Originally Posted by bilboburgler (Post 17532898)

small village with good selection of restaurants.

you probably don't understand how small villages work ;-)

Originally Posted by Maribel (Post 17532916)

I agree that option #2 is the best decision, especially with children on board. Fly into Barcelona and tour, then take a non-stop flight directly to Málaga and spend some time relaxing in this lovely, pedestrianized city (easy for strollers) with its beaches and long palm tree-lined sea promenade.

Cádiz is definitely not well connected to Málaga. It´s on the other side of Andalucía, it requires a long train ride with train change, and it sits on the Costa de la Luz, on the Atlantic, rather than on the Med.

Easy, quick high-speed train connections from Málaga: Sevilla, Granada, Córdoba.
But these 3 are the great Al Andalus triangle cities, not small villages.
Antequera (40,000 people) is smaller, very interesting and has excellent train connections to all 4 cities.

I'm not quite clear on the request for "smaller villages without parking problem and a good selection of restaurants".

Do you mean around Málaga on the coast or up in the hills?
or do you mean close to the 4 cities above to be able to commute?
Commuting by car into the first 3 cities would be problematic with their heavy traffic and historic quarters that are Moorish mazes (and Granada's historic quarter is heavily restricted to residents and taxis). It would be easier to visit them by public transportation.

Were you planning to visit any of the cities other than Málaga or are you looking to "settle into" and stay in an Andalusian town? That's where I'm not really clear.

If the latter, Estepona would probably be a good fit. Although it has a heavy expat population, unlike Nerja, it does maintain a very Spanish feel, and is a town "on-the-move", constantly improving and has some nice dining and has underground garages. But it´s a town of 67,000 not a small village.
Benahavís (population 8,000) is another "expat" town, more of a village that´s known as a restaurant Mecca, but it´s up in the hills and not on the coast and hills are steep. Parking is problematic in many of these hill towns.

Originally Posted by Maribel (Post 17532977)

Given your explanation, and knowing that you don't plan to visit the big cities (I thought that might be the case), and that
you´re looking for something in the Málaga vicinity, I think that Estepona would be one good fit.

Estepona is large enough to have a variety of restaurants, English is spoken, but it does maintain its Spanish culture, there are underground parking garages, supermarkets, parks. It's pretty, tidy and does have beaches (although the beaches on the Costa del Sol are not particularly "pretty"---for gorgeous golden sand beaches one goes to the Costa de la Luz).
The Trip Advisor Estepona forum has a poster, "turista inglesa" who is very helpful and gives good guidance to the city and its surroundings.

As to the hill towns to the west of Málaga, such as Mijas (with its "burro taxis" and ubiquitous souvenir shops), Benahavís (the restaurant town), Gaucín (a mostly British artists' colony), they do have a heavy expat population, limited parking, and the hills are steep, if those things matter.

As to hill towns to the east of Málaga, I'm just not a Nerja fan, as it seems to me like a small Northern European colony, and Frigiliana up in the hills is a blindingly white, artists´village but also has become quite touristy like Mijas, although smaller with not quite as much condo development around it.
A place like Velez Malaga might have appeal. But I haven't spent much time in that area.

The Málaga province/Costa del Sol TA forum is filled with posters who spend vacations or have purchased homes in these smaller communities and know them well.

The places where I would not settle into: Fuengirola, Torremolinos (concert jungle high rises)

The small city (no longer a town), that I've used as a base for exploring the surrounding, lovely pueblos blancos is Ronda. It does get very, very busy during the day with day trippers up from the coast (we're out and about exploring during the day), but it can be magical at night (like Toledo) when they day trippers depart, and it certainly does have restaurants, cafés, museums, horseback riding, Roman ruins at Acinipo, a cattle and horse farm to tour, the "ReservaTauro", an olive mill to visit, a tapas culture, evening guitar concerts, a modern day hammam, supermarkets, underground parking. But it´s not a small village; however, the countryside is gorgeous and the white towns in those parts are delightful. Most visitors enjoy Ronda far more when they give it time, a number of nights.

Originally Posted by crellston (Post 17533051)

If you want to stay in 3-4 places plus say 4 days in Barcelona, that is a lot of moving around and you will likely waste at least half a day everything time you move. We lived in a large village/small town north of Malaga for a year and whilst t was great for us and for improving our Spanish and the locals were friendly, I think you will find it difficult to "settle in" anywhere.

One of the posts above mentioned Antequera, not a village by any stretch but it is very nice. Lots of restaurants, shops and great train links to place like Seville. Jerez, Granada Cordoba etc all possible day trips without the need to pack and unpack. A car would be useful perhaps for Jerez and Cordoba but positive liability for Seville and Granada. Parking, if you can find it, can be expensive and or inconvenient.

Antequers is also convenient for places like Ronda, El Torcal and El Caminito del Ray.

That said, if it were my trip I think I would base myself in Malaga. Its a great city and we rented an apartment there close to Artazanas market in the centre and loved it. Again, relatively easy to use a base for excursions , either day trips or a night or two away.

Originally Posted by bilboburgler (Post 17533184)

Maribel really knows her stuff.

If it were me I would base in Malaga and Barcelona, if I wanted a third I would add Girona (a bit further north). I'd do it all by public transport because it is so easy compared to using a car. But if your culture is car-centric it is tough to more away and I understand you will have tonnes of kid support material to move about. (most of which you could buy locally or just not take). Either way have a great holiday.