We are planning a trip to southern Spain for early April (flying in and out of Malaga). We would like to visit the white villages, Cadiz, Jerez and perhaps Cordoba, ending up in or near Sevilla for our last day or two (we have been there before).

Is there any 'best' route to take when traveling thru the white villages? Should we stay in a different town each night or can we use one town as our base and see the rest from there? We will be there for 7 days (during holy week.).

Also, any hotel recommendation for Malaga (we arrive late in the day) would be greatly appreciated - would like to keep it under 150E.

many thanks!

Hotels very near the airport are Novotel Malaga www.novotel.com and Hotel Ibis of the Accor group www.ibishotel.com
They are your best choice, but only if you are skipping Malaga at all.
Next morning you may head to Ronda going to Marbella, with toll hiway, or another route, with several good secondary roads: via Cartama-Ardales-Teba-Cuevas del Becerro, much more picturesque. Ronda is your best base for the white villages. One visit is Grazalema-Zahara de la Sierra and Arcos de la Frontera (where you can base as well, but I prefer Ronda). Another visit is Olvera-Algodonales-Villamartin and Bornos(with the reservoir). And Arcos again. Get a good map and choose your itinerary. Arcos to Jerez has nothing remarkable. Jerez is a good visit (with Medina Sidonia as a side trip) before heading to Cadiz.Another option is Arcos to Seville, though I have not done it.

thanks for the info. Rather than staying near the airport, should we plan on staying in Malaga a day or so? I've heard about a hotel or restaurant high on a hill in Malaga that is supposed to be lovely for the view and atmosphere. Do you know the name?

Or should we plan on driving to Marbella and staying there and then continuing to Ronda?

Hi, Curious,

We stayed in Malaga for a night before setting off for Granada, and loved it. There is a major picasso museum as well nice shops, restaurants, tapas bars, a great market.

We stayed at the Hotel Sur just off the main street with all the buses, and 5 minutes from the main town. Very quiet and only 60E for a double with bathroom.

alternatively, there is a rather swisher new hotel that i saw on a web-site somewhere, nearer the centre. can't remember the name but a search of Malaga hotels should do it.

In order to avoid the rugby scrum that is the rental car-pick up late at night, and night -driving in a strange country, when we arrived we got a cab to our hotel [about 10E] and in the morning we got a bus to the airport and collected our car. It was still chaos, but we were awake.

We then proceeded to get completely lost driving out of the airport and ended up in an industrial estate asking directions in very bad spanish from 2 blokes who turned out to be Irish. wish we could have bought them a drink!

We spent 2 nights in granada - saw the alhambra by night as well as by day, and wouldn't have missed either experience for the world, and then went home. Instead, you could easily drive from Granada to cordoba, then drive down to Cadiz,using that as a base for jerez etc, taking in Ronda on the way back to Malaga.

The Cadogan guide to andalucia has a lot about the white towns, and the best routes for driving in between, i seem to remember.

If you haven't been, don't miss Granada, if you can possibly help it!

I realize I may have implied the wrong info - we don't arrive late at night, just late afternoon - sorry! As I've been researching, it seems that that the Marbella area is probably not for us - while I would love to see the beach area, I would prefer not to be in a touristy area with built up hotels, etc. We are looking for charm, history and spectacular views.

Any recs for small hotels in the Malaga area (or north toward the mountains) that could still serve as a base?

thanks for the hotel rec in town - I'll definitely look it up, too.

The hotel you mention is the Parador-Gibralfaro (not to be mistaken with the Parador-Golf, right in front of the airport). But it'll be 150€ plus tax, and have in mind that if you are coming in Holy Week, all city center is closed for processions since early afternoon till next morning. If not, you can check an hotel in the city center (check www.hotel-sur.com, it may suit you) and take a taxi or drive up to the Parador to have lunch or whatever (reservations at 952221902, web. www.parador.es) Everything anhig says on Malaga makes sense. The hotels I mentioned are in one of those industrial areas that are on the way to clean-up. I'll paste an info I made recently on Malaga hotels:
I have been checking hotels, and I am writing them downbelow, from near to far from the city center (when I say far, I mean a short walk, let's say 10 mins ).
www.hotel-larios.com is in the very center of Malaga, which is the Plaza de la Constitucion. It has no parking, but they may have some arrangement with nearby municipal pk. building. Though the center is pedestrian-only, it is permitted access by car to the hotel door, where a porter'll take care of luggage.
www.hoteldoncurro.com functional, 5min from center (I mean the Pza. Constitucion), acrooss the street from AC Malaga palacio. PK: same as before.
www.eurostarshotels.org and look for Astoria Malaga, functional recently restored, with own garage, 10 mins, this side of the river (Guadalmedina). Very near the nh, which is the other side of the river.
www.solmelia.com go to Tryp Alameda. A new building as part of a shopping mall. That side of the river. Own pk., very near El Corte Ingles. This is the farthest, 15-20min, but I see it has good offers, so you save for taxis.
I have considered other two: Kris Tribuna and Malaga Centro, one in front of the other with the river in the middle. These are 10-15 min., but north from the others, and to go to the centre (or back) you have to cross streets that are unpleasant, especially at night.
Now you take your time and check offers, I have seen they change a lot.

Thank you josele for the info. We've narrowed our hotel choices in Malaga ot either the Molino Laria or Cortijo de la Reina (or the parador, if they ever email me back). Which do you think is best?

We are now having a problem securing a hotel in Cordoba for Wed April 4 and of course cannot find anything in Sevilla for April 5 and 6. (I have another post on this topic). What days do the processions take place?

We may have to rethink our plan to be in Sevilla for Good Friday and just stay in Jerez and do the Sherry triangle.

There are processions every day The biggest ones in Seville are the night between Thursday and Good Friday and end about Friday midday.

CurioiusG1, I have answered your question in your other post.