We plan to take a train from Madrid to Seville in the last half of May. From Seville we wanted to stay in Estepona. We will need a car in the south of Spain to go to places like Ronda and Nerja. <BR> <BR>Any suggestions on renting a car in Seville or is it too congested there--should we go somewhere else?

Becky, <BR>Do you want a car to drive from Seville to Estepona? I would try to rent one outside the city limits;maybe at the airport? You do not want nor need a car in Seville. We drove from Portugal into Seville and although we could see our hotel from the car we could not reach it by car. I finally hailed a cab, my husband followed it, and we prompty returned the car (that was our plan anyway, but had we known better we would have returned the car on the outskirts and taken a cab into the city).

The most important companies have several branches in Sevilla, one at the airport and another within the city limits, I suggest you to rent the car the last day you are planning to stay in Sevilla since I do not think you will really need it there. You will probably get the best prices through National/Atesa and the worst through Europcar being Avis or Hertz in the middle.

do they rent anything besides cadillacs?

Becky, <BR>We rented a car in july from the avis at the atocha train station. sevilla is a little hard to drive in, so we picked it up on our way out of town. Piece of cake!!! We drove it to the south of spain and dropped it off in Granada a week later!!! <BR>Definetely worth it.

We just want to get from Seville to Estepona--definitely not drive IN Seville. Thanks for the info! <BR> <BR>Any suggestions about dropping off the car in Granada? Is the airport in Granada outside the city limits too? I heard it is a nightmare driving there too? <BR> <BR>Thanks for the help!

I rented a seville once, it was grand.I fell off of an estepona though

Hi Becky, <BR>Just back from southern Spain myself. You won't need a car in Sevilla as other ones stated already but don't be afraid to drive in the city. It is really not that bad! OK, traffic is dense but we easily found an underground parking garage (since we came from Marbella to Sevilla) and felt that Spaniards are polite people who know that there are hords of tourists driving around everywhere. <BR>We had rented a car from Europcar, they have offices all over Europe - see on their website. The smaller the car the easier to drive in the mountains and in the small villages. Their category C is small (Seat Ibiza 5 doors or Renault Clio 5 doors) but has A/C, radio, etc. <BR>If I may suggest: if you drive from Sevilla to Estepona, don't take the highway Sevilla/Antequera/Malaga/Estepona. The traject Sevilla/Utrera/Villamartin/Ronda/Marbella/Estepona is much more beautiful. The road is new and very quiet. Only the last part, from Ronda to Marbella is winding (still VERY beautiful) and may be crowded. If you take this road, you should make a detour via Arcos de la Frontera, one of the numerous white villages with very narrow and steep streets. If you want to drive up into the village (for tapas at the Parador for example), be sure that you rent a small car! <BR>When you make the trip to Nerja, you may absolutely not forget the white village of Frigiliana (6 km uphill). The most beautiful I have seen during our holiday. It has won a price in 1988 for being the most beautiful pueblo blanco. <BR>For more information, you may want to visit my Spain-pages and travelogues on http://www.virtualtourist.com/myriam_c <BR>I will post my report and pictures within two weeks.

<BR>Forgot to tell you to buy a good map. The no. 446 of Michelin (Andalucia Costa del Sol) is the best (i.m.o.)

Myriam, I look forward to the detailed information about your trip. Thank you for the driving info. Winding roads aren't new to me, way up here in the US Appalachians. We don't know how to drive on a straight road! But I especially want to see the scenic routes. Thanks for your recommendations!

Becky, if you do drive in Arcos to the main square, let me know how you found the streets. We've driven in the Appalachians (beautiful), Ronda, and Arcos, Arcos's is very narrow, really steep and some parts winding, and you do need a compact car. Parking can be difficult to find at the main square, free during siesta time. By the way, we noticed that all the cars parked at that time had fenders with white scratches.

I agree with the others that you should try to rent your car outside of Sevilla. Maybe at the airport? <BR> <BR>We flew to Malaga and rented there, then went on to Estepona. You will definitely want a car in Estepona (especially to go to Ronda), unless you want to eat at your hotel. Nothing is walking distance. <BR> <BR>From Estepona, we drove to Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla. We had a difficult (but not impossible) time getting into and out of each city. In fact, in Granada, we could see our hotel, but couldn't get to it. We finally stopped, my husband ran in and the concierge drove our car to their underground parking garage (this is apparently not uncommon). <BR> <BR>I recall that we returned the car early (as soon as we arrived in Sevilla?) at the airport just outside of town since we knew we wouldn't need it there. <BR> <BR>One tip: be sure to inspect your car before you leave with it and after each valet parks it. We had to pay for the bumper on ours for a dent that was probably there when we rented it.

Becky, <BR>The pictures of the pueblos blancos are on my homepage now. You can find them at http://www.virtualtourist.com/.125633/article/185/48/ <BR>I will be updating my Sevilla page during the coming weekend.

We too, took the AVE from Madrid to Seville. It was then we rented a Ford Focus at the airport-It was a great little car. We did not get it until after we decided to leave Seville.

Pedro ([email protected]) has it exactly backwards. Europcar, and Hertz are by far the best. National/Atesa are the worst.<BR>

Christine, did you get an automatic or manual? How is the availability of automatic. Haven't driven a manual for years.<BR><BR>Also, I will be driving from Costa Del Sol (Mijas) to Seville. Can anybody suggest a good place to park the car outside busy area of the city and avail the public transportation. Thanks...<BR>Utpal

<BR>As soon as you get to Seville from the Malaga-Granada highway, follow directions for Estacion de Santa Justa <BR>train station or Avenida Kansas City.<BR>You can park your car at the public parking there, and there are always lots of taxis.<BR>