Our family of three will making a July swing through southern Spain. We'll be starting in Madrid; and then be making 2-4 day stops in Sevilla, Ronda; Nerja; Granada; and finally Barcelona before flying home.
I was orginally thinking it would make sense to rent a car between Sevilla and Granada; but the more I look at the hassles of a rental car the more appealing public transportation sounds.
Is it worth the hassle of renting a car vs. transporation by bus between Sevilla and Granada?
Keep in mind that the Spanish rail is not as well developed as most of western Europe. The result is an excellent bus system with terrific, comfortable buses. And very cheap. There is a train between Seville and Granada.
We loved having a car for getting to/around the White Hill towns. A car is a headache in any of the old cities though. We picked up a car near the border with Portugal and drove it to/through Arcos, Ronda, and dropped it off upon arrival in Granada. From there (to Seville, Cordoba and Madrid) we took the trains. Worked out great.
BTW - I thought Arcos was way better than Ronda. Ronda was definitely worth seeing, Arcos was just better. Don't miss it.
I think you can visit all your destinations without a car (take the train and the bus, which is modern and nice). But if you want to go to Arcos or otherwise off the beaten track you'll need a car.
To maximize your time, and to give yourself to get "off the beaten track" as Adam says, stick with the idea of renting a car for Sevilla-Granada. There are so many interesting towns down through that region that you will miss if you stick with the bus and/or train. With your schedule, you've got the time to do that. Rent your car from the Santa Justa train station in Sevilla (or anywhere on the west or south side of the city, outside of the downtown maze) and you won't have any problems driving out of Sevilla. Sevilla-Ronda is only about 2 hours (stop in Zahara de la Sierra on the way), while Ronda-Nerja is about 2.5 hours (take the A-366, A-354, and A-357 through the mountains...very twisty, but a magnificent drive.) Just make sure you avoid travelling across the north of Malaga during rush hour on your way to Nerja....it can get pretty packed. Their rush hours start and end a little later than ours. Then from Nerja to Granada, it's a little over an hour up toe A-44, with the Sierra Nevada looming on your right. You may want to avoid driving IN Granada, so you can proceed west along the A-92 to the airport, drop your car there, and take the airport bus back into town.
Great info everyone. Thanks very much. It sounds like we can't really go wrong either way; to rent a car or not just depends on how much exploring off the bus routes and in between our planned stops that we want to do.
Thanks again!
