It would be a shame to miss Granada completely, but it would also be a shame to spend only one day in Seville.
Tough choice you have there...

"The alternative we are considering is to see the Thursday Equestrian show (starts at noon) in Jerez, and then when baby gets up from her nap, walk around a bit...may stop by a sherry bodega for a tasting, have a late lunch/heavy tapas, and then head on the Malaga Thursday night so we could leave from Malaga Friday morning to spend the day in Granada. That might work out better, but just don't want to rush too much."

This sounds like a good option. There are also day tours to Granada from Malaga, advertised online, many from Viator, but I think they only tour the Alhambra. Granted, you won't have much time after seeing the Alhambra, but theoretically, you could leave Malaga VERY EARLY and see the Alhambra in the morning, then have lunch, maybe see a bit of the Albaicin area and go to the Mirador San Nicolas, and if you're really quick and efficient, maybe have time to see the Cathedral and Royal Chapel.

Wanted to add: You could stay two nights in Malaga then - Thursday and Friday - so you don't have to get up so early on Friday morning to make your flight. I've only been to Malaga to drive through/take the train through, to and from the airport, but everyone says it's a nice city, too. Even if you're just there in the evening, I would think places are still open pretty late for dinner/tapas... They eat pretty late in Spain. In Seville, dinner's around 10 through 11 pm. So maybe you could still see a bit of Malaga too, albeit in the evening while dining out and for drinks....
Obviously, you want to get people's opinions on this who've actually been to Malaga!

I must admit that I've lost track of the itinerary.

My husband's mother was from Jerez, and DH never got to visit with her before she passed away. So while the Alhambra is very much a priority (or I wouldn't be sweating these details quite as much), it isn't necessarily the "wild" horses keeping us. >>

alonsy - that makes a lot of sense, I'm sure we can all understand that. so does packing a lot into an itinerary - I'm very good at telling others to drop things, but not so good at doing it myself! but I agree that the alhambra is a place to spend as much time as possible, AND to go twice, once in the day and once in the evening to see the Nasrid palaces all lit up.

AND i agree that Malaga is worth a night or two - we only spent a night there on the way to Granada and I feel that we missed a lot.

could you lost your full itinerary so that we can see how it looks> sometimes with a tweek here or there, things fall into place.

Sure! Obviously we will have to be flexible depending on how we are feeling, timing, etc, but just included some of the things we'd like to do and see, if possible. We are also not sure if it will happen, but we are hoping to meet up with some of DH's family in Jerez if we can locate them...he has never met any of them and would like to if possible...DH's mom and dad met in Cadiz (his father was stationed in Rota). Both DH's mom and dad have passed away...his mom when he was very young and his dad this year. Interestingly we had planned a trip to Burma, but after his dad passed, we decided it was a good time to visit Spain. So, we are hoping for some history, culture, festivals, and enjoy some places important to DH's family history! Ok, you have the history, so here's what we've got:

Frid. Sept. 6th: arrival to Málaga. Pick up rental car and drive to Ronda making a stop in Marbella for lunch. –

Sat. Sept. 7th: day in Ronda for feria Goyesca and the corrida Goyesca on Sat afternoon (and we were able to get tix!).

Sun. Sept. 8th: Drive to Seville making a stop in Arcos.

Mon. Sept. 9th: Seville

Tues. Sept. 10th: Sevilla.

Wed. Sept. 11th: Drive from Sevilla to Jerez in a.m. Visit old town and possibly bodega tour/tasting (enjoy feria activities--feria de la vendimia is in Jerez at this time). (baby naps from 12 to 2 roughly). Private driver (to give DH a break) to take us to Cadiz in the afternoon for late lunch and short private walking tour of old town. Rest of afternoon/evening at leisure in Cadiz...could take boat over to Puerta Santa Maria or enjoy beach? Private driver brings us back to Jerez when we are ready.

