Getting from Malaga airport to Sevilla - by train?
 

Hi everyone,
We're leaving next Monday (myself, husband and daughter) for Andalucia for two weeks. So I'll probably be asking a lot of questions here at the last minute, :)..

We are flying into Malaga at 11:50 am (if the plane's on time) and we need to be in Sevilla that same day, where we've rented an apartment for the week. (We rented the apartment when I thought we'd fly into Seville - turned out to be a lot cheaper to fly r/t to Malaga..)

We plan to take the train from Malaga to Sevilla.
There is a 2 pm train and a 4 pm train.

I'd like to take the 2 pm but that seems to be cutting it close.
Should we take the 4 pm?
Is there a place in the Malaga train station, or nearby, where we can get lunch? (I'm also vegan which complicates things - although my ethics get more relaxed as my hunger pangs grow...:). But I won't eat meat so the food needs to at least be vegetarian..)

Or should I book the 2 pm train? What happens if we miss the train?

Is the train at least comfortable and restful? I know we're going to be exhausted after flying all night, etc.

Re; booking - I wanted to do that in advance. Or should I just wait until we get there, in case we can get on the 2 pm? It's a Monday, in case that's significant.

I've read about all of the issues with booking with Renfe and know to use petrabax if REnfe doesn't work (?)

Finally - we want to rent a car the 2nd week when we leave Seville, to drive to Ronda and Granada, then Nerja, then back to Malaga.
Car rental recommemndations? (The folks at SlowTravel say AutoEurope. Sevilla% recommends carjet. We have a AAA card and get a discount on hertz rentals. )
What do we need to know about insurance on the car?

Thank you so much for your help!!

Nothing like waiting until the last moment to make your plans and find out what needs to be done.

You shouldn't have any problem making the 2:08 pm train. No need to buy your tickets ahead of time, no discounts.

The 2:15 pm AVANT train is quicker by 30 minutes, but is twice as expensice as the earlier train.

Auto Europe is the way to go. Hertz Spain does not offer a AAA discount. Your credit card provides some insurance coverage, but in this case I'd go with the coverage offered by the rental company. You may need it. You'll also need the IDP, International Driving Permit, should you be stopped by the police for any reason. You can get one from your nearest AAA office.

Hopefully you understand or speak a little Spanish. It will come in handy.

Ok the station is a short walk across the car park, no, there is nowhere to eat there but you can eat in the airport terminal. You are going to Spain and are a veggie! (you really will need to watch out as lard appears in the strangest of places) Just try to avoid strangely dense pastry.

Train should be a clean and modern one.

There are a bunch of car hires around the Seville station.

Thank you Robert! Well it wouldn't be as exciting if I didn't leave a couple of things for the last minute! :) Actually, I've been reading abut the trains for the past 6 mos. but since it confuses me, I've put off clearing things up until now.. (shrugs)
Yes, we all know a little Spanish, I believe enough to get by I live in Chicago. and I took a conversational class this past spring.
So you don't think the trains will be full at 2 and 4 pm on Monday? Then again, that's lunch/siesta time there, isn't it?
It would probably be easier to not have to deal with pre-booking, so if one more person tells me this, I'll wait until we get there.

And yes, we have the IDP already! We took care of that a couple months ago, when we realized we'd like to drive.
I'll call my credit card co. this afternoon and see what they cover.
Thanks again!

Thanks bilboburglar! There is an all-vegan bakery and deli in Sevilla, believe it or not, and an all-veg restaurant in Granada. Otherwise, I don't eat pastries I don't make myself, but I'll let the other two in my party know! I suspect it's like traveling in the southern U.S. where everything is seasoned with bacon or ham hocks. I've been veg for a while, and long ago, I realized I would have to relax my standards - or ignore some things, i.e. scrape the cheese off, pick pieces of meat out, when traveling - or else I'll never get to travel. Thankfully, the world seems to be getting more veg-friendly in the past ten years. Went to Paris over 15 years ago and had the hardest time finding even lacto-ovo veg food. But we did.
Thanks again for the tip about the airport. We'll try and grab something there to take with us on the train. (I may pack Clif bars as well in my personal bag.)