Spain Schedule Assistance

Gib is certainly a day-trip destination...about an hour's drive. Go to maps.google.com and copy and paste the following coordinates (36.158169, -5.348486) to find a good parking lot that's only a block or so from the border.
Ronda is also a good day trip....a little over an hour's drive, but some twisty roads into the mountains, so be prepared for that. You can find a parking lot at these google map coordinates (36.744086, -5.167984).
Sevilla is a little more problematic. It's close to three hours from Estepona, and driving in the old center part of Sevilla is definitely NOT recommended. Besides, you should really take an overnight there to really cover the city well. We've stayed at the 4-star Hesperia Sevilla on Av. Eduardo Dato, easy to access by car, with a parking lot right alongside, and only steps from the new Metro. See Google Maps reference 37.383347, -5.97506
Granada is also problematic as a day trip from Estepona, since it's also about 2.5 hours. I can't recommend hotels there, but there are many places in the Albaycin that are nice....tough to get to by car, though, in the old center of town. If you DO do Granada as a day trip, follow the signs to the Alhambra as you come into town along the A-92, and you'll eventually wind up the hill behind the Alhambra to the parking lot right near the entrance....expensive but very convenient. Take the 30 or 32 bus down to the Albaycin to Plaza Nueva to stroll around and have lunch...then bus it back up the hill to get your car.

If you do decide to visit the Alhambra, get on-line immediately to purchase tickets. Entrance numbers are strictly limited, and once the tickets for that day are gone, you're SOL. Click here for the official ticket site. You'll get a choice of morning or afternoon sessions...and you'll be alloted a specific half-hour within that period. That's the half-hour slot during which you MUST begin your tour of the Nazrid palace, the jewel of the whole place.

Thanks Norm! Do you think we'll need a GPS?

Like everyting else being problematic in southern Spain, so's the GPS unless it has maps that were updated five minutes ago.

There's a lot of new highway construction in the south of Spain, with a great many detours. Some of what were adequate highways for many years have been completely torn up and all that's left is a roadbed where the freeway is being built -- you can't use it and have to go on the back/secondary/tertiary system. My gps doesn't understand one bit of this.

Unless you need a gps for something else, I wouldn't bother with if for Spain alone. Get a good map and if it gets confusing, follow the signs to intermediate places along your general route. Sounds really bad, but it's only a minor inconvenience.

Norm, what's with parking at the Gibralter border? I just drive on in and park in the middle of things --what in the heck have I missed now?

With your planned route, you'll be on good 4-lane divided highways, so you shouldn't run into too much construction there now....their "interstate" construction is just about finished in the Madrid-Sevilla-Gib-Sevilla area. So a GPS would be useful. But ytou should ALWAYS bring a map as backup, just in case. Look for the Michelin series...they're the best.
Ed...every time I've been to Gib, there have been HUGE lineups to get in and out. Rather than sitting in traffic (and spending my time watching for other cars once I got there) I figured it was much easier to simply park close by, walk over the border, and get the all-day bus pass.

To visit the Alhambra, purchase your tickets in advance at one of the local banks. (can't remember the name) Admission to it is based on scheduled date and time so make sure you plan your schedule very well. You can do Granada and return via Rhonda in a day's trip. Sevilla is a very historic and outstanding place to visit. If you can, visit the attractions in Sevilla during the day (cathedral, Alcazar, Real de Maestranza (opera "Carmen"), Flamenco shows, etc. In the evening, do the "tapa-hopping" (as in bar-hopping). The next day head south and stop by one of the "Pueblos Blancos" (google it) on your way to Gibraltar and then return to Estepona. You can take the hydrofoil to Tangiers, Morocco (at least a day-trip) from Gibraltar or from one of the Spanish coastal towns near Gibraltar. I heard that there are better places to visit in Morocco other than Tangiers so Good luck. And Buen Viaje. ----Ramon

Thanks, Norm, Ed, Ramon!!! Your advise has been invaluable in planning our trip. We are really excited about seeing this part of Spain. :-)

Ok, Here's our plans. Arrive in Madrid via Delta at 9:15am on Saturday. Pick up rental from Sixt at 11:00 am. Drive to Granada. Staying at Guadalupe Hotel near Alahambra. Have tickets for Sunday at 8:30 am. (Should we get night tickets to the Palaces or see some other parts of Granada Saturday pm?) Sunday afternoon we'll drive to Marriott's Playa Andalusia, which we will use as our home base. Monday, we'll rest, get groceries, etc. The next four day will be flexible. One day we'll take a tour to Morocco, one day we'll drive to Gibraltar, One day Rhonda, one day Cordoba. Saturday we'll take a liesurely drive back to Madrid. We will be staying at the Hilton. They provide transportation to the airport. Any suggestions for our route back to Madrid?

Oliver --- I have flown from Atlanta to Madrid several times over the past couple of years. Not sure that I would recommend arriving at Madrid at 930 am and then getting a car to drive away at 1100 am! Jet lag, combined with the trafic just getting out of Madrid, does not add to a safe envirnoment! And I am of similar age as yourself...just a thought, mind you.

Thanks for your concern H J. We travel to Europe one or two times a year. Catch a few winks on the plane and really push ourselves the first day. That way we make the time transition quickly. My wonderful wife will make sure I stay alert.

HJ brings up a good point. The drive from Madrid to Granada is probably going to take you about 5 hours. And about three hours in, you'll be going thru some spectacular mountain scenery, but on an old 1940's Franco era highway....luckily, both lanes are southbound now, but it does wind quite a bit.
Nothing personal, but an overnight flight and a five hour drive in a strange country is probably going to lay you low Satuday night. Spend Saturday evening wandering thru the Albaycin, enjoy dinner, and get a good look at the Alhambra lit up from the outside.
Cordoba itself will probably take you 3 hours by car from Estepona...back to Malaga and up through the mountains...prepare for a long day that day.
On the way back to Madrid, the drive will probably be close to seven hours, so not a lot of time to stop. Take the same route you took coming down, and maybe you can take a slight detour thru Alcala la Real and the villages around there, or stop in Consuegra, just south of Madrid, to get a close-up look at the "Don Quixote" windmills.