Thurs. Sept. 12th: Enjoy morning in Jerez...see cathedral/old town, enjoy festival activities, etc. Equestrian horse show(noon to 1:30) while baby naps. After show, could either see Sandeman bodega (next door to equestrian school), have a nice lunch, or whatever we choose. Leave for Malaga when ready. Drop off rental car and rest of evening at leisure to explore Málaga on own.

Frid. September 13th: early a.m. private transfer to Granada from Málaga to visit the Alhambra. Private guide will have our tickets, etc for us. After Alhambra, can have tapas at the Parador, walk around Albaicin, etc. Return to Malaga when ready...could go via Nerja to see sunset or have tapas in Nerja.

Sat. September 14th: Transfer to Málaga airport.

This is what we've got so far. I'm not typically big on private drivers or guides (we are not "tour" type people), but a friend suggested that it would help us be more efficient with our visit since we have such limited time. Plus the guide can have tix for us and we would not have to worry about standing in line to pick up, etc.

Thanks for your help, advice, suggestions, etc!

Alonsy - that seems pretty good, to be honest! you could definitely return to Malaga via the south coast and watch the sunset from there - there are lots of restaurants on the beach where you could sit in the shade and your youngster can play in the sand.

shame you can't have longer in Malaga, but given the importance to your DH of being in Jerez and Cadiz, it seems to fit well together.

have a great trip!

Thanks so much Annhig! We are looking forward to it! We will definitely return as Cordoba was also one of my "must sees," but we just couldn't fit it all in. So, we will return one of these days...after I get my trip to Burma!

Wow, you were able to get tix to Sat's Goyesca !! May we ask how you did that and how much you paid? Thanks.

Perhaps go to Pedregalejo just some five minutes drive to the east of the center of Málaga city to see the sunset in one of the many great and laid-back seafront restaurants out here? The sun will go down inland over the mountains (as in all of the southern coast of Spain at this time of year) but the scene can nevertheless be spectacular. Hope for some evening clouds and you will have a burning sky above your heads and the Med at your feet. Both the beaches and the restaurants are very popular with locals.

Plenty of fabulous tapas bars in Nerja (the norm here is free and delicious tapas to choose with each glass of whatever for 1,50-2€), but they are all up in town and no place to see the sunset. Your sunset options here will be the mainly lunch time restaurants in the very touristy Burriana area, or you can find a table at the tip of Balcón de Europa in the center of town with spectacular views and not so spectacular and not so local food. And there are also some decent places down at waterfront Plaza de los Cangrejos some 300 meters west.

The Reales Alcazares in Sevilla is a totally different thing than Alhambra (a must), but there are abundant architectural similarities. Most of it was constructed in Arab style by Christian rulers in the 14th Century (Sevilla fell to the Christians in 1248, almost 250 years before Granada), and the Real Alcázar thus stands as one of the best example of mudéjar architecture in all of Spain. Stunningly beautiful. You could easily spend several hours here, and you could completely loose yourself in the gardens. It's now the residence of the king and queen when in Sevilla.
http://www.patronato-alcazarsevilla.es/index.php?ver=-1

kimhe - we were surprised at how much we liked the Alcazar, not least because there were far fewer people than at the Alhambra. we did indeed spend several hours there and it was time well spent.

Great info! Thanks Kimhe! Bedar, a friend of mine had a connection in Spain who went directly through the bullfighting association. However, we have not gotten our bill yet...I imagine it will be exhorbitant! DH said it was on his bucket list and he was not going alone, so we splurged!

Cool. Please let us know later how much you were charged. I've read that one year people paid €4,000/ticket which, I think, was ABSURD, bucket list or not. We attended in '73 but were with a son of one of the matadors so were not only able to get tickets but also got them at a reasonable, tho' scalped, price. Good luck !

Holy.....! Oh no, Bedar, we are not THAT crazy! My friend said would be about 600 euros total for two tix. Still a bit pricey for us, but like I said....doable for an item very high on my husband's bucket list. I still have not gotten the bill, though I have been promised they have the tickets. Will send an update once I know for sure.