Just thinking about a trip in Sept. to Spain; would love to see the south but wonder how many sites I can cram into a week. Alahambra, Seville, etc. We will rent a car and are happy to spend time driving from one place to next if we can't just stay in one central place. This is a first crack at this; haven't done any work yet but thought I would open it up to the experts to see what ideas you may have to inspire us.

I have no idea how many sites YOU can cram into a week and whether you would enjoy that, but here is what we did in a week:

Day 1 Arrived to Sevilla in the morning, night in Sevilla
Day 2 Morning Sevilla, midday train to Cordoba, night in Cordoba
Day 3 Morning in Cordoba, afternoon bus to Granada, night in Granada
Day 4 Granada
Day 5 Morning in Granada, afternoon train to Ronda, night in Ronda
Day 6 Morning train to Algeciras, day trip to Gibraltar, night in Algeciras
Day 7 Morning bus to Malaga, day in Malaga, flight home in the evening

If you have 2 weeks you could do all this and a bit more at a more relaxed pace.

IMO, Andalusia is best seen with about 10 days. As a rough estimate, consider 4 nights in Sevilla, 3 in Granada, 2 or 3 in Cordoba, a night or two for something else (e.g., Ronda or Malaga). Of course, it depends on what YOU want to see and experience, so you'll need to decide your priorities.

I would NOT use a car for this trip -- it is utterly unnecessary.

The Rough Guide would provide a good starting point for your planning. And there are a LOT of trip reports and trip planning threads here on Fodor's forum.

I agree with KJA that you need at least 10 days for Andalucia, and I agree with her allocation of nights. However, if you were to spend 2 nights in Granada (instead of 3) and 2 nights in Cordoba (instead of 3), then you could also spend 2 nights in Malaga. We enjoyed Malaga a lot. The city center is beautiful, and there are a lot of interesting sites, plus you have the coastal ambiance. A few nights on the Mediterranean would be a nice addition to your trip. Or, with 14 nights, you could spend an extra night each in Cordoba and Granada for a more relaxed visit, and some place else, such as one of the white towns.

I know that everyone travels differently, but cramming sites into a week doesn't sound enjoyable to me. And no offense to BDKR, but he/she spent a lot of time on trains and buses and very little time at each destination. Seville, Granada, and Cordoba are important historical and cultural cities, and in addition to their most well-known historical sites (Real Alcazar in Seville, Alhambra in Granada, and Mezquita in Cordoba), there are some hidden gems, and each city is a wonderful place for wandering & soaking up the ambiance.

For guidebooks, in addition to Rough Guides, I recommend Lonely Planet and Michelin Green Guide.

I agree with kja on everything. If you don't have 10 days then I would spend at least 3 nights in Seville and 2 in Granada.