My wife and I have booked FF air tx arriving in MAD the AM of Sat, 4/26 and departing 1PM Sun 5/11.
Tentative itinerary:
Madrid (with side trips to Toledo +/or Segovia) - 3 nights
4/29 - AVE train to Seville with 1/2 day stop in Cordoba
4/29 - 4/30 Seville
5/1 train(?) to Granada
5/2 - 5/9 will be staying at Marriott timeshare in Marbella, so unsure if should rent a car in Granada and drive directly there or take bus/train to Malaga and rent car there
While in Marbella, take day trips to Ronda. Nerjas, ?Gibralter
5/9 - return car in Malaga and take AVE or fly to Madrid
5/10 Madrid
5/11 - return

How does this look? I am most uncertain as to the best way to fit in Seville and Granada or even weather to just do day trips there from Marbella.

Any comments will be appreciated.

Rail travel between Sevilla and Granada/Malaga is not most convenient, perhaps it would be better to take bus from Sevilla to Malaga (2 hours), then from Malaga bus (2 1/2 hours) to Granada.

As it seems there were some concerns about the luggage storage problems a while ago, wonder you will be able to keep your luggage when stopping over in Cordoba on the way to Sevilla.

Posting is a little slow due to the holidays. But I think you would have received much more response if your title was more detailed.

"Itinerary Help" could be asking anything about anywhere in Europe (plus 80% of the threads on here are asking for itinerary help)

I would re-post w/ a title something like "Need help w/ Spain itinerary late April - mid May"

We did a trip similar to yours several years ago - into Madrid, AVE to Cordoba (there were lockers there to store luggage) onto Seville the same day. We rented a car in Seville and drove to Marbella from there - returned car to Malaga and trained to Madrid for flight home. Did Granada as a daytrip from Marbella, as well as Gibralter. I think we stopped by Ronda on the drive from Seville to Marbella. We had a bit of a problem driving OUT of Seville but our friends that did the same thing had no problem - must have been us! It was a delightful trip for us - be sure to try the fish baked in a salt crust while you are down in Marbella - something I have never found in the US and it was so moist and flavorful! Have a great trip!

We stayed at the Marriott and loved it, but you will need a car there, and you might as well pick it up in Granada, or do Granada as a day trip from Marbella. Seville is too far for a day trip--3 hrs. each way, but Granada is only about 1 1/2 hr. from Marbella.

If you can change your ticket to fly out of Malaga, I would suggest doing so.

Ronda and Nerjas are wonderful day trips. Haven't been to Gibralter, but would suggest checking out some of the white villages instead.

Also, 2008 Fodor's Spain guidebook is FABULOUS! (And, no, no one is paying me to say this )

fb, Sorry to make you work but consider reviewing this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34954915

Also download maribel's guides (google it) because they are excellent.

JudyC - It looks like there is also bus service between Seville and Granada, that may be quicker than the train.
Storing luggage in Cordoba - 2007 Rick Steves says you can. I will double check on this.

janisj - Thanks. I will take your advice and repost

Suec1 - the first train from Malaga to Madrid arrives in the train station 3 hours before our flight home. Is that enough time to get from the train station to the airport, check-in, get through security, etc.?

artlover - your advice about driving from Granada to Marbella makes sense. I am hoping to find an automatic as I haven;t driven a stick since high school (too many years to count), but the major rental companies seem to only offer auto at the airports.

ComfyShoes - WOW! Thanks. That should keep me busy for a while and answer a lot of questions.
I had previously found Maribel's guides and they also look great.