Andalucia - fine tuning - please help
 

Hi

I am organizing a first-time trip to Spain for a group of friends. Thanks to the many that have helped with different pieces of this already.

Right now, trying to get the details done on the post-Madrid portion. Plan is as follows:

Tu Sep 16: fly Madrid->Granada in the evening
W Sep 17: Alhambra in the morning, Albacin in the afternoon, late evening train to Sevilla
Th Sep 18: Sevilla sightseeing, flamenco, etc
F Sep 19: Daytrip to Ronda, Arcos & white hill towns, back to Sevilla in the evening
Sa Sep 20: Half day to Cordoba, rest in Sevilla
Su Sep 21: more Sevilla, return to US

QUESTIONS:
1) Anyone know if there is a tour of the white hill towns, etc from Seville? We will be a group of about 6
2) Is it easier/prettier to drive from Seville? How long would it take, is it convenient to rent a car in S, is there a picturesque route that we should be aiming for?
3) Is a full day enough in Granada? We will have part of the evening before as well when we arrive from Madrid, and the train leaves at 7pm and 8:45pm, I believe

Daytripping to Rhonda, Arcos and the White Towns from Sevilla sounds ambitious. It'll be a VERY long day.

We rented a car toured the above area.

Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra were the highlights.

We did something similar 2 years ago. I can tell you for sure that there is not much in Arcos, except maybe you can stop there for lunch. Rhonda deserves one afternoon (to see the bullring) and maybe an evening (to see the evening market). Consider renting a car and making a circular trip from Seville that takes you to Rhonda, Cordoba & Arcos. Avoid keeping the car in Seville because of parking problems and traffic.
We enjoyed the smaller towns more than a bigger city like Seville. Seville is great but touristy (you will not find a simnle Spaniard watching the flamenco in the2-3 popular theatres that run the shows daily).
But again your tastes might wary from mine.

A day is fine for Granada. The city is kind of scuzzy. Try to get your Alhambra tickets ahead of time and try to go for the 8:30 visit when the crowds are smallest. If you can't get your ticket ahead of time, be in line by 7:30 at the latest, as half the tickets are sold same day but they go fast.

You should rent a car/van (AutoEurope?) in Granada and drive to Seville hitting Cordoba and whatever other towns along the way. There is no point in going to Seville and then backtracking twice !!