We are a family of four and will be in Andalucia in March. The basic route is arrive Malaga one night, Granada 3 nights, Seville 4 nights and Ronda 2 nights.
Am I best to rent a car and park it in the cities, or just rent and drop off and re-rent both in Granada and Seville. It seems like a waste to park it and pay for it for three days (twice). Thoughts?
Granada would be a bear to drive into and park. At least some of the hotels will recommend parking outside the city and catching a taxi in.
I haven't visited all your stops but if I'm not mistaken, there are trains running between all of these cities. The trains do tend to be very inexpensive. Is the car for daytrips, or ??? If so, maybe consider an afternoon rental as needed? We did that from a Ford dealership in Ronda and it worked pretty easy to go out and visit white villages, more so than having a car to park somewhere and all that. The hotel called them the night before, they brought a car around early in the morning. We dropped it off in the late afternoon, settled up and they gave us a ride back to the hotel in the old part of town. It was pretty simple really, but maybe worth checking with your hotel ahead of time to see if it'd be something they could help you with? If any of this applies to your plans, of course.
Having a car would be nice, but if you are planning on staying in each of these cities, then you run into a few problems.
1. Parking can be expensive and will not always be available at your hotel, not even at a Parador, depending on your travel dates.
2. One-day rentals are very expensive.
3. As already noted, Sevilla and Granada are not the best cities for driving around in if you are not familiar with them.
4. Driving in Malaga is okay, depending on where you are staying, but parking can be a hassel.
5. There is both rail and/or bus service between all of your destinations.
Check www.renfe.es for the rail schedules and connections.
I can't speak for any of your other destinations, but easy-ish parking in grananda can be achieved by using the alhambra car park, and the bus from outside the alhambra ticket office. it runs down to the tomwn and back up again until midnight at least.
it's even more convenient if you're staying in one of the hotels opposite the alhambra, which give vouchers giving a discount.
with 3 days there, you might like to drive up into the sierra navada. also the drive east along the coast from Malaga to the granada road and then up into the hills is very interesting and at times beautiful.
Thanks for the suggestions - still trying to finalize plans. Ann can you tell me more about the Sierra Nevada route. This sounds great and just where we are going.