ve mentioned, except just a half day in Frigiliana. Consider skipping Ronda. Go from Granada south to Nerja/Frigiliana. Have your unrushed beach time - not the beaches downtown but over at Burriana & go explore Frigiliana. ( I have a beautiful canvas photo on my home office wall from that day at Frigiliana.) Then the next day go to Malaga & enjoy the sites, museums, etc. there. The Picasso museum is great; I’ve been there twice, Be sure to purchase your ticket ahead because it’s timed entries, and it’s very popular.

Yeah I think I wanted to see both Nerja and Malaga. When I saw the photo of that beach you mentioned I knew I wanted to see it. And I also want to see the Picasso museum.

Any reason why to skip Ronda? It looks so beautiful and I’d hate to not see it :/

There’s no reason to skip Ronda. Like everyplace, some people like it, some don’t. I like the town and have been there a few times. Some think it is too crowded and filled with tourists. Jean may have said to skip Ronda simply to slow the trip’s pace down a bit.

The view of the bridge from the gorge is beautiful at sunset and walking around the gorge area is interesting. The town itself isn’t very large with one primary street rung through the center. Only you can decide whether it’s worth visiting.

I do like Ronda. We stayed there one night and enjoyed the gorge, the bull ring/museum, and I love classical guitar, so we went to Paco Seco’s guitar store for an evening concert - all of it was worth it. My response was mainly weighing the amount of transportation time you would spend routing through Ronda vs. trying to maximize the priorities I was inferring from the info you posted.