We fly into Malaga airport next week and plan to immediately travel by bus to Granada. I have the departure times for the bus.
Can anyone give some tips on getting from the airport to the bus station in Malaga...and then from the bus station in Granada to our hotel in the Plaza Nueva area. There will be 4 of us, including my 80'ish parents.

I can't help with Malaga.

I was at the Granada bus station last week.

There are buses (#3/33) that will take you into the old center. I know both stop at Puerta Real, but I'm not sure if either stops at Plaza Nueva. When I took the bus last week during rush hour, it took about 30 minutes.

In your case, I'd just spring for a taxi. For 4 of you with older parents, it's not worthwhile to take the bus.

Agree with previous poster. Malaga airport is under great renovations and arrivals is a mess. There is a bus to the city center, but then you'll need to get to the bus station. The train stop is some walking distance from arrivals (long distance carrying luggage), and takes you to central train station, very near the Bus station. I think you better take a taxi, direct to the bus station. I believe it shall be 15 to 20 EUR

Thank you both for the information. I had been leaning toward taxis and you have confirmed that is the right choice. My parents are in good shape, but after a long plane ride know they will be tired.

Think about renting a car. Driving isn't difficult. Even if you don't speak Spanish you can figure it out.

We do have a car reserved to pick up when we leave Granada. We will have it for a week while staying in the Costa del Sol to drive around and see the hill towns. We drop it off when we reach Sevilla. I did not want to have a car in either city. From all I read it is a hassle to park and not needed. I have already purchased train tickets for our return from Sevilla to Malaga. I did not purchase the bus tickets yet, just incase one of our planes is delayed. There are enough buses going in the afternoon- hopefully they do not fill up in advance.

DianeD, did you get the new train service from Seville to Malaga? Now that the AVE train Madrid to Malaga is open (the missing part was Cordoba to Malaga), there is a service Seville-Cordoba-Malaga that takes two hours, one less.

Yes- I did. Unfortunately I did not purchase them early enough to get a web price, but it is only a 2 hour ride. As I only checked out the info about 1 month ago, I did not realize this was a new service.
Fodorite info on this site was extremely helpful in navigating the Renfe website!